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Analysis Of The Book ' Catch 22 '

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AP Reader’s Journal-Fiction
Title: Catch-22
1. Significance of Title: A “Catch-22” is an inescapable, circular, argument. The victim of the argument can never win, and the writing party always does. This is most famously demonstrated when Doc Daneeka explains to Yossarian that due to “Catch-22” you cannot fly if you’re insane, but pleading insane to not fly would make you sane, and therefore you would have to fly, but only insane people fly. This circular logic is directly spoken of a few times, but is also seen in logic and actions throughout the book.
2. Genre: Catch-22 is often viewed as an antiromantic war novel, throwing out all the frill and romance found in many war novels at the time. Catch-22 is also considered satire, as well as absurdist fiction.
3. Date of Original Publication: 11 November 1961
4. Author: Joseph Heller
5. Setting: Catch-22 is set near the end of World War II (1944) in 256th Squadron of the U.S. Army Air Forces, under the command of the 27th Air Force. The men are stationed on the island of Pianosa, in the Mediterranean Sea (as well as the city of Rome, Italy, briefly). The novel transitions between the narrative present, the mission at Avignon, The Great Siege of Bologna, Milo Minderbinder’s escapades, and Yossarian’s escape of the war. None of the chapters or events in the novel follows any particular chronological order, and it is left to the reader to piece the bits of Yossarian’s puzzle back together.
6. Importance of the Setting: Upon

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