Milo Minderbinder

As Dr. Foster said in his seminar: ‘The 20th Century was the American Century.’ It was where it’s popular culture, and subsequently the culture that is present today, was shaped. We’re talking about the space race, wars including World War One and Two, Vietnam war, the cold war, feminism, the civil rights movement, just to name a few. Catch-22 captures much of America’s development between the 1940s-60s through a satirical perspective of the American ideologies, particularly in regard to World War

Voltaire states that it is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong, But why? Government leaders usually have some form of power, and more often than not, persons with authority can quickly become power hungry. This is a theme displayed throughout Joseph Heller’s novel . Most of the military officers introduced in the novel are greedy, blindly selfish, and more often than not, put others in danger, only to benefit themselves. Heller’s novel isn't the first time the issue of authorities

example, states that a crazy man cannot fly a mission, but a man must ask to be grounded on the grounds that he is crazy, which clearly means that he is not crazy. Heller uses circular logic, paradoxes, and irony to highlight the failings of bureaucracy. Milo Minderbinder’s syndicate begins as a way to bring more eggs into the mess hall. However, it evolves into a scheme to make profit

possible––itself an admirable goal, and one which the reader is inclined to support for at least a few scenes––Milo becomes totally corrupted, dealing in anything and with anyone in the name of the business he created: “the syndicate,” or, later, “M&M Enterprises.” The justification that initially seeps into the mind of the reader is that Milo is inherently innocent. Early on in Catch-22, as Seltzer points out, “Milo ‘could no more consciously violate the moral principles on which his virtue rested than he could

Joseph Heller was born in New York on May 1, 1923. Heller flew 60 combat missions as a bombardier in World War II and was presented with a Presidential Unit Citation and an Air Medal for his service in Mediterranean Theatre before being discharged in 1945. After his military discharge, Heller studied at Oxford and Columbia, married Shirley Held, and became an English professor at Pennsylvania State College. During this time Heller began to compose his most well-known novel, Catch-22. After his

individuality by each character is evident throughout the novel. Their experiences make the scenario believable to the reader. Each character represents an attitude in the system. Milo Minderbinder and Colonel Cathcart are great representatives of the military. To them, the soldiers are seen as tools to further their careers. Milo Minderbinder, a military authority figure, is in charge of business decisions made during the war. He uses his powers to create a syndicate called the

not only where it is explicitly defined but also throughout the characters’ stories, which are full of catches and instances of circular reasoning that trap unwitting bystanders in their snares—for instance, the ability of the powerful officer Milo Minderbinder to make great sums of money by trading among the companies that he himself

John Yossarian is a bombardier of the 256th Squadron of the Army Air Forces during World War II. He is stationed in Pianosa, a small island off the coast of Italy, and has been ordered to bomb enemy positions. The story begins with Yossarian attempting to escape the war through feigning liver complications, which could be considered the exposition of this story. Through this experience, the reader learns about Yossarian’s hatred and confusion towards the war and his strong desire to avoid it at

Five Quotations “Only a fraction of his countrymen would give their lives to win [the war], to die or not to die, that was the question” (Heller 84). “He was told that he should not kill, and he did not kill, until he got into the Army. Then he was told to kill, and he killed” (Heller 106) “The minutes dawdled and the hours dragged like centuries...it tortured him, because he knew he was going to be killed” (Heller 137). “It’s better to die on one’s feet than live on one’s knees” (Heller 306). “He

his empire primarily serves the public good” (Karl). The center of Heller’s satirical take on unregulated, capitalist greed is Milo Minderbinder, a character who increases in power, pathology, and moral bankruptcy until his “syndicate” launches an attack on his own men to uphold a trade contract. Even when Milo’s exploits are limited in scale, Heller makes