CATCH 22 JOSEPH HELLER
1961 – Although the novel is set in 1941 – 1943, and Heller does target the insanity
and chaos of war, the text is more grounded in the early sixties and the movement
for individual expression and anti establishment protest.
Novel – satiric
SETTING:
The main setting in Catch-22 is the island of Pianosa, off the coast of Italy, in
1944, in the midst of WWII. Heller mentions that this island is too small to
accommodate the military base, the men posted there (the fictitious
256th Squadron), and their actions, which introduces the self-defeating logic of
the entire book, highlighting Heller’s flippant humor, and the battle between
institution (the military bureaucracy) and the individual. The army hospital at
Pianosa is an establishment that is associated with escape from the harsh world
of war, as many men, including Yossarian, attempt to hide away and fake
illness in order to stay in this safe haven, which they believe is free from the
insanity outside. A major portion of the book is set in the air as well, as the men
fly many missions and bomb different areas, leading to tragedy and loss. The
sky symbolizes a place of absurdity, twisted logic, and death (in the case of
Snowden, the suicide of McWatt, and the Bologna/ Avignon raids). Yossarian
realizes in his encounters in the air that he is not invincible, death is imminent,
and no human hands can restore life to a destroyed body. The sea is another
setting in the novel, as Kid Sampson is killed in the ocean by McWatt’s plane,
while Orr escapes by boat to Sweden, unveiling both the mortality of man and
the irremovable impulse for survival that exists inside us all. Many nations are
quick stop-offs for Milo Minderbender’s capitalist ventures, as he goes to cities
in Mediterranean Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa for his own selfish
benefit and profit. Nearby Rome serves as a recreation ground for off-duty
soldiers, and is the center of social madness, as corruption and misery surround
the aviators. For much of the novel, Rome is the headquarters for General
Peckem, the head of Special Services, and the men constantly visit brothels.
Nately falls in love with a whore here, and Yossarian falls in love with many
women, including the maid in lime-green panties and Luciana. One of the
nicknames for Rome is “The Eternal City”; this conveys an interesting
message, as Heller makes this the title of the climactic Chapter 39, in which
Yossarian wanders the streets after the disappearance of Nately’s whore and
her sister. This once relaxing paradise transforms into a nightmare landscape,
as Yossarian takes in the nighttime devastation, abuse, oppression, and neglect
on the streets, and realizes that suffering is everywhere. This world is a fallen
paradise, once dominated in Yossarian’s mind by lavish apartments and
beautiful women, now overrun by military police and immorality. When he
returns to Aarfy he finds that his comrade murdered an innocent maid,
Michaela, as he had no regard for human life, just like the army administration,
and had too much pride to pay for his desires. The setting in Catch-22plays a
major role in character relations and the development of the plot, establishing
themes that focus on the impermanent nature of life and the foolish circular
logic of the book as a whole.
THEMES:
In Catch 22, there is an underlying theme of the constant struggle between
sanity vs. insanity. Heller points this out in his book quite clearly this meaning.
Yossarian, the captain, struggles with his ability to cope with the war. He is not in
favor of even wearing his uniform. He is portrayed as the symbol of an insane
person trying to cope with the war. He thinks unjustly that everyone around him is
out to get him and that he is the sane one and the rest of the world is insane. It is
this constant flip flop of thinking that has the author on his toes trying to switch
back and forth in the ability to see things clearly from the viewpoint of saneness
and craziness.
Another example of this tug of war would be Yossarian’s refusal to fly. The
Doctor believes he is the crazy one but, in reality, maybe Yossarian is the sane
one because he doesn’t want to lose his life. Is he crazy because he wants to be
grounded so he will not lose his life and are the rest of the flyers insane because
they are willing to fly and risk their life? Has the world gone insane and it is
impossible to trust in anyone’s sanity? The symbolic effects of war constantly
challenged each of the characters in pursuing this theme of sanity and insanity
and trying to distinguish these beliefs and meaning, clearly by the roles of the
characters in Catch-22.
Soldiers as Governmental Puppets:
In Catch-22, Heller uses certain characters to represent the government
usage of people as puppets. Heller questions people’s freedom to operate. He
questions whether people are really free to do what they want or if they are
shaped in advance by institutional. The fact that the men do what they are told
with no questions shows that they just give up, conform to the institution, and
do what they are told. Heller uses Colonel Cathart as a personification of the
government. Cathart continues to raise mission numbers, not caring how many
of his men die, just to get the promotions he wants. He sees his soldiers not as
men but as property to be listed on an inventory. Another example of Heller’s
idea of men as property is when Yossarian injures his leg and gets told to take
better care of himself because his leg is “government property”. Heller also
uses Lt. Scheisskopf’s obsession with parades to demonstrate the need to show
off their accomplishments. At some point there is mention that he even wants to
wire the men together so that their performance is perfect. A fourth example is
the soldier in white. He is brought to the hospital but is never seen or heard. He
sits there quietly. His IV and pee bag just get switched when one is empty. His
legs are strewn up and he look like the puppet strung up. A visual
representation of the Governments Puppet.
CHARACTERS:
Yossarian is a captain in the Air Force, he plays the protagonist
and hero of the novel Catch 22. He is a lead bombardier in his
squadron, yet despises anything to do with the war. Yossarian
is a hypochondriac for the purpose of not having to risk his life
in dangerous and often pointless missions. He often fakes crazy
non-existent diseases to stay out of the plane causing the rest
of his men to believe the war has made him go insane. The
other men in his squadron see Yosarrian as an outcast. He
doesn’t like being a soldier and will do anything to prevent
himself from risking his life. Yossarian redefines the meaning
of heroism. He lacks any characteristics of what one would
imagine a hero to be like, but decides that lives aren’t worth
being lost in such a place of chaos without any valid reason
other than the simple ordering by the government. He takes his
men’s deaths very deeply and ultimately decides to leave the
war altogether in order to save himself and to stand up against
the government for what he believes is right.
Nately is a nineteen year old boy that comes from a family of wealth and is
very young, innocent, sweet, and naive. While in Rome, he falls in love with a
whore. Since he wants her to stop being a whore, he pays her so that she can
ultimately give up her "job." Nately dies in combat and Yossarian delivers the
tragic news to his whore, who goes off on a rampage and tries to blame
Yossarian for Nately's death. She tries to stab him many times, trying to make
him seem responsible. In a way, Nately represents the optimism during the war
along with its sudden tragedies. Even though he is one of the youngest men in
the squadron, he seems to be killed along with his optimistic views about life in
general.
Doc Daneeka is a flight surgeon, who is notorious for his complaints.
Although his problems are relatively petty, he continuously begins his
sentences with, “you think you’ve got problems…”. He constantly has his
temperature checked, but is always in perfect health. He is afraid of flying so
Yossarian helps him record more flight hours than he is deserving of, but he
never returns the favor. Even though Yossarian is terrified to fly more mission
and it is well within Doc Daneeka’s means to ground him, he refuses to, which
is consistent with his selfish nature and belief that his problems are more
important/worse than everyone else’s problems. Later in the book, he has
Yossarian fake more hours for him by putting his name on McWatt’s flight
log. McWatt then crashes the plan and commits suicide and all aboard the
plane are declared dead. He spends the rest of his time in the war trying to
convince people he is alive, including his wife, to whom he writes that he is not
dead. His wife decides she would rather accept the money she received after
his death than acknowledge that her husband may be alive. This is ironic
because Doc Daneeka spent his entire life complaining about the money he lost
when he opened his practice and was shipped off to war and trying to regain the
amount lost through falsely signing his name to missions he was not brave
enough to fly. After Doc Daneeka’s “death”, Colonel Cathcart raised the
number of missions again, much to the dismay of the other men in the
squadron, and he is further isolated.
Snowden is a young man in Yossarian’s
squadron who is gruesomely killed on a
mission over Avignon. Snowden’s guts get on
Yossarian’s uniform while he is dying, and
his death causes Yossarian great mental pain
and shock. We see snippets of this incident
throughout the book but it is never fully
shown until the end of the book.
Snowden’s death causes the mental
pain and trauma that inspires Yossarian’s
hate for the military bureaucracy. We aren’t
let in on the details of his death and why
it changed Yossarian until the end of the
book, making the scene far more significant
and shocking. The reveal of Snowden’s death
helps explain Yossarian’s intentions and
mindset throughout the book. While Snowden
himself isn’t a character that is depicted
in any instance other than this scene, his
impact on the book is tremendous. Snowden’s
guts pouring out onto Yossarian serve as a
symbol for the expendability of human life
in the hands of the military, as they are
seen in Yossarian’s eyes as “garbage” and
cause him to see himself and his squadmates
as disposable pawns in the American war
effort. The gruesome scene of Snowden’s
death also creates a harsh juxtaposition
with the lighthearted absurdity of the rest
of the book, changing the entire feel of the
book and making us rethink the various
actions of Yossarian.
Dubar is Yossarian's closest friend. They are very similar and have the same
fear of dying and a strong instinct to survive. They both have the same type of
humor and they play off each other when they are mocking other soldiers. At
first he is obsessed with slowing down time so he can prolong his death but
eventually the becomes too much for him to handle so he accepts that he's
going to die. Like Yossarian Dunbar has no issues with switching identities to
avoid combat duty. In chapter 26 he becomes A. Fortiori and that gives Yoss
the idea to switch identities as well.
The Texan is a minor character who only
appears in the very beginning of the novel.
He is a soldier who Yossarian and the other
men in the medical ward find extremely
irritating due to his cheery demeanor. The
Texan's cheer has absolutely no place, in
the other men's minds, in a place where
death must be faced every single day.
Yossarian blames the Texan for the death of
the soldier in white. While the Texan talks
about being American as apple pie and the
Brooklyn Dodgers and criticizes the lack of
patriotism that Yossarian and his comrades
have, he turns out to be a hypochondriac
avoiding the war just like everyone else in
the medical ward. In the end the Texan turns
out to be the force the drives the men to
leave the hospital and face the war once
again.
Milo Minderbinder: The mess officer of Yossarian’s squadron, and a
successful war profiteer. He uses his skills in business to run the
“syndicate” in which everyone has a share. His syndicate is an
international trading organization known as M&M Enterprises,
through which he trades a wide variety of goods with great success.
His only failure came when he cornered the market on Egyptian cotton
and was unable to sell it. He then attempted to pass it off to his men
by covering it with chocolate, to no avail. Milo represents capitalism
and greed, and how, to Heller, capitalists are strongly swayed by
money. This is shown by the fact that Milo contracts German bombers
to bomb his own squadron, and when he is court-martialed for it, he
exonerates himself by disclosing to the officials how much profit he
made. Milo is another example of how bureaucracy controls the lives
of the soldiers, and how they are (often unknowingly) a part of the
system, and how they have no control over it.
Lieutenant Scheisskopf (Minor Character)
His name literally translates to “Sh*thead” in German. He is also Yossarian’s
and Clevinger’s training commander, although he dislikes Clevinger. He loves
parades and is constantly thinking of new ways to win the parade. Although
fairly irrelevant in war, Scheisskopf’s dedication to parades earns him many
future promotions.
The significant of Major Major in Catch 22 is one in which involves the true
cruelty of life and how some people simply have the most unfortunate of
circumstances to deal with. Being named Major Major seems more or less like
a minor problem at first and is quite humorous actually but the when we learn
about his back story it is quite tragic and symbolic of a cruel father and fate in
the the world. Major Major becoming a Major due to an error in the system and
losing all of his friends on the basketball court is sad as well and points to
another idea that authority may come at a price and the lack of trust people
have in figures of authority in general. Overall, Major Major Major Major plays
a small but important role in making some points by the author and just how
unfair and cruel life can be.
The chaplain is one of the few purely good characters in the novel mainly due
to his compassion for the soldiers. He is a timid, innocent, faith abiding man
whose actions are guided by God and religion. Witnessing the gruesomeness of
the war, the chaplain struggles to maintain his faith and innocence. He lies
about having a disease called Wisconsin Shingles in order to be admitted to the
hospital, and realizes that he enjoys sinning now that he can justify it. Some
time later, the chaplain is dragged into the cellar and falsely accused and found
guilty of many crimes. After this he truly understands how corrupt the
bureaucracy is and that religion is useless in war, thus transforming him into an
assertive, confident man whose guiding force is Yossarian and the other men.
He chooses responsibility to others instead of continuing to follow the unjust
system, which is an important theme throughout all of Catch-22. The chaplain
is one of the few purely good characters in the novel mainly due to his
compassion for the soldiers. He is a timid, innocent, faith abiding man whose
actions are guided by God and religion. Witnessing the gruesomeness of the
war, the chaplain struggles to maintain his faith and innocence. He lies about
having a disease called Wisconsin Shingles in order to be admitted to the
hospital, and realizes that he enjoys sinning now that he can justify it. Some
time later, the chaplain is dragged into the cellar and falsely accused and found
guilty of many crimes. After this he truly understands how corrupt the
bureaucracy is and that religion is useless in war, thus transforming him into an
assertive, confident man whose guiding force is Yossarian and the other men.
He chooses responsibility to others instead of continuing to follow the unjust
system, which is an important theme throughout all of Catch-22.
Orr may seem like an innocent weird guy with
chestnut-filled cheeks, however he is more
than that. He is known as a bomber pilot
who is continually shot down and crash lands
into the ocean. Described to have a cherublike appearance, "a warm-hearted, simple
minded gnome" no one questions as to why he
is always crashing. In the book, Orr is the
only character to be considered "crazier"
than Yossarian. However Orr is not crazy at
all, he had a plan to escape, he knows how
to escape Catch-22 and the bureaucracy. At
the end of the book Orr oars away to Sweden
where peace can be found, coincidently
having practiced this before with a crew
after having crashed another plane. Orr also
relates to the books idea of responsibility,
he is responsible for Yossarian, fixing his
stove because he knows he'll be cold during
winter. In the end Yossarian takes Orr's
plan and rows towards freedom.
Ex PFC Wintergreen Is a mail clerk at the 27th Air Force Headquarters. Even
though he is lower in rank than even the lowest private, the first time we see
him he settles an argument between two generals. Wintergreen is very
knowledgable and wields considerable power despite his rank. He likes to
exploit the military bureaucracy, sometimes for personal gain and sometimes
for fun. He starts the chain of phone calls that simply contain the cryptic
message, "TS Eliot", which befuddles the high ranking officers. He stays out
of combat by continuously going AWOL, getting captured, and digging holes
in Colorado until he can go AWOL again. His power comes from his position
as a mail clerk, which gives him control over information. He is well-known
and respected, and ironically is one of the characters that contributes the least to
the war effort. Although the military bureaucracy views him as lowly and
dishonorable, Ex PFC Wintergreen is one of the most powerful, intelligent, and
respected men in the novel.
SYMBOLS:
The Soldier in White is a symbol for soldiers in war and represents
what a controlling bureaucracy, such as the military, can do to one’s
humanity after time. We are first introduced to the character to be
described as a severely injured patient wrapped up in bandages,
emulating a puppet, “hoisted up in the air by taut wire cables”. What
once used to be an active solider is now just a useless and hallow
vessel. He is completely faceless and has no identity. Yossarian
describes him as “more like a stuffed and sterilized mummy than a
real nice guy”. Soldiers in war are forced to give up their identity
and become killing machines. The Solider in White is a symbol for all
of the men who succumb to the war and give up all of their
humanity and suddenly become meaningless. Repeating the question
of whether anyone is actually inside the cast can be asked towards
any of the men in the war – although they physically look like
humans, it’s a mystery if any trace of humanity inside still exists.