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    Yossarian's most startling glimpse into the terrors of war and death comes when he spends a night alone on the streets of Rome. He sees homeless children; he witnesses men beating children and dogs, a rape, and a convulsing soldier; he walks over a street littered with broken human teeth. This is one of the rare sections of the novel that does not use humor to point out the cruelty and inhumanity of the world. The scene comes to a climax when Yossarian returns to his apartment and discovers that Aarfy has raped an innocent maid and then thrown her out his window, leaving her dead on the sidewalk below. Then, ironically, Yossarian is arrested for being in Rome without a pass and Aarfy is given an apology for the disturbance, his hideous crime going unpunished. This chapter is when Yossarian begins to really recognize the true face of the military and the meaning of Catch-22; when he goes to the brothel and the old woman tells him that the girls have all been kicked out of their home by soldiers, she explains to him that "Catch-22 says they have a right to do anything we can't stop them from doing" (417;Ch.39). Catch-22 is the justification for every wrong the military commits, and it overrides every other moral law. The horrors that the military creates will never stop, and Yossarian begins to realize that he cannot fight and die

Setting: This chapter takes place on the beach and mountains on the deserted island in between the years of the Second World War

Flannery O’Conner argued that “[Distortion] is the only way to make people see”. This famous statement is initially contradictory and incongruous, but in Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 it is easy to see the truth of this paradox. The pages of Catch-22 are lined with distortion and each instance provides for a new kind of clarity. Catch-22 is simply a war story illustrated by ridiculous behavior and illogical arguments and told in a flatly satirical tone. Though the book never states outright that matters are funny, the reader is always aware of how outrageously bizarre the characters and situations are. Heller uses out of sequence narration, a confused distinction between appearance and reality, and the irrationally

The comedy that Catch-22 brings is ironic in itself, think how can you get humor out of war which entails pain and suffering, that beats me how Heller does it but by whatever means used Heller creates a complete package of humor and real life occurrences which is a great fete in itself. "Though it's comic formula riddle, Heller's novel expresses the apparently inescapable human predicament." (Colmer 213)

Near the end of the novel the soldiers or enlisted men begin to realize a need to value life or even a mere sense of safety. This realization is something that Heller had been satirizing throughout the novel by pointing out that the enlisted men were risking their lives everyday without question for an unstable ad unjust system. How could you have extreme urge to defend your country, if you know first hand the detestable things that are done behind the scenes? It also makes it worse that Colonel Cathcart and Colonel Korn represent the country to many of the men .The Plot of Catch - 22 is understand what Heller meant with his use of satire and how that was significant to the book and the understanding of Yosarrian’s evolution. Heller also has themes within the novel that display different emotions; some of them are Confusion, sanity, hope and pity. Heller as do many other authors wants the reader to also feel those emotions just as the characters. Yosarrian (The main character of the story) has that affect on readers. The main reason he has that affect is because he is the character from the novel that most can relate to and because seems to be the only one to object authority at times.

He believes that his officers and crew members are insane since the officers keep increasing the number of bombing runs a person must complete before being released from duty, and his crew members all aggravate him by crashing their planes, working for both sides of the war, and trying to convince Yossarian to run more missions. Everyone at the base thinks Yossarian is crazy, but Yossarian thinks the same about everyone else. In Joseph Heller’s Catch-22, most literature critics assume that everyone around Yossarian is completely psychotic, but if one were to observe the novel from the perspective of Orr, Clevinger, or one of Yossarian’s crew members, they would realize that Yossarian could easily escape his military duty by running away on a mission rather than dealing with the bureaucracy of the military and trying to feign illness and craziness. Therefore, the author utilizes dark humor that exposes the absurdity of the war and the military, dialogue that displays the insanity between Yossarian, the officers, and crew, and the centralized biased

Cruelty is a callous indifference to, or a pleasure in causing pain and suffering. Catch-22 is filled with cruelty. Throughout this book there are multiple examples of cruelty. Three examples of cruelty make themselves well-known in this book. War cruelty, cruelty against women, and self cruelty are the main forms of cruelty in this book. War is cruel all in itself, so the cruelty of war is prevalent in this novel. The female characters in this book are portrayed inferior to men, and the book makes them to be downgrading. As a result of the women being inferior to the men, the men treat the women cruely, and they make them seem like objects. In Catch-22 written by Joseph Heller the cruelty of war and women are awful, but self cruelty is the

The quote above describes the relationship with Colonel Cathcart, in which Cathcart has a worrying doubt about Yossarian and his role in the squadron. Yossarian complains to Doc Daneeka about Colonel Cathcart’s dictum regarding the mission count during every visit to the medical tent. Cathcart’s opinion about Yossarian also dawns upon the other men who start to wonder about the man with that name and who he actually is. One of the main points within the story is when the soldiers question Yossarian during the death of Lt. Mudd, whom the men continuously call “the dead man in Yossarian’s tent” (Heller 166). A character that changes Yossarian completely about war is Snowden. After Snowden’s death, Yossarian is given a medal of honor for fighting through that battle, but unlike the other men, Yossarian shows up in a disorderly fashion. He realizes that he doesn’t want to be in a war-like atmosphere anymore and starts to long for his trips throughout Italy. It is after these trips that Yossarian tries to weasel his way out of the squadron by feigning sicknesses and pleading for Doc Daneeka to claim him insane. "Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't

Brief summary of key plot elements: Plot consists of six parts: (1) exposition, (2) intro. Conflict, (3) rising action, (4) climax, (5) falling action, (6) resolution

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

Catch-22, by Joseph Heller, is a fictitious novel that depicts life on an American bomber squadron on Pianosa, an island off the coast of Italy, during the closing years of World War II. A bombardier by the name of Yossarian, the main character in the story, is joined by many others to create a comic drama unlike any other. But aside from the entertainment, Heller uses Catch-22 to satirize many aspects of everyday life that consist of hypocrisy, corruption, and insanity. From the laziness of policeman to the fake happiness brought about by money, the novel is painted with a great number of points targeted against the faults of modern society. However, along with these smaller targets, a majority of the Heller’s satire in the novel is

 Joseph Heller's narration, dialogue, and characterization in Catch-22 all create a unique perspective of war and our society's bureaucracy. The satire, sarcasm, irony, and general absurdity of the novel provide a view of the irrationality of man's behavior. The horror that is portrayed in Catch-22 is intensified by the humorous way in which it is portrayed. Distortion and exaggeration highlight the characters and scenario while magnifying the confusion. Parallel structure and repetition serve to reinforce the novel's themes.

novel is set at the time when World War II was going on and on the

I personally believe the primary theme of Catch-22 by Joseph Heller is the inevitability of death. Many characters throughout the story do what they can to escape the battle and the constant rise of necessary missions, to escape the overwhelming danger and insanity of war in general to return alive and safe to their home, family, and friends. Yossarian especially finds himself in constant anxiety through each flight mission, counting out every possibility he could die and doing everything in his power to escape it, which is a hard feat when bullets and bombs are targeting them, even by their own side. However, mortality is soon proven to Yossarian and the members of his squadron, that death is simply an indomitable force that can never be completely avoidable, his fellow

Laughing in the face of war and death, literally, is one of the things that make the novel Catch-22 by Joseph Heller such an intriguing and original story. It was written in 1961, a time when, due to the fighting of the Second World War, all war novels were written with a dark and dreary tone, while still trying to continue the pre-conceived romantic notions about war. However, Joseph Heller strips away all of the romantic pretense, and pulling heavily on his own Air Force experience during WWII, presents war in its most raw, un-censored version. It takes away thoughts of being the amazing hero, and winning medals, and replaces them with the screwed up, bureaucratic way that we fight wars.