One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Guilt Quotes

Luke feels guilt after witnessing a crime that results in the death of one of the Siscos. Feeling of guilt affects the protagonist despite the fact that he did not do anything immoral: “Suddenly, I felt the urge to sneak back into the sanctuary and start praying. I knew I was guilty of something” (Grisham 40). Even though he does not know why he feels guilty, Luke still feels anxious, despite not being the one who participated in the fight. The fight affects Luke and he is probably more affected by it than many of the other spectators, and the fact that Luke knows Hank and that he works for the Chandlers also contributes to Luke’s condition and mental state. Since Luke is a small child, he understands the world differently and everything that

The fact that Luke is the focalizer builds the basis for knowing his feelings. Because the story is told from Luke’s perspective, readers are able to know what the protagonist feels and, for example, what is the reason for being afraid. Bravery is what Luke lacks when he deals with the dilemma of telling his father about witnessing a fight in which a person is killed: “I tried to muster the courage to tell him about watching the fight” (Grisham 41). In this duel between the two choices, Luke decides not to mention anything, despite his instincts encouraging him to do the opposite. Moreover, in another scene when Luke does tell this secret to his parents, he admits that the reason why he did not tell this before is fear. The father tells Luke that he should not keep secrets: “But secret can get you in trouble. You shoulda told me what you saw” (Grisham 51). Knowing that it is better to tell the truth than to keep a secret might give Luke some courage in the future. Yet earlier, both Luke and his friend Dewayne admit that they are afraid of Hank, who killed a person in the fight, and this is the main reason why they decide not to tell anyone about watching the fight. The boys are afraid that Hank might do something to them, therefore, the only choice is to conceal the truth: “We agreed that we would indeed do nothing. If we were confronted, we would lie” (Grisham 39). In such a case, lying would require less courage than telling the truth and then confronting Hank in an unpleasant situation. In contrast to this, when Luke tells the truth, even his father knows that Hank’s killing of a Sisco boy and everything that follows this event makes the boy afraid: “You’ve scared him to death, Stick,” he said with an awkward laugh, trying to break the tension and get me out of there before I said something wrong” (Grisham 47). The