Mrs. Bibbit gains her power by preventing Billy, her son, from becoming a functioning adult, and it is because of this relationship that Billy eventually commits suicide. At first Mrs. Bibbit does not seem to understand that Billy is a mature adult and able to function in society, but it soon becomes clear that this is merely a pretense for her own vanity. When his mother tells him he has plenty of time to accomplish things such as going to college, and Billy reminds his mother that he is thirty-one years old, she replies, "'Sweetheart, do I look like the mother of a middle-aged man?'" (Kesey 247) When Mrs. Bibbit cannot be present to keep her son mentally young and innocent, Nurse Ratched accomplishes the task for her. Mrs. Bibbit's absolute power over Billy is shown when Nurse Ratched, having caught Billy having sex with a prostitute, threatens to tell his mother. The threat of his mother's displeasure and disappointment, not his own guilt, directly leads him to suicide. Another family member who manipulates her "loved one" is Vera Harding, whose control over her husband is similar to that of Mrs. Bibbit and her son.