In the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, the narrator, "Chief" Bromden, believes that the psychiatric ward in which he is committed (including the staff) is a machine in the service of a broader "Combine" – his name for technological society. This portrayal has been described as one of the best-known fictional examples of an "influencing machine" patient.Melley, Timothy (2000) Empire of Conspiracy
