What is the role of the military bureaucracy in Catch-22? Joseph Heller's novel Catch-22 has a considerable focus on the military bureaucracy and its impact on individuals' lives. The military bureaucracy operates within a flawed system that serves no other purpose than to support the war effort. Despite the enormous responsibilities of the officers, they frequently succumb to petty concerns with maintaining their authority, receiving commendations, and advancing their careers. The system is designed to be confusing and inefficient, causing stress and chaos to the soldiers in its ranks. The bureaucracy is responsible for creating Catch-22, a regulation that allows the military to cancel requests to be relieved from duty. The arbitrary rule traps soldiers in an endless cycle of flying missions for a perilous mission until they are judged insane. The officers in charge, particularly Colonel Cathcart and Lieutenant Colonel Korn, prioritize their desire for recognition instead of the lives of their men. Consequently, their soldiers are dehumanized and denied basic rights, which leads to disillusionment and inhumane treatment. Heller critiques the absurdity of the military bureaucracy, which frequently prioritizes maintaining the status quo over people's lives. Through Catch-22's lens, he highlights how rule by the bureaucracy can pull people away from their moral and ethical ideals, jeopardize people's dignity, and erode people's humanity. References: 1. Heller, Joseph. Catch-22. Simon and Schuster, 1996. 2. Abbott, S. R. “The Bureaucratic Hero: Colonel Cathcart in Catch-22.” War, Literature & the Arts: An International Journal of the Humanities, vol. 25, no. 1/2, 2013, pp. 1–16. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/41529496.
