They don’t bother not talking out loud about their hate secrets when I’m nearby because they think I’m deaf and dumb.
-- Chief (Part 1 paragraph 7)

Importance: This quote describes how Chief is treated on the ward due to the fact that everyone believes him to be deaf, playing into his own delusions.

But there are some of us Chronics that the staff made a couple of mistakes on years back, some of us who were Acutes when we came in, and got changed over.
-- Chief (Part 1 paragraph 51)

Importance: This quote illustrates how the patients are treated. Chief is informing the reader that some of the Chronics are that way because of the treatment they received for their mental illnesses.This also foreshadows what happens to McMurphy at the end of the novel.

Nobody’s sure if this barrel-chested man with the scar and the wild grin is play-acting or if he’s crazy enough to be...
-- Chief (Part 1 paragraph 64)