One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest is an extremely interesting story and I thoroughly enjoyed the film (I even want to read the book now because I enjoyed the film that much!). I think that the most interesting scene in this film is the one where Chief killed McMurphy. I don't even like to call or think of it as killing him because I believe that what he did was what McMurphy truly would have wanted. Because of the lobotomy, McMurphy was basically turned into a vegetable and Chief was such a good friend that he knew that he would never want that for himself.

I think what is so interesting about this is that everyone in the mental hospital thought that Chief was, essentially, a vegetable too. Chief acted as if he was blind, mute, and dumb, which is what he witnessed McMurphy embody. Chief understands how McMurphy feels and he doesn't want McMurphy to live a life that Chief had to pretend to lead.  Along with this, McMurphy was such a hopeful spirit. If anyone else else saw him in that state, they would all be discouraged and a light would fade in their lives.

Chief is a good friend, and although he killed someone, he did what McMurphy would have wanted if he had the ability to do anything about his life at that point in time.

Do you think that Chief suffocating McMurphy was ethical?