DRAMATIC MONOLOGUE
CATCH-22
By Joseph Heller
LILLY BRONS
KNOX – PERIOD 5, AP LIT
31 MAY 2013
OVERVIEW
Yossarian is convinced that millions of people are out to kill him. With the absurd logic
used throughout Joseph Heller's Catch-22, he is, in fact, correct. However all the other
squadron members think he is insane. This book follows many characters who revolve
around John Yossarian, a fighter pilot stationed off the coast of Italy on an the island of
Pianosa during the Second World War. Surrounded by death and the gruesomeness of
war, Yossarian seeks out several ways to get out of duty. Early on, he decides to plead
insanity to the doctor ("Doc Daneeka") in order to get out of his flying duties. However
there is a catch—Catch-22. According to this, if a man flies and is willing to risk his life
by doing so, he is insane. However if he cites insanity in order to get out of his duties of
flying, then he is sane, and is therefore capable and required to fly. This is just one
example of many "catches" that Yossarian encounters during Heller's novel.
Catch-22 is only one example of the absurdity and insanity that is rampant in Heller's
novel. Absurdity also crops up in the motivations of the commanding officers in
Yossarian's squadron. These officers are blindly determined to be promoted or publicly
lauded for their efforts. However their efforts only include putting their men in dangerous
situations in which their goal is to get a "tight aerial photograph" or something vain of the
like. Success is no longer measured by accuracy and getting the job done with no
fatalities—it is measured in risk and vanity.
Although these missions are risky, only the squadron men—not the officers—are the
ones whose lives are put at risk. People who eventually end up dead in combat surround
Yossarian. In fact, the narrator often returns to the untimely death of a young soldier
named Snowden, who died in Yossarian's arms during one of the ridiculously impractical
missions to which they were assigned. This even marks the point at which Yossarian
loses his desire to fly. Yossarian realizes that, because he keeps a running temperature of
101 and has boarder-line liver failure, he can avoid his mission duties by staying in the
hospital. But soon he realizes that his responsibilities will eventually catch up to him, and
he will be required to fulfill the number of missions required of him.
Because the timeline is skewed, the only real way to orient oneself, as a reader, is to
know the current number of missions required of the squadron members. The number
requirement is constantly increasing, so the men have no way to go home—they fly, or
they die flying. Thinking it will give them more recognition; the commanding officers
arbitrarily increase mission requirements. Nearing the end, Yossarian begins to only see
the gruesome and dark aspects of life at war. The hopelessness of ever finding a way out
leads him to act somewhat absurdly.
BIOGRAPHY
The son of Russian-Jewish immigrants, Joseph Heller was born on May 1, 1923 in
Brooklyn, New York. At age five, Heller's father died after an unsuccessful surgical
operation. His early understanding of death may have lead to mortality being such a large
theme in his works. They—Heller, mother, and two half-siblings from the father's first
marriage—were left to fend for themselves in the Coney Island, carnival-like
surroundings. This atmosphere is likely to have given Heller his characteristic humor,
which marks his novels.
Heller's 14 year-old half brother became much like a surrogate father to him. In order to
make ends meet, his mother would take in boarders. At age ten, Heller was given a child's
version of Iliad (by Homer), when he subsequently declared he would be a writer. In his
teens, Heller took up multiple part-time jobs while often taking time to practice writing
short stories. A year after graduating as an honors student in 1941, Heller enlisted in the
Army Air Corps. Two years later he was sent to Corsica—an island in the
Mediterranean—where he flew 60 combat missions and was awarded several accolades.
After being discharged in 1945, he married and had two children. Under the G.I. Bill (a
bill that provided education for returning World War II veterans), Heller received a BA in
English from NYU, a master's from Colombia, and then went to lecture at Pennsylvania
State. While compiling ideas for a novel that would later be titled Catch-22, Heller
collected names from people he knew at the university.
Having written several short stories and lacking enough inspiration to continue onto a
novel, Heller and family left for New York. From 1952 to 1961, Heller worked as an
advertising copywriter, which gave him material for a later, lesser-known novel entitled
Something Happened.
The first chapter of Catch-22 was published as Catch-18 in New World Writing in 1955.
A suggestion from a publisher later changed the title to Catch-22. A few years after the
book was published and almost no publicity received, Catch-22 finally received positive
reviews from critics and was quickly recognized as a 20th century classic. Richard
Starnes from The New York World-Telegram said, “Yossarian will, I think, live a very
long time.” Though not everyone was happy with the work. Some critics thought the
novel was too repetitive or tedious to read. Others thought that it was too controversial
considering its harsh stance on military and the government.
In 1961, Catch-22 was published. In 1968 after divorcing his wife, Heller came down
with Guillain-Barré syndrome, which causes paralysis. After several months, Heller
recovered with help from his friend Speed Vogel. With Vogel, Heller wrote a book about
his experience, entitled No Laughing Matter.
In 1999, Joseph Heller suffered a fatal heart attack in his home near East Hampton.
Heller's final book, Portrait of an Artist, As an Old Man, was published posthumously.
CRITICAL ESSAY
DEADLY UNCONSCIOUS LOGICS IN JOSEPH HELLER'S CATCH-22
By Robert M. Young
Young begins his critical essay by comparing Joseph Heller's Catch-22 with the digestive
tract—"The location of the story in the inner world is the claustrum — a space inside the
psychic anus, at the bottom of the psychic digestive tract, where everyone lives
perpetually in projective identification, and the only value is survival." He then discusses
the personal "logics" of the novel's many characters. In particular, he discusses the nurses
who tended the Man in White, a man who had been cast in plaster. "There are such nurses
in the perverse world of Catch-22. They tend the Man in White... Those whose job it is to
tend him routinely take the bottle of plasma going in and the bottle of urine going out and
change them around: there is no difference between nourishment and waste, introjection
and projection' fair is foul and foul is fair." In other words, Young begins to prove that
the logic in Heller's novel is absurd—it's not logic at all; it's illogical.
Young continues to discuss the absurd logic in Heller's novel by describing the system of
bureaucracy as one completely focused on promotion. Because of this focus, many
soldier's lives are completely disregarded. The logic that is used to be promoted results in
the deaths of innumerable soldiers. Humanity is therefore sacrificed on behalf of
bureaucratic promotion. Furthermore, Major Major Major was promoted to Major due to
a clerical error, thus proving the pointlessness of the promotions that cost so many lives.
As Young states, "the central moral conflict of the book lies in the relationship between
the system and its rules and the humanity which pays the price for the defenses of those
in charge and the system they created and maintain at the expense of human decency."
I thought this essay was interesting in that it furthered the parallel of absurd narrative
with the absurdity of war. Although Young oddly begins his essay with the comparison
of Catch-22 with a digestive tract, his message was clear: Catch-22 further proved the
absurdity of war through the illogical actions of all those involved in the war, especially
those with authority. This is important to note because Heller's main purpose of the novel
seemed to be that the absurdity of war should call into question the actions and
motivations of those in authority. According to Young, the motivations may be illogical.
Upon reflection of this critical essay, it is important to take away the fact that the
government and all of its bureaucracy had more control over the soldiers and those
dictated by paper than anyone else. Squadron leaders' actions would be dictated by
messages they received by central communications. Missions were increased consistently
to impress the higher-ups, subsequently making it impossible for soldiers to escape the
horrors of the war. This illogical behavior contributed to the absurdity of the book and the
absurdity of the all-encompassing concept of Catch-22.
CRITICAL ESSAY
A WORLD WORTH LAUGHING AT: CATCH-22 AND THE HUMOR OF
BLACK HUMOR
By Daniel Green
Similar to Young's essay, Daniel Green's essay serves to illuminate the absurdity in the
narrative so as to parallel it with the absurdity and illogic involved with decisions of
authority. In contrast, Green's essay is a critical analysis of the black humor used in
Joseph Heller's novel, and how said humor emphasizes the absurdity of war. In the essay,
Green discusses how many analyses of Catch-22 focus on the "black" of the novel
instead of its black humor.
Unlike many analyses of the novel's humor, as Green explains, the humor cannot be
taken for humor's sake. Rather, it should be taken as a way to parallel the absurdities of
war. "In short, the logical inference to draw from the kinds of statements I have quoted is
that the comic cannot itself be serious." The joke should be taken as humor, but not
lightly, for, in fact, the obvious comparisons between the brutality of war and humorous
situations should keep the humor from being taken lightly. Rather, the humor should be
an indication of the absurdities of war, and subsequently its atrocities and brutalities.
Because the narrative is humorous and satiric, it emphasizes the absurdities of actions in
politics and authority (bureaucracy in general). Green says that these are often the
assumptions made by other analyses of Heller's novel. However he believes the novel's
purpose is to make a joke "whose design and execution are most appropriately construed
as vehicles of mirth." In other words, Green believes that Joseph Heller's satirical and
humorous narrative's purpose was solely for the laughs.
Green also makes a point to discuss how Heller's novel is considered by many critics to
be "black." According to Green, the novel is deemed "black" because of its black humor.
Heller makes use of dark situations to find humor in them—often the reader is compelled
to laugh, but knows that normally laughter in such a dark, black situation would be
frowned upon. Placing a joke in a gruesome situation (such as juxtaposing humor with
war) causes the reader to find the subject humorous, even though the subject alone would
yield a much different feeling.
Daniel Green makes some very fair points. He argues that the dark humor in Joseph
Heller’s book is misconstrued by some as just darkness, because of the juxtaposition of
humor with subject matter that can be interpreted as gruesome and depressing. However I
disagree that the humor was just for humor’s sake—that the joke was to be a “[vehicle] of
mirth.” It seems more likely that humor was used to convey the theme of the novel: that
war is absurd. By absurdly finding humor in dark, seemingly hopeless situations, Heller
confronts the idea of war, and how through its darkness, its absurdity can be seen.
STYLE ANALYSIS
This year we have read many great books regarding the difficult topic of injustice and
grief. None, however, compare to Catch-22. By far, Joseph Heller's novel was the most
enjoyable to read because it took grief and injustice and put it in a different light: humor.
With this angle of narrative, the point of Catch-22 was proven effectively: war is absurd.
Using an absurdly sarcastic and humorous narrative helped to parallel the absurdity of
war.
Although all the people on Yossarian's squadron believe him to be insane, all characters
could be described in such a way. For example, the mess hall organizer Milo
Minderbinder bombs his own squadron to expand his own syndicate trade with the
Germans. The only character to be considered crazier than Yossarian (by their fellow
squadron members) is Orr, who is thought to be simple-minded bomber pilot, who, on
each mission, has to crash land his plane.
The title of the novel comes from a catch—Catch-22. This catch first surfaces when
describing Yossarian's desire to no longer fly. All those who are willing to fly during the
war, constantly facing the opportunity of death, must be crazy. In order to be removed
from duty, one must be crazy. But to call oneself crazy in order to keep from flying is a
sane maneuver, and so would not be relieved from duty. Yossarian, discovering that all
those who fly must be crazy, begins to fear for his safety and tries to find a way out.
Although his fight for survival is portrayed in a humorous manner, the message is
universal.
The absurdity of the characters and the premise of the all-encompassing Catch-22 give
Heller's novel levity. The horrors that pervaded the Second World War are well known.
Using this setting, Heller finds a useful tool for the reader to question motivations of the
government and military behind war. This setting can be up for interpretation—perhaps
Heller encouraged questioning of future wars; not World War II in particular. Catch-22
encourages individuals to question the motivation of authority, and in turn authority
itself.
Though some may find Heller's analysis and implication of war as absurd to be offensive
or tactless, I found his novel to be illuminating and enjoyable. In several cases, events
that could be interpreted as brutally horrific caused me to laugh. To stop and realize that
this shouldn't be my reaction—that my reaction is absurd—is to realize the absurdity of
war.
In conclusion, the humor and levity of Joseph Heller's Catch-22 encouraged me to think
more deeply about the apparent absurdity of war and to look into the decisions of
authority made today.
MONOLOGUE
Everyone is crazy but me. But the guys say I’m crazy ‘cause I actually acknowledge that
people are trying to kill me. And I’m not crazy. They’re out there, and I’m scared—
scared as hell. And damn it, who in their right mind wouldn’t be? Thousands and
thousands of soldiers trying to kill you? And for no good reason, that’s for sure.
What you see now isn’t what I used to be. I used to be a strong fighter, thirsty to drop that
bomb. I’d fly level all the way to the target. The guys in back would be screaming, as
flack would just barely miss us. But I’d fly straight. So straight. And wait for that perfect
spot to just—let those bombs fly. Now to be clear, I didn’t give two shits about where the
bombs landed. Hell, they probably landed on water four times as much as they did on
land. But evasion was the only way I could make sure my men were safe when we turned
around. Going in and out like a mad man—that’s what saved me. And not a whole lot of
guys can say the same.
Now to be clear, when I flew, I didn’t actually get hit. But if you were with Orr, it would
be a completely different story. That guy would attract so much flack from every Nazi,
Italian, and any other goddamn son of a bitch you can think of. I swear every mission we
flew, he’d go down. Down to the ocean. No one ever died—we think. No one really
knows for sure where Orr went.
When I first got to my squadron camp on Pianosa, I found a dead man in my tent. To this
day, no one has moved him. His name is Mudd, and he died the day he came. Poor kid
kicked the can no more than two hours after setting foot on this tiny island. Too soon for
paperwork to be filed. Too soon, apparently, for anyone to take responsibility for him.
And I get it! Paper work is shit. But his stuff is still in my tent. No one has moved it. But
I want it moved. I don’t want to move it. Someone else can do that. I guess I don’t really
spend that much time in my tent, anyway.
Now I spend a lot of time trying to get out of duty. I talked to my doctor about how I
could get out of bombardier duty. He said that the only guys relieved were the crazies. So
I told him that I was crazy. That I couldn’t fly anymore. It’s too much, and that I didn’t
want to die. And then he said something about a catch—Catch-22, he said. Apparently if
I’m scared to fly and I say I’m crazy and can’t do it anymore, I have to do it. Because
you’re only crazy if you’re not afraid to fly. You’re perfectly sane if you are afraid. When
I was leaving, he told me that the catch was “the best there is.” That’s for sure. I started
looking for a different way to get out of it.
I’ve found a loophole: the hospital. The doctors say that I almost have liver failure.
Whatever the hell that means. Either way, I keep a steady temp of 101 and the doctors tell
me to stick around. But its different with the other guys. They need a temp of 102 to get
admitted. Anything below, and they get this nasty ass purple gunk rubbed all over their
gums, they’re handed a laxative, and the doctors say “them to come back in an hour or
whatever.” But with my “almost” liver failure, I get admitted. The doctor’s call it
Garnett-Fleishaker syndrome. Or Flashaker, or Floshakor. Something like that. I mean—I
doubt it’s a real thing… but I’m not going to question it. I just… I just can’t fly anymore!
So I’m OK with getting checked in on every hour or so by incompetent doctors so long as
I don’t have to fly, and I get a little extra mess hall food at the end of the day. It’s so easy.
It’s too easy. It’s so easy… easier than the girls in Rome. And the girls in Rome… well,
they’re super easy.
That lucky bastard Nately’s got a whore there, in Rome. She doesn’t give him the time of
day. But he is head over heals, blindly in love with this girl. I swear he follows her
around wherever she goes. And she only OK with that for a little compensation. He has
the money, so he pays it. You could say they’re a perfect match: she wants money, he has
money. But ever since Dobb’s crashed his plane into Nately’s, she’s been trying to kill
me. And I don’t need that extra flack! I mean, I have a million soldiers trying to kill me
as it is. I don’t need another crazy going after me now. But I guess she did love him.
‘Cause she stabbed me. Whatever—legitimate hospital stay, I don’t care.
The first time I laid eyes on the chaplain, I fell in love. My favorite thing to do at the
hospital was to censor letters. Actually, I had to do it seeing as I was promoted to officer
after killing my best friend. But censoring letters was entertaining as hell. I liked to mix it
up a bit. Sometimes I’d block out the entire body of the letter. And then I’d sign off
saying, “I yearn for you tragically, A.T. Tappman, Chaplain, U.S. Army.” Now no one
every knew it was me doing the censoring. They thought it was my alias Washington
Irving (or Irving Washington, depending on the day).
Actually some C.I.D. men got sent over to investigate this Washington Irving—
apparently it was the most pressing issue of the U.S. military since the First World War.
These guys were ridiculous. One guy got set up in my ward and started asking around
about this Washington Irving. I did my best acting: “Oh! I’ve never heard of him!” They
guy leaned over toward me and whispered: “I’m C.I.D. It’s top secret, so don’t be going
around telling people.” So of course when he left the room I told my buddy, Dunbar. And
he told me, “I know. He told me three minutes ago.”
Dunbar doesn’t want to die. Like me. So he spends a lot of his time trying to make the
time go by real slow. Basically he tries to make himself really bored. He says that that’s
what’s going to keep him satisfied until he dies. He says that it’s better to feel like life
has taken forever to go by than to enjoy life and have it pass by in a blink. I think
Snowden should have taken his advice.
I got shot in the leg once! The bullet went in one side and out the other. I was really
proud. But the commanding officers didn’t seem to see why, so they sent me back on
duty right away. And then there was Kid Sampson. He died at the hands of McWatt. Or
you could say the propellers, because they went through him like nothing at all. Only legs
were left behind. Sometimes if feels like death is the only way to get out of this mess. But
it can’t be, because I hear Orr may still be alive.
Sweden, I hear, is nice around this time of year. I want to go there someday. The food,
the peace, the women. I hear Orr may be there. But that can’t be. He’s probably dead…
like Snowden.
I still remember the leg wound. It funny, ‘cause I thought at one point I had it all under
control. I had tied a tourniquet around it just like I had been told to do. But it was so
open. I could see everything. The muscles—some were twitching. And Snowden just lay
there, saying, “I’m cold. I’m cold.” And there was nothing more I could do! Nothing of
real value, anyways. And when I looked up from his leg, I saw some red peaking out
around his arm. And so I opened up his flack jacket. And tore open his shirt. How could
he have still been alive! Everything just spilled out and splattered onto the cockpit floor. I
can still smell the ripe scent of his intestines. Putting it back wouldn’t have done
anything. But I wish there was something I could have done, because all he said was,
“I’m cold. I’m cold.”
I just… I can’t do this anymore. I can’t play along and just go on mission after mission. I
can’t watch my guys die. I went to Rome, and I wasn’t happy. The girls were cheap like I
liked, but the streets were filthy and empty. Like Pianosa. Like life. It feels like there’s no
escape. But I have to try. I have to go to Sweden.
WORKS CONSULTED
Bailey, Blake. "Something Happened." The New York Times. The New York Times, 28
Aug. 2011. Web. 31 May 2013.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/28/books/review/the-enigma-of-josephheller.html?pagewanted=all>.
Green, Daniel. "A World Worth Laughing At: Catch-22 and the Humor of Black
Humor." KCLS, Summer 1995. Web. 24 May 2011.
Luikkonen, Petri. "Joseph Heller (1923-1999).” Books and Writers, 2008. Web. 01 June
2011. <http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/heller.htm>.
Najarian, Jennifer. "Heller, Joseph." Heller, Joseph. N.p., 1 Mar. 2005. Web. 31 May
2013. <http://pabook.libraries.psu.edu/palitmap/bios/Heller__Joseph.html>.
Young, Robert M. "Deadly Unconscious Logics in Joseph Heller’s Catch-22." The
Human Nature Review. Ian Pitchford and Robert M. Young, 24 May 2005. Web.
01 June 2011. <http://human-nature.com/rmyoung/papers/heller.html>.