The Combine is the mental ward. This plays into Bromden's idea that the whole institution is like one big machine. When the patients come in, they're broken down until they themselves become part of the machine too. They do the same things every day, just like a machine. They are also dehumanized, like they were just pieces of metal. The Combine literally cuts the patients down until they're only good for being part of the machine.
McMurphy is just as vulnerable as the other patients because he's a human too. I think that's a major point in this book; that they are ALL humans, and NOT parts of a machine. McMurphy shows the humanity (and its inconsistencies) that the other patients are lacking. The fact that McMurphy has all these basic human flaws that landed him in the mental ward in the first place show how human he really is. The others have all been told that they have something inhumanly wrong with their heads. But McMurphy's gambling problems and socially normal. McMurphy is "normal", and remains that way. That's how we know the combine hasn't gotten to him yet.
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