Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

¶ … Catch-22 by Joseph Heller with the Mike Nichols film of the same name. Specifically it will compare the strengths and weaknesses of the film with the novel in a historical analysis. Heller's satirical novel captures the hopelessness of war, specifically with a bombardier in World War II who faces the bureaucracy and senseless tactics of the military during the war. The term "Catch-22" has made it into the American language meaning a situation that has no sensible end or solution, and the film makes that term come true.

The premise of both the film and the book is that war is insane, the military is insane, and there is no way out of insane situations such as war. Heller writes, There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one's safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. 'Orr' was crazy and could be grounded.

All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions (Heller 52). The premise is hilarious dark humor, but the realities of war, shown sometimes graphically in the film; where not hilarious at all, just as the situations facing our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan clearly show today. In fact, the book was inspired, at least in part, by Heller's own experiences in the war.

A critic notes, "Catch-22 was inspired by Heller's own World War II experience as a youthful bombardier in the European theater. As he has often pointed out, though, the novel was filled with cold war and Korean War anachronisms" (Hoberman). It is also filled with absurd situations that somehow Heller makes plausible, and the film continues this theme. The film and the book both make it clear that the conditions facing bombardiers in World War II were brutal.

The planes, which were historical World War II bombers in the film, seem tiny by today's standards, and they were elementary at best. The crew faced atrocious conditions including enduring flak attacks, aerial attacks, and traveling with live ammunition, and then they had to try to find their targets through bombsights that were not steady, often in bad weather, while they attempted to hit their targets with little damage to civilians around the targets.

In the film, they also have to deal with crazed military leaders who keep changing the requirements for duty so no one ever is sent back to the states, and they have to deal with increasingly dangerous missions. A critic says of the film, "Directed by Mike Nichols, filled with forced parallels to the war in Vietnam, and deploying as props the world's 12th-largest bomber force, the movie finally appeared in 1970" (Hoberman).

The film, while absurd and sometimes hard to understand, does seem to accurately portray at least some of what it was like to serve as a bombardier in World War II, which makes Yossarian's claims of insanity seem all the more sane in comparison. Of course, history is certainly not the focus of the novel or the film. The insanity of war is one focus, but the circular theme of the novel's title is another focus.

In the novel, there are many circular subplots that revolve around the main plot, and the novel uses several viewpoints to look at certain situations, another circular theme. The historical parallels of these circular themes distinctly remind the viewer of what is happening to our current troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. While troops are beginning to depart Iraq, they are building up in Afghanistan.

News reports continually state that soldiers face repeated tours of duty in Iraq, at least two or more, and now, many of those soldiers may face terms of duty in Afghanistan, as well. The situation is as insane as the situation in World War II, and it only points out the insanity of war, even if it is a "war on terror" that is supposed to keep us safe.

The situations facing our servicemen and women today do not seem to have changed much, and that is quite frightening when you think about it. It our service people today face the same types of decision-making and bureaucracy that Yossarian and his fellow soldiers faced, then the military is indeed insane, and anyone would have to be insane to join it. Yossarian attempts to dodge the system by claiming insanity, which sets him in the middle of the Catch-22 situation.

However, he is clearly suffering from what we now know is post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a recognized result of the horrors and stress our soldiers experience in war. Many of the soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from the disorder and require extended treatment for it. Historically, those who served in war were supposed to deal with it on their own, and they were not "manly" if they acknowledged war adversely affected them.

A Web site defines PTSD as "an anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to a terrifying event or ordeal in which grave physical harm occurred or was threatened" (Editors). Clearly, Yossarian was suffering from this disorder; it is why he is afraid and refuses to fly any more missions, and eventually escapes to Sweden. We know that PTSD did not start with Vietnam, Iraq, or Afghanistan. In the First World War,.