《第二十二条军规》中的反英雄人物 角色解析

(9)

3.2 Milo --- Mercenary

……………… ………………………………………………………

. (10)

3.3 Lieutenant Scheisskopf --- Ambition

……………………………………………………

..

(12)

3. 4 Doc Daneeka --- Untrue wisdom

………………………………………………………

(12)

3.5 Yossarian --- Fear of Death

< br>………………………………………………………………

(13)

4 Causes of the Formation of the Anti-heroes in Catch-22

………………………………

(14)

4.1 Bureaucratic Collusion

……………………………………………………………

(13)

4.2 Religious Bondag

e………………… ……………………………………………………..

(14)

Conclusion

……………… …………………………………………………………………

(16)

< br>Bibliography

……………………………………………………………… ………………

.(17)

Acknowledgements

………………………………………………………………………

( 19)

Analysis of the Anti-Hero Characters in

Catch-22

Abstract:

Joseph Heller is a great

writer of the Unite State in the

1860s. In his typical work

Catch-22

,

he

shows

numerous

absurd,

crazy

and

disorder

farces

about

the

world

for

human

beings by means of the fantastic form of war and the vivid depiction of characters. This thesis is

aimed to make research into the images of the characters in

Catch-22,

and focus on the theme

revealed in it.

From the perspective of the anti hero, this thesis carefully expatiates on Milo who

is a mercenary officer; Colonel Cathcart, an arbitrary person and Lieutenant Scheisskopf, who is

full of ambition; Yossarian, the bomber, who is afraid to die among the blind-minded common

people, and who attempts many stratagems only to get rid of the death and escape from the war.

Research into this subject may help us

understand the absurd theme in the novel and the dark

aspect of American bureaucratic society after World War

Ⅱ

.

Key words:

Catch-22

; anti-hero; character; absurd

《第二十二条军规》中的反英雄人物角色解析

摘

要：

约 瑟夫?海勒是美国十九世纪六十年代伟大作家。在其代表作品

《第二十二条军

规》中，海勒以一种荒诞离奇的战争形式以及对作品中人物的生动地刻画 ，向人们展示了

一幕幕荒诞、疯狂、混乱的人间闹剧。本文笔者将对《第二十二条军规》 中这类型人物形

象的特点加以研究，体现其内在的文学主题。从反英雄的视角，本文详细 阐述了专横无理

的卡思卡特上校，唯利是图的食堂管理员米洛，野心勃勃的谢司科普夫少 尉，聪明反被聪

明误的丹尼卡医生及“贪生怕死”的轰炸手尤索林。对此课题的研究可以 帮助我们理解出

这部小说荒诞的主题和战后美国官僚社会的阴暗的一面。

关键字

：《第二十二条军规》；反英雄；人物形象； 荒谬

1

Introduction

Joseph Heller was an American satirical novelist, short story writer and playwright, and one

of the most outstanding American novelists and the representative of Black Humor; he was born

in Brooklyn, New York on May 1, 1923.

His first and best known novel Catch-22 is now widely

recognized as one of the most important books written by American vocabulary to express the

frustration of encountering obstacles. The title of this work entered the English lexicon to refer to

absurd, no- win choices, particularly in situations in which the desired outcome of the choice is

impossibility,

and

regardless

of

choice,

the

same

negative

outcome

is

a

certainty.

Heller

is

widely regarded as one of the best post

–

World War II satirists.

Shortly after

Catch-22

was published, Heller thought of an idea for his next novel, which

would become

Something Happened

., published in 1974, Good as Gold in 1979,

God Knows

in

1984,

Picture This

in 1988,

Closing Time

in 1994

Portrait of an Artist as an Old Man

in 2000.

Catch-22

draws heavily on Heller

?

s Air Force experience and presents a war story that is at

once hilarious, grotesque, cynical, and stirring. Even though the theme of Catch-22 is based on

the U.S. Air Force team during World War II, In fact, there is no specific description of the war

in the novel. Heller once said that he was not interested in the subject of war, in

Catch-22

, he had

no

interest

in

war,

and

he

was

interested

in

the

bureaucratic

power

structure

of

personal

relationships. Heller is in a deep disgust and despair thought. Borrowing chaos of war and full of

a

sense

of

the

wide

stage,

he

shows

his

absurd

sense

of

social

and

personal

situation

in

this

society and fate.

So far, the research on the novel is mainly focused on the following aspects: writing style,

plot, black humor, historical accuracy, etc. Many researches are based on the black humor. It is

thought that the representative of Black Humor .Some researches do research on the writing style.

However

there

has

been

seldom

research

on

it

from

the

perspective

of

the

anti-hero.

In

the

following

research

into

the

characters

in

the

novel

will

be

made

from

the

perspective

of

the

anti-hero.

This paper mainly consists of four parts: Part One is a brief introduction to anti- hero, and it

includes two sections. The first section is the definition of the anti-hero, while the second section

introduces the features of the anti-hero. Part Two is the characteristic of the anti-hero in

Catch-22

,

which includes three sections: conflict and uncertainty, relentless quest for personality and the

2

tragic fate of the characters. This can help us to understand the theme of the anti-hero. Part Three

is a detailed analysis of embodiments of

the anti-hero images in

Catch-22

and it includes five

sections.

Each

section

is

about

an

image.

There

are

Colonel

Cathcart,

Milo,

Lieutenant

Scheisskopf,

Doc

Daneeka

and

Yossarian.

Part

Four

is

the

causes

of

the

formation

of

the

anti-heroes in

Catch-22,

it includes two sections, the first section is the bureaucratic collusion,

and

the

second

section

is

the

religious

bondage.

Through

the

analysis,

we

can

see

how

the

bureaucracy and the religion affect and control the thoughts, behavior and fate of the characters.

The

conclusion

generalizes

the

paper

and

the

significance

and

points

out

from

which

aspects

further research can be made into.

3

1.

Brief Introduction of the Anti-hero

The

anti-hero

is

a

term

in

modern

literature

and

it

has

close

relation

with

hero.

Its

development means the gradual decline of the lofty ideals of human. It emerges and develops,

which has great influence on American society. This part is a brief introduction of the anti-hero.

1.1 Definition of the Anti-hero

When it comes to the term “anti

-

hero”, many can answer the question what anti

-hero is,

but

few

can

give

a

precise

definition

acceptable

to

all.

Webster’

s

Dictionary

gives

a

concise

definition:

A protagonist or notable figure who is conspicuously lacking in heroic qualities.

The Longman Companion to 20th Century Literature

(1981 Edition) gave the “Anti

-

hero”

concept a brief explanation:

Anti-hero denies the standard of behavior or the social behavior previously considered as

the basis of a civilized society. Such people deliberately resist or totally disregard the code of

conduct, even regard the modern society as a non-human world.

(Ward, 1981: 342)

And in

Webster’

s

Encyclopedia

, we can find a comparatively more detailed definition:

novels.

Through

depicting

changes

of

fate

of

such

kind

of

people,

writers

“falsify”

traditional

values,

which marked the display of individualistic thought, the decline of traditional moral values and

the query of ideals and beliefs. Anti-hero is a protagonist or notable figure who is conspicuously

lacking in heroic qualities.

hero” is not the synonym of “negative character

but the collective name of a certain type of characters in literary works.

1.2 Features of the Anti- hero

According to

Webster’

s

Encyclopedia

, the anti-hero has following features: Characteristics

of

heroes

can

be

summarized

as

handsome,

capable

and

well-conducted.

In

contrast,

the

anti-hero

has

such

unhealthy

and

not

heroic

features

as

repulsive

looks,

clumsy

action,

dull

intellect,

passive

disposition,

poor

situations,

and

abnormal

conduct,

and

they

are

faulted

or

failing in some fundamental aspects. Anti-heroes can have ideals and capabilities lofty and great

as heroes', or approaching or even inferior to those of ordinary people, but they have to complete

something extraordinary all the same. Therefore, the anti- hero is a contradictory character: in a

4

scene,

he

is

a

hero,

and

in

another

scene,

maybe

he

is

the

villain

or

a

persona

non

grata.

Anti-hero is closer to the actual than hero of near-perfect.

Yossarian, the main character in

Catch-22

, is not those of a typical hero, and he does not risk

his life to save others; in fact, his primary goal throughout the novel is to avoid risking his life

whenever possible. Unl

ike a conventional hero, Yossarian doesn?t generalize this idea to mean

that

he

should

risk

his

own

life

in

attempts

to

save

everybody

else?s.

Colonel

Cathcart,

the

ambitious, unintelligent officer in

charge of Yossarian?s squadron

, wants to be a general, and he

tries

to

impress

his

superiors

by

bravely

volunteering

his

men

for

dangerous

combat

duty

whenever

he

gets

the

chance.

As

he

tries

to

scheme

his

way

ahead,

he

thinks

of

successful

actions as “father in his cap” and unsuccessful ones as “black eyes.”

It is clear that all of them

want to be a hero, but what they do is the action of an anti-hero.

2. Characteristics of the Anti-heroes in

Catch-22

The appearance of anti-hero characters marks the declining of the indomitable enterprising

spirit, consciousness and tenacious struggle of the hero image, and the anti-hero character is one of

the

main

features

of

the

post-war

literature,

the

three

characteristics

of

the

anti-hero

will

be

discussed in the following.

2.1 Conflict and Uncertainty

The Anti-

hero?s im

ages in

Catch-22

are more

conflicting and uncertain than the traditional

anti-hero images of the hero in literature which have firm will and goals. On one hand, they put

importance on the self- independence and individuation; on the other hand, they display a strong

resistance for the reality of powerlessness; when facing the external control in the suppression of

individuality,

they

fail

again

and

again

because

of

the

indecisive

temperament.

This

contradiction can often play a very significant

e of humor “effect.

The

hero

Yossarian

in

Catch-22

is

a

contradictory

character,

and

he

is

described

in

the

following chapter:

After he had made up his mind to spend the rest of the war in the hospital, Yossarian wrote

letters

to

everyone

he

knew

saying

that

he

was

in

the

hospital

but

never

mentioning

why

(Joseph Heller, 1961:18).

5

Yossarian was a lead bombardier who had been demoted because he no longer gave a damn

whether he missed or not. He had decided to live forever or die in the attempt, and his only

mission each time he went up was to come down alive. (Joseph Heller, 1961:25)

In one way, he loves life, on the other way, he

struggles to

escape the war

for he

may be

killed at any time in the environment, and it means he is trying to save his lives, but at the same

time, he has shown contempt for the strong feeling of life

.

Yossarian ridicules the injured soldiers and attaches importance to his own live in contrast,

which shows such a strong contrast between the characters their own cowardice and insensitivity

of death. Behind the humor is chilling indifference, the reader can see in all of modern man in

his shadow.

The other character in the novel, Colonel Carter, is also a contradictory character, and his

nature reflects clearer in the novel:

He

was

dashing

and

dejected,

poised

and

chagrined.

He

was

complacent

and

insecure;

daring in the administrative stratagems he employed to bring himself to the attention of his

superiors and craven in his concern that his schemes might all backfire. He was handsome

and

unattractive,

a

swashbuckling,

beefy,

conceited

man

who

was

putting

on

fat

and

was

tormented chronically by prolonged seizures of apprehension. (Joseph Heller, 1961:103)

Colonel Carter hates but loves the lieutenant colonel, because he can give advice for him;

when the priest prays, the content which

refers the God and the Bible are forbidden,

what the

priest prays is that the bomb could be thrown farther.

“Then we'll begin with this afternoon's mission.' The colonel's hostility softened gradu

ally

as

he

applied

himself

to

details.

`Now,

I

want

you

to

give

a

lot

of

thought

to

the

kind

of

prayers we're going to say. I don't want anything heavy or sad. I'd like you to keep it light and

snappy, something that will send the boys out feeling pretty good. Do you know what I mean?

I don't want any of this Kingdom of God or Valley of Death stuff. That's all too negative.

6

What are you making such a sour face for?”

（

Joseph Heller, 1961:104

）

Colonel Carter is a microcosm of those in power at that time; the readers laugh at and curse

these ridiculous officers, which can vent from this humorous discontent for the real world.

2.2 Relentless Quest for Personality

Anti-heroes

reflect

the

personality

of

contradictions

and

uncertainties,

which

make

them

trapped

into

the

embarrassing

situation

of

self-contradiction,

but

at

the

same

time,

what

lies

behind this contradictory character is their relentless pursuit in spirit and the constant quest of

“self”.

In the novel, the hero Yossarian is described as follows:

Yossarian did feel almost sick enough to go back into the hospital, and he felt even sicker

three combat missions later when Doc Daneeka still shook his melancholy head and refused

to ground him.

(Joseph Heller, 1961:48)

In order to survive and break out of the inescapable net woven by the officers who have no

patriotism, Yossarian exhausts such methods as lying, malingering, pretending crazy, and even

pretends

to

be

assassinated.

The

most

typical

approach

is

staying

in

the

field

hospital

by

pretending

sickness

to

escape

the

never-ending

and

randomly

increasable

flights.

His

companions fall and injure themselves seriously again and again for the sake of escaping flights

and enjoying delicious meals.

For

such

people

in

the

writing,

the

direction

of

their

efforts

---to

escape

their

combat

missions--- may not be worth encouraging, but it shows their character of striving for the goal.

However the odd environment of the military camp created by way of irony makes it difficult for

readers to criticize the hero's behavior. Instead, readers may generate sympathy and admiration

to the hero's unremitting efforts in the enjoyment of humor. Finally, of course, the protagonist's

spirit was rewarded, he piloting an aero plane towards his ideal country Sweden.

2.3 The Tragic Fate of the Characters

7