Here is the movie that I made of Iron and Wine's version of "Such Great Heights." I could not manage to get the Windows MovieMaker program to work properly; every time that I made an edit in the movie, I had to start the video over again at the beginning or else the soundtrack would be hopelessly un-synced from the images on the screen. This meant that for every little cut that I made I had to play the movie over from the beginning in order to see if I had even edited correctly, and if I was a second or two off in my editing I had to readjust and then click the button that starts the video over from the beginning before I could re-observe and (hopefully) move on to the next edit. After many, many hours of working on this and getting my very tech-savvy friends to help me (to no avail) I just ended up doing the best I could with how the program was working and calling it a day.

Overall I really enjoyed this project. I did a lot of my own images in Photoshop since the photos that I found online weren't exactly how I saw the video in my head. This song has a very surreal feel to it, and that's what I tried to achieve in many of the images that I included in the video.

Sources of the pictures that I used are as follows:
Eyes: http://www.peterjacksonphoto.com/eyeballphotos/
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Eye_iris.jpg
http://www.brucemalone.com/stock/stock_pics/brown-eye.jpg
http://www.inkycircus.com/jargon/images/2007/04/25/eye.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/samirkharusi/eye.jpg
http://images.jupiterimages.com/common/detail/21/35/23273521.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bf/Blue_eye.jpg/80...
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/41/Menschliches_Au...
http://www.benhammersley.com/images/eyes.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/148/432301063_af6b827524.jpg
puzzle piece: http://speechtherapy4kids.com/images/puzzle_piece-index.jpg
http://imagebase.davidniblack.com/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_... open hand
http://www.stanford.edu/~abramzon/Anya's%20art/ man and woman drawing
http://www.cet.edu/images/services/CTR/CTRservicesMain.jpg
http://images.jupiterimages.com/common/detail/52/60/22976052.jpg touching face
http://www.palletmastersworkshop.com/images/missingyou.jpg rocking chair
http://www.turnswitch.com/images/IMS_1005.jpg radio dial
http://image64.webshots.com/164/5/77/82/478657782ZhrCyh_fs.jpg hot air balloon
http://www.robertcampbellphotography.com/Images/Clouds/Clouds4.jpg clouds
http://www.headington.org.uk/oxon/broad/pics/east/indian_institute/stair... staircase
http://www.reefed.edu.au/__data/assets/image/0011/17021/clouds.jpg clouds2
http://static1.bareka.com/photos/medium/168032/buci-seine-looking.jpg distorted buildings
http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00039/ed_imgsnf0806fx1_540_39... cassette
http://www.telephonesuk.co.uk/images/kingfisher.jpg answering machine
http://lloydi.com/travel-writing/turkey/ballooning/images/rising-up-high... shrillest high
http://www.smartstart-toys.co.uk/images/Compass.JPG compass
http://www.mysciencebox.org/files/images/Soil%20profile%20Talbott.jpg dirt
http://justinsomnia.org/images/looking-straight-up-the-eiffel-tower-just... looking down at camera
http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/pic/PTGPOD/813366~Flying-Man-wi... flying man
http://www.danheller.com/images/Europe/CzechRepublic/Prague/People/crowd... people looking up
http://www.chromasia.com/images/grounded_b.jpg beach

This has been an extremely interesting class. Not only have I learned a lot in the practical sense, such as in terms of working with computers, but I have also gained a lot of experience in thinking outside the box. By providing us with the opportunity to explore new ways of examining literature, this class has effectively showed its students new ways to view the world and allowed them to discover viewpoints of their own, if they so desired. Instead of asking us to

Most English classes are all the same: "Read this, then we'll get into small groups and discuss it." What follows is usually a classroom of students dragging their desks together and slowly and tediously trying to understand what they've read. Conversation usually consists of "Did you understand the reading?" "No." "Yeah, me neither."

This class wasn't like that. We read a variety of texts that were written by a wider variety of authors over many different eras. We studied different themes, we read different styles, and we used different types of assignments to interpret literature. We the students were offered the opportunity every day in class to talk over what we had as a reading assignment, and not only hear our own interpretations but those of the professor as well. We were given thought-provoking questions to help us mull the material over, and when conversation ran out, we moved on to whatever project we are working on at the time.

The projects themselves were the most exciting part of the class. Instead of long papers that sap the energy out of a student, these projects were revitalizing and thrilling because of the opportunity for creativity that they offered to a student.

This format suited me. I liked the creativity that I was allowed to exercise in this class. I never felt that any of my interpretations of a reading were unwelcome or unnecessary. There were many different creative outlets, from collages to blogs to playlists, and I was never short on ways to express my opinion of the literature that we are reading or that is in my life. This class effectively infuses classical forms of learning (reading, discussion, writing) with newer gateways to expression (online blogging, digital imaging, online filesharing) without betraying the foundation of education. We are learning about literature and exploring the texts in our book while still maintaining a modernized outlook and taking strides in the right direction.

Overall, I feel that I accomplished the goals that I made, which mainly were to explore every opportunity offered by this class to the furthest extent that I possibly could. With an array of health problems this semester, I wasn’t sure if I was going to finish the semester, but I’m glad that I did. This class is a huge reason for that. I hope this portfolio aptly portrays how hard I have worked so far this year and the things that I have accomplished in this class.

CHARACTER PLAYLIST
The Character Playlist Assignment was an interesting one. At first I had no idea how I would appropriately portray a character of American literature using songs and their lyrics. My biggest fear was that I wouldn't be able to get across the depth of the character or their complexity, and that the playlist would come across as superficial and unrelated to the character itself. Whether or not I achieved my goal of finding songs that portray the depth of Chief Bromden from Kesey's "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" is not up to me to decide, but what I know is that I learned a lot from creating this playlist. I can think of only a few times in the past that I have turned to music in my writing in order to get across the point that I am trying to make, but in this instance it was one of my only tools, and I believe I learned a lot about how to use it to my advantage. In selecting songs for this playlist, I had to truly consider all of the facets and aspects of Chief's character, and all of the characteristics of the song itself. In doing so, I realized that there was more to Chief than I had previously imagined, and more to most of these songs than I had thought possible. In making my revisions, I tried to add elements of the songs that previously I had skipped over, such as the beat of the song or the feeling that it gives to the listener, and how these might relate to Chief.

Character Playlist Assignment (With Revisions)

COLLAGES

Making the collages was similar to creating the playlist in that it caused me to think in much greater depth about the aspects and elements of character or the poem that I had to illustrate. Whereas before I needed to find sounds that could portray my views and opinions on a character, now I needed images that could do the same. In my original collages I made an effort to aptly illustrate the character or poem in question, but I didn't go into as much detail as I did in my revised versions, especially in the case of the poem collage. In illustrating Ron Wallace's poem "Blessings," I tried to remain faithful to the nature of the poem while still lending my own interpretation to its words. I made every effort to illustrate as much of the imagery the author uses while still keeping the image simplistic. George Orwell's main character from "1984," Winston Smith, was difficult to wholly portray in the form of a collage because that book is very deep, and throughout the course of the plot most of the main elements of human nature are touched upon. To use mere images to accurately depict human nature is difficult, so I had to do my best to come as close as possible (which was not very close). In making revisions of this collage, I attempted to give it more of a surreal feeling, since the book itself almost inevitably lends that feeling to the reader.

ORIGINAL CHARACTER COLLAGE
http://www.teachmix.com/nightlit/node/88
REVISED CHARACTER COLLAGE
To revise this collage I tried to follow Professor Anderson's advice by adding some shadows and detailing to the picture.
http://www.teachmix.com/nightlit/node/119
ORIGINAL POEM COLLAGE
http://www.teachmix.com/nightlit/node/78
REVISED POEM COLLAGE
To revise this collage, I branched out more and illustrated more aspects of the poem in the collage. It was difficult, because it's easy to clutter up a collage and make the themes of the poem too difficult to distinguish.
http://www.teachmix.com/nightlit/node/111

ANNOTATION ASSIGNMENT
This assignment was a great refresher on what it truly means to interpret poetry. In annotating words and phrases of these ten Emily Dickinson poems, I had to both consider the poem as a whole and the words as individual elements that are part of the whole. It was an exercise in keeping my brain flexible enough to write insightfully. I enjoyed this assignment because it gave me the chance to learn about these poems in a historical, theoretical, and interpretive sense all at once. Both fortunately and unfortunately, I began to annotate the poems after most of the other students in the class had finished their annotation work on the poems. This allowed me to read all of what they had to say about the words of the poems before writing my own opinons, but also allowed them to take some of the words out of my mouth! It seems I have a few similar opinions to others in this class. Nonetheless, I greatly enjoyed the program we used to create links to discussion pages and the way that everything came together with this project.

Annotation regarding "He Kindly stopped for me" in the poem "Because I Could Not Stop for Death"

Annotation regarding "Civility" in the poem "Because I Could Not Stop for Death"

Annotation regarding "When I died" in the poem "I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died"

Annotation regarding "windows" in the poem "I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died"

Annotation regarding "loaded gun" in the poem "My Life had stood - a Loaded Gun"

Annotation regarding "cordial" in the poem "My Life had stood - a Loaded Gun"

Annotation regarding "For I have but the power to kill" in the poem "My Life had stood - a Loaded Gun"

Annotation regarding "I'm nobody!" in the poem "I'm nobody! Who are You?"

Annotation regarding "Then there ’s a pair of us—don’t tell!" in the poem "I'm nobody! Who are You?"

Annotation regarding "Vane" in the poem "This World is not Conclusion"

Annotation regarding "That Nibbles at the soul" in the poem "This World is not Conclusion"

Annotation regarding "Simple Shoe" in the poem "I Started Early - Took My Dog"

Annotation regarding "withdrew" in the poem "I Started Early - Took My Dog"

Annotation regarding "I could show it" in the poem "The Tint I Cannot take - is Best -"

Annotation regarding "Cheated Eye" in the poem "The Tint I Cannot take - is Best -"

Annotation regarding "Struck, was I, not yet by Lightning" in the poem "Struck, was I, not yet by Lightning"

Annotation regarding "Often as I die" in the poem "Struck, was I, not yet by Lightning"

Annotation regarding "It waits" in the poem "A Light Exists in Spring"

Annotation regarding "Report" in the poem "A Light Exists in Spring"

Annotation regarding "Brittle Nature" in the poem "He Fumbles at Your Soul"

Annotation regarding "Prepares" in the poem "He Fumbles at Your Soul"

BLOG POSTINGS
I absolutely loved having my own blog in which to reflect on the readings for the week. Although sometimes the website was a bit problematic, most of the time it was easy to log on and see what others had to say about our reading assignment. Having my postings online and easy to look back on was helpful in allowing me to reflect on what I've read so far this semester and what I have learned.

Blog Post regarding "Hard Rock Returns to Prison from the Hospital for the Criminally Insane"

Blog Post regarding "Cathedral"

Blog Post regarding "The Race"

Comment regarding "A Good Man Is Hard To Find"

Comment regarding "A Good Man Is Hard To Find"

Comment regarding "As I Stand Here Ironing" and "A&P"

Comment regarding "Girl" and "Sweat"

Comment regarding "A Death in Texas"

Comment regarding "Traveling Through the Dark"

Comment regarding "Rites of Passage," "Advice to My Son," "Betwixt and Bewildered," etc...

Comment regarding the Podcasts

PODCAST
This was a difficult project for me to do because I am terrible at public speaking. I’m actually terrible at anything that involves attention being focused on me alone, even if it’s just for a short period of time. I knew I’d have a hard time with the part of the podcast where I had to explain my section of information, and I wasn’t wrong; that part of the podcast was the most difficult part of all. I did enjoy researching the subject and drawing up a rough outline for what I would say, but I can’t say that I truly enjoyed speaking into the microphone and worrying about messing up during the actual recording of the podcast. Still, it is important to try new things and improve in areas of weakness, so I am glad that we had this assignment. It was also interesting to listen to the podcasts of other groups and learn a little from them on the subjects that they researched.
http://www.teachmix.com/nightlit/files/music.mp3

I like this class so far. It's different.

Most English classes are all the same: "Read this, then we'll get into small groups and discuss it." What follows is usually a classroom of students dragging their desks together and slowly and tediously trying to understand what they've read. Conversation usually consists of "Did you understand the reading?" "No." "Yeah, me neither."

This class isn't like that. We read a variety of texts that are written by a wider variety of authors over many different eras. We study different themes, we read different styles, and we use different types of assignments to interpret literature. We the students are offered the opportunity every day in class to talk over what we had as a reading assignment, and not only hear our own interpretations but those of the professor as well. We are given thought-provoking questions to help us mull the material over, and when conversation has run out, we move on to whatever project we are working on at the time.

This format suits me. I like the creativity that I am allowed to exercise in this class. I have yet to feel that any of my interpretations of a reading have been unwelcome or unnecessary. There are many different creative outlets, from collages to blogs to playlists, and I am never short on ways to express my opinion of the literature that we are reading or that is in my life. This class adeptly infuses classical forms of learning (reading, discussion, writing) with newer gateways to expression (online blogging, digital imaging, online filesharing). Without betraying the foundation of education, we are learning about literature and exploring the texts in our book while still maintaining a modernized outlook and taking strides in the right direction.

If I had to set personal goals for the rest of the semester, they'd have to relate to further exploring the opportunities that this class gives me to express myself. I want to take more advantage of the blog that we are given in which to write our opinions of the readings. I hope this portfolio aptly portrays how hard I have worked so far this year and the things that I have accomplished in this class.

CHARACTER PLAYLIST
The Character Playlist Assignment was an interesting one. At first I had no idea how I would appropriately portray a character of American literature using songs and their lyrics. My biggest fear was that I wouldn't be able to get across the depth of the character or their complexity, and that the playlist would come across as superficial and unrelated to the character itself. Whether or not I achieved my goal of finding songs that portray the depth of Chief Bromden from Kesey's "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" is not up to me to decide, but what I know is that I learned a lot from creating this playlist. I can think of only a few times in the past that I have turned to music in my writing in order to get across the point that I am trying to make, but in this instance it was one of my only tools, and I believe I learned a lot about how to use it to my advantage. In selecting songs for this playlist, I had to truly consider all of the facets and aspects of Chief's character, and all of the characteristics of the song itself. In doing so, I realized that there was more to Chief than I had previously imagined, and more to most of these songs than I had thought possible. In making my revisions, I tried to add elements of the songs that previously I had skipped over, such as the beat of the song or the feeling that it gives to the listener, and how these might relate to Chief.

Character Playlist Assignment (With Revisions)

COLLAGES

Making the collages was similar to creating the playlist in that it caused me to think in much greater depth about the aspects and elements of character or the poem that I had to illustrate. Whereas before I needed to find sounds that could portray my views and opinions on a character, now I needed images that could do the same. In my original collages I made an effort to aptly illustrate the character or poem in question, but I didn't go into as much detail as I did in my revised versions, especially in the case of the poem collage. In illustrating Ron Wallace's poem "Blessings," I tried to remain faithful to the nature of the poem while still lending my own interpretation to its words. I made every effort to illustrate as much of the imagery the author uses while still keeping the image simplistic. George Orwell's main character from "1984," Winston Smith, was difficult to wholly portray in the form of a collage because that book is very deep, and throughout the course of the plot most of the main elements of human nature are touched upon. To use mere images to accurately depict human nature is difficult, so I had to do my best to come as close as possible (which was not very close). In making revisions of this collage, I attempted to give it more of a surreal feeling, since the book itself almost inevitably lends that feeling to the reader.

Original Character Collage: http://www.teachmix.com/nightlit/node/88
Revised Character Collage: http://www.teachmix.com/nightlit/node/119
Original Poem Collage: http://www.teachmix.com/nightlit/node/78
Revised Poem Collage: http://www.teachmix.com/nightlit/node/111

ANNOTATION ASSIGNMENT
This assignment was a great refresher on what it truly means to interpret poetry. In annotating words and phrases of these ten Emily Dickinson poems, I had to both consider the poem as a whole and the words as individual elements that are part of the whole. It was an exercise in keeping my brain flexible enough to write insightfully. I enjoyed this assignment because it gave me the chance to learn about these poems in a historical, theoretical, and interpretive sense all at once. Both fortunately and unfortunately, I began to annotate the poems after most of the other students in the class had finished their annotation work on the poems. This allowed me to read all of what they had to say about the words of the poems before writing my own opinons, but also allowed them to take some of the words out of my mouth! It seems I have a few similar opinions to others in this class. Nonetheless, I greatly enjoyed the program we used to create links to discussion pages and the way that everything came together with this project.

Annotation regarding "He Kindly stopped for me" in the poem "Because I Could Not Stop for Death"

Annotation regarding "Civility" in the poem "Because I Could Not Stop for Death"

Annotation regarding "When I died" in the poem "I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died"

Annotation regarding "windows" in the poem "I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died"

Annotation regarding "loaded gun" in the poem "My Life had stood - a Loaded Gun"

Annotation regarding "cordial" in the poem "My Life had stood - a Loaded Gun"

Annotation regarding "For I have but the power to kill" in the poem "My Life had stood - a Loaded Gun"

Annotation regarding "I'm nobody!" in the poem "I'm nobody! Who are You?"

Annotation regarding "Then there ’s a pair of us—don’t tell!" in the poem "I'm nobody! Who are You?"

Annotation regarding "Vane" in the poem "This World is not Conclusion"

Annotation regarding "That Nibbles at the soul" in the poem "This World is not Conclusion"

Annotation regarding "Simple Shoe" in the poem "I Started Early - Took My Dog"

Annotation regarding "withdrew" in the poem "I Started Early - Took My Dog"

Annotation regarding "I could show it" in the poem "The Tint I Cannot take - is Best -"

Annotation regarding "Cheated Eye" in the poem "The Tint I Cannot take - is Best -"

Annotation regarding "Struck, was I, not yet by Lightning" in the poem "Struck, was I, not yet by Lightning"

Annotation regarding "Often as I die" in the poem "Struck, was I, not yet by Lightning"

Annotation regarding "It waits" in the poem "A Light Exists in Spring"

Annotation regarding "Report" in the poem "A Light Exists in Spring"

Annotation regarding "Brittle Nature" in the poem "He Fumbles at Your Soul"

Annotation regarding "Prepares" in the poem "He Fumbles at Your Soul"

BLOG POSTINGS
I absolutely loved having my own blog in which to reflect on the readings for the week. Although sometimes the website was a bit problematic, most of the time it was easy to log on and see what others had to say about our reading assignment. Having my postings online and easy to look back on was helpful in allowing me to reflect on what I've read so far this semester and what I have learned.

Blog Post regarding "Hard Rock Returns to Prison from the Hospital for the Criminally Insane"

Blog Post regarding "Cathedral"

Blog Post regarding "The Race"

Comment regarding "A Good Man Is Hard To Find"

Another Comment regarding "A Good Man Is Hard To Find"

Comment regarding "As I Stand Here Ironing" and "A&P"

Comment regarding "Girl" and "Sweat"

Comment regarding "A Death in Texas"

Comment regarding "Traveling Through the Dark"

Comment regarding "Rites of Passage," "Advice to My Son," "Betwixt and Bewildered," etc...

I usually finish a poem and almost immediately have at least a semi-solid opinion on the writing style of the author and the message behind the writing. This poem was different. I finished reading it and was torn between wanting to think that the poem was a commentary on the justice system, a commentary on the methods of dealing with the criminally insane, and a commentary on social structure inside a prison. Perhaps it is all three.
One of my favorite books is Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and my second reaction to this poem (after feeling somewhat confused concerning my opinion on the poem) was to compare Hard Rock to McMurphy. However, McMurphy was more of a lover of life and a joker than a tough guy, and so he doesn’t strike me as bearing much resemblance to an inmate who will strike a guy across the face with a dinner tray.
I guess the question I am left with is: does Hard Rock present more of a threat to society than McMurphy did, and for that reason were the doctors more justified in giving him a lobotomy? Setting aside for a moment (for the sake of simplicity) the possibility that it might never be justifiable to take someone else’s brain away from them, I’d have to guess that if either of them is a candidate for a lobotomy, it’s Hard Rock. He demonstrates higher levels of violence, as evidenced by his battle scars and his behavior. But going back to an earlier point, I’d have to disagree that it’s ok to cut out someone’s brain, thus taking away their personality and mental capability. But that’s just a personal opinion, and doesn’t relate much to literary discussion.
The narrator of this poem is the last element that I’d like to say a few things about. I’m guessing, from the short author biography, that this poem is written from Ehteridge Knight’s point of view and as himself. It’s interesting to me how the narrator and the others in the poem seem to know well enough that the Hard Rock from before is gone, but deceive themselves into believing that he’s simply been reformed and “wised up.” I guess this “Destroyer” brought them a certain element of hope and a feeling of power, since he represented the one way in which the prisoners felt some sort of power of rebellion. Hard Rock was “the doer of things / We dreamed of doing but could not bring ourselves to do.” I guess for this reason they choose denial of what has happened to him over acceptance of the reality that Hard Rock has been lobotomized. It’s odd how a man whose peers describe him as a “mean n****r” can actually be the hero of the prison.

I was struck by several things while reading Cathedral. The narrator begins with a set opinion of what blind people are like, and by the end of the story he has completely been proved wrong. What makes these changes most apparent is the fact that the narrator seems to confide in the reader. He admits that his idea of what blind people are like is completely derived from what he has seen in movies (though he doesn't seem to realize how superficial this fact is). The fact that he is frank barely mitigates how superficial he is. He does confess up-front that "[He's] never met, or personally known, anyone who was blind." But instead of maintaining an open mind about it, he draws conclusions before ever meeting Robert. Luckily, he is not so set in his opinions that he can't be changed by Robert, and as the story progresses the narrator seems to come to realize that it was he himself whose eyes need to be opened.

This is an amazing poem. As I read through it I noted that the poem progressed almost as a race would. As the lines and stanzas follow each other, they are broken up in such a way that your eye flies immediately to the next one without much of a pause, much the way one would not pause during the course of a race. The poem's rhythm is more of a flow; the sentences are few and are long, with commas to prolong them. Often where the author could very well put a period, she chooses instead to place a comma, as if there is no time to stop long enough to start a new sentence. She is in a race against time, and it make the reader's eyes want to race along the lines of the poem.

Playlist to Describe the Character of Chief Bromden

Chief Bromden is the narrator of One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and is a complex character. While many of this thoughts and perceptions of his surroundings are clouded and twisted by the paranoia from which he suffers, he is also highly in tune to details and very intelligent. Part of this stems from his pretense to be both deaf and mute, a position which affords him the ability to be nearly invisible, since people disregard his presence much of the time. Chief’s world consists of many different elements, some real, like Nurse Ratched, and some not, like the Combine.

The Fog – Maroon 5
Chief often uses his imagination to mitigate the harshness of the reality he faces. Sometimes this manifests itself in his fantasies of the Combine, but other times Chief is able to imagine himself away to somewhere happy. This happens when Chief uses his imagination to pretend that he can leave the hospital by using the painting of a fisherman as a portal. However, he soon afterward returns to his paranoid state of imagination, seeing fog creeping in and drowning him.

This song aptly describes the fog which exists in Chief’s mind and creates a constant force against which he must fight to survive. In his head things are out of control, much like the “chaos” which is building in this song. However, these lyrics also portray the way that Chief can sometimes (though it is rare) use pictures and his imagination to find moments of peace and happiness. He does this to escape from reality, and the “realists,” those being Nurse Ratched and the doctors. The song itself has a fast-paced feel, and it aptly captures the way I imagine Chief himself must feel during one of his nightmares about the fog and the Combine.

Cuz the fogs getting thicker
The worlds spinning last
The chaos is building its going to last
And its so hard to see, and you’re so hard to find
The days when I think I am losing my mind

So keep painting pictures of beautiful scenes
Striking the canvas with deep blues and greens
The realists are frowning, they think your obscene
As you work overtime to make sure they can dream
Complete Lyrics Found Here

Crazy – Gnarls Barkley

Chief’s alternate reality within his mind is something that he doesn’t feel like he can control. He isn’t crazy, per se, but he has in a way “lost his mind,” because he is often not in control of it. Gnarles Barkley does a great job with his song in portraying the way that, having lost his mind, he isn't bothered by being crazy. His upbeat tune offers a good look at the other side of being "crazy" in the eyes of society: it's not that bad after all.

I remember when, I remember, I remember when I lost my mind
There was something so pleasant about that phase.
Even your emotions had an echo
In so much space

Ever since I was little, ever since I was little it looked like fun
And it's no coincidence I've come
And I can die when I'm done
Complete Lyrics Found Here

In a way Chief takes comfort from the notion that he has lost his mind. He can blame a lot of things on the Combine and its workings so that he doesn’t have to attribute responsibility or blame to himself or other people. The combine , a massive machine that controls humanity (or so Chief believes), is something that Chief alone is conscious of. Everyone else doesn’t seem to be aware of it. It exists within Chief’s head, along with the fog that sometimes lowers itself over everything. Thus, as the song says, “There [is] something so pleasant about that phase.” The fog does indeed take over his mind, and the Combine does indeed control things, he believes, but there’s little to indicate that he is ready to control things himself or see the world clearly. He feels that, like the singer of this song, he knows “too much,” and has felt that way from a very young age.

The Invisible Man – Queen

Chief, as has already been discussed, is considered somewhat of a pushover. He describes how from an early age he felt ignored, forgotten, and almost invisible, as though society has passed him by.

When you hear a sound,
That you just can't place
Feel somethin' move
That you just can't trace,
When something sits
On the end of your bed
Don't turn around
When you hear me tread.

I'm the invisible man,
I'm the invisible man
Incredible how you can
See right through me
I'm the invisible man
I'm the invisible man
It's criminal how I can
See right through you.
Complete Lyrics Found Here

These lyrics describe way that Chief considers his actions to be inconsequential, since he sees himself as not existing in reality. He is, as is the singer of this song, “The invisible man.”

Trapped – Bruce Springsteen

This song describes much of the progress which Chief makes to the end of becoming his own person and not allowing himself to be a “pushover.”

Seems like I'm caught up
in your trap
again
Seems like I'll be
wearing the same
old chains
Good will conquer
Evil
And the truth will
set me free
And I know some
day I will find
the key
I know
somewhere I will
find the key
Seems like I've
been playing your
game way too long
Seems the game
I've played has
made you strong
When the game is
over
I won't walk out the
loser
I know I'll walk
out of here again
I know someday
I'll walk out of
here again

Seems like I've
been sleeping in
your bed too
long
Seems like you've
been meaning to
do me harm
But I'll teach my
eyes to see
Beyond these
walls in front of
me
Complete Lyrics Found Here

Don’t You Feel Small – Moody Blues

Chief’s distortion of reality manifests itself not only in his sense that he is invisible and easily pushed around, but also in his sense that he is actually very small. Chief is over six and half feet tall, but his sense of invisibility and helplessness lead him to feel as though he is actually much smaller than most other people.

Ask the mirror on the wall
Who's the biggest fool of all,
Bet you feel small,
It happens to us all.

Time is now to spread your voice,
Time's to come there'll be no choice,
Why do you feel small,
It happens to us all.
Complete Lyrics Found Here

Heartbeats – Jose Gonzalez

Chief and McMurphy have a close relationship throughout this book. Chief’s perception of McMurphy’s character are important in understanding Chief himself. In many ways, McMurphy represents what Chief wishes he were. McMurphy is confident, bold, and won’t submit to Nurse Ratched and the authorities in general. Chief, himself labeled a pushover, sees in McMurphy everything he wishes he could be, and from this perception springs their “friendship.”

Both under influence
we had a divine sense
To know what to say
Mind is a razorblade

Refr: To call for hands of above
to lean on
Wouldn't be good enough
for me, no
Complete Lyrics Found Here

This song contains imagery that depicts the type of bond that McMurphy and Chief share. When comparing the two it becomes apparent that McMurphy is a facet of Chief’s personality that doesn’t often surface. McMurphy always knows what to say, whereas Chief rarely ever speaks (and is considered by most to be mute). McMurphy’s “mind is a razorblade,” whereas Chief’s is often clouded by the fog he envisions. The refrain aptly describes how independent and unbroken McMurphy’s spirit is (he won’t “call for hands of above / to lean on” as that “wouldn’t be good enough / for [him], no”). Chief himself is more of a broken spirit, but he takes his strength from McMurphy. The melancholy and lonely sound of this song suits the independent and solitary life that Chief leads.

Welcome To The Machine – Pink Floyd

Chief sees society as being under control of the Combine. He shoulders the burden of being conscious of the Combine’s working, while everyone else doesn’t know that it is working on them. When McMurphy arrives, he seems larger than life to Chief because he seems to be untouched by the forces of the Combine. Pink Floyd's "Welcome To The Machine" is a song that contains a lot of power and force, much as the Combine does in Chief's mind.

Welcome my son
Welcome to the machine
Where have you been?
It's alright we know where you've been
You've been in the pipeline
Filling in time

Welcome my son
Welcome to the machine
What did you dream?
It's alright we told you what to dream
Complete Lyrics Found Here

Unfortunately, as the story progresses, McMurphy begins to feel the effects of the Combine working on him, often through Nurse Ratched. She wants him to conform and submit to her authority (the authority of the Combine). Chief’s admiration of McMurphy has always stemmed from how different McMurphy is, but now Chief sees him falling slowly into the grasp of the Combine. This song aptly describes what Chief sees: the machine slowly sucking McMurphy in,

I Can See Clearly Now – Bob Marley

I can see clearly now, the rain is gone,
I can see all obstacles in my way
Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind
It's gonna be a bright (bright), bright (bright)
Sun-Shiny day
Complete Lyrics Found Here

Chief’s accomplishments throughout this book are many, but they are not obvious in some ways. Chief slowly learns to see through the fog, and as the story progresses he becomes less delusional and more able to perceive reality in its entirety. Just as the song states, Chief’s newfound ability to see clearly is what enables him to see “all obstacles in [his] way.” At the end of the novel, he sees clearly enough that he knows that the real McMurphy is gone, and that what remains is just a lobotomized, brain-dead shell of what McMurphy used to be. Thus, Chief knows he has to suffocate this McMurphy imposter, and then break free of the hospital. This Bob Marley song provides an upbeat ending, and the sing-song tune it follows gives the impression that the doors to Chief's life are opening up and he is setting forth into the world.