In the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, author Ken Kesey used diction, syntax, and imagery to illustrate Chief’s change as a thoughtless listener, into an individual with his own ideas. While Chief is brooding over the decision to risk escape, he decided to throw on McMurphies cap to take with him, suddenly it “seemed too small” to chief. Throughout the entirety of Chiefs ward experience, he listened and took orders. Before the arrival of McMurphy it was the black boys, always handing him a broom and ordering him to scrub down some random hallway. But after the appearance of the boisterous Murphy, chief started to trust his own ideas and observations. During Murphy’s war with big nurse, he was still only a follower, somebody who believed in a cause but did not truly understand the significance of it. In putting down Murpy’s old cap, chief shows he has grown big enough that he no longer needs the guiding hand of Murphy to aid him in his decisions. By leaving it behind, chief ceases to be a follower, and makes the transformation into an individual. Yet again, Kesey shows this transformation while chief is making his escape, with chief bounding “in the direction he remembered seeing the dog go”. While chief is following the dog in a sense, it actually proves he can deviate from others paths laid in front of him. Chief uses the dog only as an idea as to where he can go, instead of a set destination, a place he has to go. To chief, the dog is only a road map with countless alternate paths to choose and combine. While chief may be following the same path he believed the