One Flew Over Cookoo's Nest Part 1

McMurphy seems to be higher than all of the other characters in the book, and i really dont seem to get to why he is. After reading the reading the book i tried to start making accusations on to why he is higher and one thing i thought of is because he is very intimidating. Another thing is probably because of his tattoos and scars show that he is very hardcore. And the scars show he might not be the one to mess with.