Lack Of Meaning In Joseph Heller's Catch 22

In some works of literature, it is often the minor characters that have the most significance, rather than the major characters. Even though a character may only appear briefly or not at all, does not mean that they have no importance. In fact, these are the characters that will influence others and that will ultimately develop a major theme throughout the novel. A novel that exhibits this would be Catch-22 by Joseph Heller in which the main character, Yossarian, tells his experiences of war. Through the war, he meets Snowden, the tail gunner who eventually dies in his arms. Throughout the novel, we get glimpses of Snowden and his death, however it is not until the very end that the reader learns all of the details of his death and the thematic purpose of this character. Snowden may only be known as the cold, dying man in the plane, but his shivering, gory last moments of life bring us the theme of the inevitability of death.

The Prisoner’s Dilemma is an extremely popular game and way of thinking about social interactions and also economics. It judges how people work together and against each other. It helps us understand what governs the balance between cooperation and competition in business, in politics, and in social settings. The two players in the game can choose between two moves, either 'cooperate' or 'defect'. The idea is that each player gains when both cooperate, but if only one of them cooperates, the other one, who defects, will gain more. If both defect, both lose. The whole game situation and its different outcomes can be summarised with the example provided below, hypothetical situations are imagined with the example below

“They were in a race and knew it, because they knew from bitter experience that Colonel Cathcart might raise the number of missions again at any time” (Heller 27).

Language is an incredibly powerful tool for communication and the words we use control the

In Joseph Heller’s Catch-22, many characters are traumatized because they are all involved in an ongoing war, some of the characters go on to do horrible things, and many men simply go insane. However, there is one character that is the worst of them all Heller’s character Captain “Aarfy”Aardvark: suffering from traumatic experiences and the loss of a woman's touch, Aarfy goes on to do the worst thing imaginable, he rapes a woman and then kills her because it is “his most condescending manner”(Heller 427). Heller ultimately shows how a traumatic situation can lead a terrible person to do dreadful actions.

“It's easier not to say anything. Shut your trap, button your lip, can it. All that crap you hear on TV about communication and expressing feelings is a lie. Nobody really wants to hear what you have to say.” The book brings many things we, as people, avoid thinking about, but it gives both the good and bad side of every thought. As it said before, no one really wants to hear what people have to say; that is the bad side. There’s the good part, though; when one says what they think, people will be forced to think about it. The only weakness of Speak is how vague it truly is, but it only adds to the whole story. If one knew everything, there would be little to no point in reading it since they would know and understand everything already.

Everybody knows that guy or girl who they believe to be nuts. They may have done something completely bonkers, or have done nothing unacceptable at all. They may have no cause at all, in a way it takes one to know one. This is different for Yossarian, where everyone he knows is actually psychotic. Literally, all the characters in Joseph Heller’s Catch 22 are completely mental, Yossarian is constantly falling in love with people that end up not replicating a mutual feeling, Colonel Cathcart relentlessly sends his men to their death just so he can climb the ranks to General, final there is Milo Minderbinder, the biggest loon of them all. Milo Minderbinder is literally out of his mind at one point in the book he attempted to force the company to consume chocolate covered Egyptian cotton, he did this because a Egyptian told him that Egyptian cotton would be very valuable, so he purchased all of it just manufacture profit for his syndicate. Milo Minderbinder is the most magnificent character in Catch 22 he

Heller's principle emphasis is on the internal struggle with conflicting values and the characters' evolution. He creates a quandary that Yossarian explores throughout the novel, and establishes Yossarian's world as one turned upside down by war. After exploring this chaotic condition and the mess it creates on people's values, Yossarian finally arrives at his decision to withdraw from the conflict. In the first half of the war, Yossarian runs. As he comes to terms with himself, he takes responsibility and explores life beyond himself.

In the words of George Orwell, “If thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought.” Language has been spoken for over 350,000 years. It has expanded tremendously, but its power has never changed. The use of language shapes peoples' perceptions and the depth of interactions because it can demean, avoid, portray emphasis, persuade, and conceal from simple phrases such as “I feel like” and “just”.

One adjective that gets frequently mentioned more than any other in Catch-22 is "crazy." Most of the characters question Yossarian's sanitity based on his strange behaviors throughout the novel. Although Yossarian continuously does strange things that, out of context, could be seen as crazy, Yossarian is completely sane, he just deals with the horrible things he's seen and experienced, differently.

"Words [or labels], like little buckets, are assumed to pick up their loads of meaning in one person's mind, carry them across the intervening space, and dump them

A great philosopher once said, “There is no crueler tyranny than that which is perpetuated under the shield of law and in the name of justice” (Charles de Montesquieu). The rebellious nature of some people is necessary for survival and development under circumstances that standardized institutions present. In Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 and J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye the consequences of rebellion against a traditional institution are shown through the eyes of main characters while showing rebellion leads to a development of increased morals and overall happiness; they show their purpose of promoting rebellion, even with its consequences, through repetition, simile, tone, colloquialism, and arrangement.

Life can be pointless, if the boulder is too heavy to bare in The Myth of Sisyphus. “It exemplifies the pointlessness of existence by applying one’s self to a task.” It is used with a “philosophical theory or approach that emphasizes the existence of the individual person as a free and responsible agent determining his or hers development.” This theory or approach is called Existentialism, it appeared in the 1800’s “but the term itself wasn’t coined until much later.” “It began as a European movement including Czech, German, and French, it took hold post WWII.” J.D. Salinger is one of the many authors who integrated Existentialism elements in their writings to interpret their message to their readers. In the novel, Catcher in the Rye, J.D.

Meanings of things arise out of social interaction. In order for there to be a meaning between two people you must socially intersect, whether or not it's verbally or non-verbally.

In order to verbally communicate language is needed. Using the English language we use sounds, words, and grammar to send a message to another person. The words have meaning and use grammar to set guidelines on the structure. We learn how to use sounds to form words that have definitions. We use these words to form sentences to help explain the thoughts and ideas we want to send to another person. We use language as a bridge to carry our thoughts and ideas from the mind and brain to oral messages. On occasion verbal communication can be confused with an unintentional meaning. Occasionally people say words they do not know the correct meaning which will confuse the listener. Other time words have the same sound but different meaning such as the two words: fore and four.