What events lead up to Cheswick drowning? Why is it possibly a suicide?

What events lead up to Cheswick drowning? Why is it possibly a suicide?

• A. Cheswick raises concerns about cigarette rationing; McMurphy does not support him; Ratched sends Cheswick to Disturbed; after he returns, on the way to the pool, Cheswick's fingers get stuck in the pool's drain and he drowns; possibly a suicide.
• B. Cheswick drowns while swimming during a group meeting.
• C. Cheswick dies from natural causes.
• D. Cheswick is killed by McMurphy.

Answer: (A)

Cheswick’s death unfolds from a buildup of frustration with the hospital’s strict rule system. He speaks up about cigarette rationing in a moment of group confrontation with Nurse Ratched, and McMurphy doesn’t back him up at that moment. In response, Ratched sends Cheswick to the Disturbed ward as punishment. When he returns, he’s with the other patients on the way to the pool, and tragedy strikes as his fingers get stuck in the pool drain and he drowns. The death is read as possibly a suicide because the act can be seen as a final act of defiance or escape from the dehumanizing environment, leaving room for interpretation whether it was an accident or a conscious choice to end his life. Not fitting here are scenarios where the drowning happens during a group meeting, or where the death is attributed to natural causes or to McMurphy.

Cheswick’s death unfolds from a buildup of frustration with the hospital’s strict rule system. He speaks up about cigarette rationing in a moment of group confrontation with Nurse Ratched, and McMurphy doesn’t back him up at that moment. In response, Ratched sends Cheswick to the Disturbed ward as punishment. When he returns, he’s with the other patients on the way to the pool, and tragedy strikes as his fingers get stuck in the pool drain and he drowns. The death is read as possibly a suicide because the act can be seen as a final act of defiance or escape from the dehumanizing environment, leaving room for interpretation whether it was an accident or a conscious choice to end his life.

Not fitting here are scenarios where the drowning happens during a group meeting, or where the death is attributed to natural causes or to McMurphy.