Catch 22 Critical Analysis

Catch 22 is a novel that is set in Italy during World War 2. The main character of this story is Yossarian, who is a bombardier in the United States Air Force. Yossarian continually tries to avoid missions because he fears death. As the story goes on, the commanding officer of their squadron continues to increase the number of missions. Also, Yossarian has to see as many of his close friends die.

After finishing the novel, Catch-22, I can definitely say that I have learned quite a lot about how mental illnesses can affect soldiers throughout a lifetime. As I have seen through the eyes of Yossarian, painful memories, like the death of his best friend, Snowden, have resonated throughout his life. And while, Yossarian had continued to experience flashbacks, and have mental breakdowns. The disease he was experiencing (PTSD) was not yet discovered until the 1980’s. While this novel was not exactly what I was expecting, I had found it to be rather intriguing as I had learned about mental illnesses in Health class.

Is it socially acceptable behaviour for people to dedicate their lives to an object? Sure, one might say. People have passions and hobbies; these “objects” are worked hard for and should be enjoyed. Although most would say that this type of behaviour is not how normal people should live and that life’s fruition lies in the hands of social interaction; we can only truly enjoy life in the company of other humans, not objects. Where is the line drawn? Is it possible to cling on to a possession so much that it starts to detrimentally affect the person involved? W.D. Valgardson’s short story The Novice demonstrates that this is certainly a possibility. The protagonist undergoes a similar situation; he gets caught up in idealism (glamorizing

Catch-22 by Joseph Keller is a story set during the second half of World War II, revealing the lives of soldiers, the dilemmas of war and the paradoxes made to keep men in war by country leaders. The main character, John Yossarian is a US Air Force bombardier who has a strong desire to stay out of war, but unfortunately is unable to because of the standards set by the government, increasing the number of missions a soldier had to fly before he could leave. His squadron is stationed on the island of Pianosa, near the Mediterranean Sea. The main paradox was that if a man proved his insanity, he would have to fly his missions in order to prove his insanity, yet if he were sane, he would still stay in war and fly. Either way, all soldiers, sane or not, had to stay.

    Life is filled with situations that are very difficult to find an escape. Even once in a while, life presents a situation that is beyond difficult, and completely impossible to escape from. These situations were expanded upon and brought to obvious light in Joseph Heller's novel, Catch-22. This novel was such a masterful work that the phrase, catch-22 came to be synonymous with the situations that Heller portrays in his novel. Set in the final months of World War II, Catch-22 tells the story of a bomber squadron on the mythical island of Pinosa, just off of Italy. The story is told through the eyes of Captain John Yossarian, one of the few sane men in the novel, who sees all of the impossible

Yossarian cannot go home because his superiors require him for their own personal gain, and it makes no difference what justification they might give for making him stay. The rest of Yossarian’s squadron has a ‘false consciousness’; they are accepting of the overbearing military system, ironically calling Yossarian, “crazy”. “They’re trying to kill me,” Yossarian told him calmly. Clevinger answered. "They're trying to kill everyone". “And what difference does that

But that turns out to be a double edged sword, because it proves that he is sane! Most people in similar situations would do or say anything to avoid being in a war. Yossarian, however, seems to take every attack on the squadron as an attack against him only.

Captain John Yossarian is a U.S. Air Force bombardier posted at Pianosa, situated in Mediterranean Sea, during World War II. As a bombardier Yossarian is part of a crew of men whose job is to aim and release bombs. However, Yossarian is convinced that everyone is out to kill him and he just wants to survive the war, complete the number of missions required, and head back home. Yet, it seems impossible to leave because Colonel Cathcart is constantly raising the number of mission required before one can leave, thus making it impossible for the men to leave.

I found Catch-22 to be satirical on World War II. Seeing how the story line is based around the main character John Yossarian who wants out of the army. Heller decides to act insane hoping to be discharged and released from doing any more missions. The purpose of the satire in this novel is to make an anti-war statement, show how thoughtless some of the administrative rules of the army are, to show how people can use their power to control others and also to question the meaning of insanity.

In Joseph Heller’s ‘Catch-22’ the protagonist, Yossarian, has many goals within the military. However, he has one main goal throughout the novel to

On average 6600 airmen died per month in World war 2 in combat. In the novel Catch- 22 the setting is set around a bombardier in World War 2 whose job is as stressful as it come. When the mission came about the bombardier had to be in perfect condition, so that they can carry out the mission successfully. The conditions of work for the bombardier was one of the toughest workplaces for a human, nearly inches of clearing, tight squeezes, and the use of one of the most advanced weapons of the time. They had to carry out the missions plan, or they would have to answer to one of the disorderly officers that job is to make sure the mission goes as planned. World War 2 was a terrible and disturbing war, and the devastation of war left a lot of people in physical and mental instability after World War 2. Catch- 22 takes you through times of the author's personal experience as an American bombardier during World War 2. Catch- 22 is a representation of this because it gives details about the period and the job of a bombardier of the Second World War.

In the novel Catch-22 by Joseph Heller, the author uses an extended metaphor to explain the paradoxical rule keeping men in the war. In the passage I chose, which extends from pages 45 to 46, Doc Daneeka explains to Yossarian how Catch-22 works. Doc Daneeka best describes Catch-22 when he states, “ Catch-22. Anyone who wants to get out of combat duty isn’t really crazy.” Catch-22 is a paradox because it is a statement containing two contradictory elements that seem false but upon further inspection are in fact true.

Yossarian has a strong want to live and is determined to be immortal or die trying. As a result, he spends a most of his time in the hospital, faking a liver illness to avoid the war. Yossarian is put in unreasonable circumstances; he sees his friends die and go missing, his squadron is bombed by its own mess officer because he gets paid for it, and colonels and generals volunteer their men for the worst battle to enhance their own

Although Catch-22 is a novel that entirely takes place at war, the book uses comedy to emphasize the physical and emotional pain of war. The novel shows us how people are changed by war and how their focuses are changed through different experiences. Many of the people in the book are disgusted by their commanding officers and the conditions around them. Joseph Heller served in the war and witnessed crazy occurrences and met strange people like those in the book. By reading the novel, we can see that he strongly disliked war. There are many themes in the novel, two of the main themes are the greed for power and money.

Historically, America’s involvement in war has been met with opposition. The Vietnam and Korean Wars were unpopular with many United States citizens due to the fact that the country had no personal reason for involvement, as they were not attacked. However, attacks on American soil have been known to bring rise to a large sense of nationalism. Following the attacks of September 11, 2001, America came together to fight the war on terrorism. Likewise, America was drawn into World War Two after the attacks on Pearl Harbor. American literature would not dare speak ill of American involvement in World War Two. Unlike any author in his time, Joseph Heller —who opposed war himself— “voiced the anxious, absurdist, outrageous reaction of a generation