Catch-22

Catch-22

Catch-22

is a

satirical

and somewhat

historical

novel by the American author

Joseph Heller

. He

began writing it in 1953, and the novel was first published in 1961. It is set during

World War II

in

1943

[2]

and is frequently cited as one of the great literary works of the twentieth century.

[3]

It uses

a distinctive non-chronological

third-person omniscient

narration, describing events from different

characters' points of view and out of sequence so that the time line develops along with the plot.

The

novel

follows

Captain

John

Yossarian

,

a

U.S.

Army

Air

Forces

.

The

novel

looks

into

the

experiences of Yossarian and the other airmen in the camp, and their attempts to keep their sanity

in order to fulfill their service requirements, so that they can return home. The phrase

,

problem or by a rule,

[4]

has entered the

English language

Within

the

book,

is

a

military

rule,

the

self-contradictory

circular

logic

that,

for

example, prevents anyone from avoiding combat missions.

The narrator explains:

There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one's safety in

the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind.

Orr

was crazy

and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be

crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if

he didn't, but if he were sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn't have to;

but if he didn't want to he was sane and had to. Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute

simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle.

Other forms of Catch-22 are invoked throughout the novel to justify various bureaucratic actions.

At

one

point,

victims

of

harassment

by

military

police

quote

the

MPs'

explanation

of

one

of

Catch-22's

provisions:

states

that

agents

enforcing

Catch-22

need

not

prove

that

Catch-22

actually

contains

whatever

provision

the

accused

violator

is

accused

of

violating.

Another character explains:

from doing.

Yossarian comes to realize that Catch-22 does not actually exist, but because the powers that be

claim it does, and the world believes it does, it nevertheless has potent effects. Indeed, because it

does

not

exist,

there

is

no

way

it

can

be

repealed,

undone,

overthrown,

or

denounced.

This

darker, slower-paced, apocalyptic novel explores the pre- and post-war lives of some of the major

characters

in

Catch-22

,

with

particular

emphasis

on

the

relationship

between

Yossarian

and

tailgunner Sammy Singer.

[

edit

] Themes

One

of

the

first

themes

developed

in

the

novel

is

the

question

of

what

is

right

to

do

in

a

moral-social

or

prisoner's

dilemma,

in

which

a

person

can

either

cooperate

with

others

for

a

greater

communal

benefit

or

act

solely

to

increase

one's

personal

well-being.

Yossarian

is

presented

as

embracing

the

latter

option,

such

as

when

he,

with

a

mighty

sense

of

accomplishment each time he gazed at [the officers' club building] and reflected that none of the

work

that

had

gone

into

it

was

his,

which

casts

Yossarian

as

an

anti-hero

.

He

asks

me

when

he

is

conversing

about

taking

risks

others

would

not.

Major

Danby

asks

Yossarian,

suppose everybody on our side felt that way?

fool to feel any other way. Wouldn't I?

Another theme is the perversion of notions of right or wrong, particularly

patriotism

and

honor

.

Several

themes

mingle;

the

only

way

to

survive

such

an

insane

system

is

to

be

insane

oneself

Social dilemma

(that he would be a fool to be any

other way) and another theme,

rise in rank, and make money,

Yossarian

comes to fear his commanding officers more than he fears the Germans attempting to

shoot him down and he feels that

fears

his

commanders

more

than

the

enemy

is

that

as

he

flies

more

missions,

Colonel

Cathcart

increases the number of required combat missions before a soldier may return home; he reaches

the magic number only to have it retroactively raised. He comes to despair of ever getting home

and is greatly relieved when he is sent to the hospital for a condition that is almost

jaundice

. In

Yossarian's words:

The enemy is anybody who's going to get you killed, no matter which

side

he's on, and that

includes Colonel Cathcart. And don't you forget that, because the longer you remember it, the

longer you might live.

[8]

While the military's enemies are Germans, none appear in the story as an enemy combatant. This

ironic situation is epitomized in the single appearance of German personnel in the novel, who act

as

pilots

employed

by

the

squadron's

Mess

Officer,

Milo

Minderbinder

,

to

bomb

the

American

encampment

on

Pianosa.

This

predicament

indicates

a

tension

between

traditional

motives

for

violence and the modern economic machine, which seems to generate violence simply as another

means to profit, quite independent of geographical or ideological constraints. Heller emphasizes

the danger of profit seeking by

portraying Milo without “evil intent;

as the result of greed, not malice.

[9]