Catch-22 in Joseph Heller's Book

Catch-22 In Joseph Heller's book Catch-22, the author has created a broad allegory about the insanity of war. This allegory is played out in many ways, but in particular by juxtaposing two characters opposite each other: Yossarian, a squadron commander who is repeatedly frustrated as terrible events repeatedly occur for surreal reasons; and Milo Minderbinder, who is immensely successful at war profiteering and gains great respect for these activities even when his actions are completely unconscionable. Several themes are threaded throughout the book.

Yossarian is obsessed with issues related to death. Minderbender emphasizes Yossarian's concerns about being mortal through his near-total lack of concern even though he it participating in a war. The absurdity of bureaucracy in war is demonstrated through both characters. Yossarian demonstrates it by revealing the bureaucratic hypocricies of the war; Minderbinder demonstrates it as he creates his own dishonest bureaucracy to manage his war profiteering business.

Finally, Yossarian struggles with issues of right and wrong throughout the book, a concern emphasized by Minderbender's pattern of choosing how he will act strictly based on what will maximize his profits. Logic and Absurdity Yossarian's most important role in the book is of course to demonstrate the logical absurdities that surround him during the war as epitomized by the "Catch-22" rule. The doctor agrees that Yossarian is crazy but cannot ground him because fear of death demonstrates sanity, not madness: ".. there's a catch.. Catch-22.

Anyone who wants to get out of combat duty isn't really crazy." (p. 55) These twists in logic occur throughout the book, demonstrating a major difference between Yossarian and Minderbinder: Yossarian is outraged while Minderbinder simply turns such situations into business opportunities. Life and Death One of the primary themes, illustrated by Yossarian, his determination to stay alive. In Chapter 1 the book opens with Yossarian gold-bricking in the hospital, pretending to be sick. While some would view this as wrong behavior, Yossarian feels a personal obligation to stay alive.

Yossarian believes he is the only one who truly notices that millions of men are trying to slaughter each other, and he takes it personally:.". Yossarian had proof, because strangers he didn't know shot at him with cannons every time he flew up into the air to drop bombs on them, and it wasn't funny at all." (p. 26) Yossarian tries again later to hide from the war by feigning illness.

By then he has revealed some of the ugliness regarding how his friend Snowden died, and he prefers death as it happens in the hospital. Death in a hospital is more orderly and without random violence. By the end of the book, we finally know what happened to Snowden and why Yossarian reacted so much more strongly to his death than the deaths of some others: Snowden died a horrific death in Yossarian's arms.

When Yossarian finally faces this horror full on instead of alluding to it and avoiding it, he learns about life as well as death: "Man was matter, that was Snowden's secret. Drop him out a windo and he'll fall. Set fire to him and he'll burn. Bury him and he'll rot, like other kinds of garbage. The spirit gone, man is garbage..

ripeness was all." By this, he meant that death is certain, sooner or later, and that we must live our life to the fullest while we're ripe for life. This new knowledge will give Yossarian the courage to do what he must do in the last chapter. Right and Wrong While Yossarian found much wrong with how the war in Italy was being waged, he never criticized the necessity of the war. Presumably even Yossarian, with his determination to stay alive at all costs, recognized the necessity of fighting Hitler.

However, h sees much wrong in how the war is both fought and administered. As he considers the events around him, he has to make constant moral judgments. While Milo Minderbinder played a small role in Yossarian's struggle with life and death, he plays an important role as a foil against Yossarian's determination to not be corrupted by bureaucracy. Yossarian shows that what seems to be right in war -- courage under fire -- may not be a positive trait.

When Doc Daneeka encourages him to emulate Havermeyer, a bombardier like Yossarian who seems to feel no feer, Yossarian notes that when Haverrmeyer isn't bombing the enemy, he goes out in the middle of the night and shoots field mice. Yossarian sees his fear as healthy, and does not want to trade it for Havermeyer's indifference to death at all levels. All three themes weave together to demonstrate the major differences between Yossarian and Minderbinder.

As the book progresses, Yossarian realizes that if he does not fly, someone else will fly in his place, putting that person at risk because he did not fly. These conflicts lead to behavior many would view as wrong. For instance, in Chapter 12 he manages to ground his entire squadron by poisoning them. They develop diarrhea and are too sick to fly. He struggles with the wrongness of Snowden's death and inexplicably begins walking around the camp naked, and even attends his funeral by sitting, naked, in a tree.

The readers don't find out until the end of the book that he is now repulsed by uniforms because his was covered by the blood from Snowden's useless (to Yossarian) death. In Chapter 30, he attacks his pilot in a near-murderous rage after having a flashback that takes him back to Snowden's death. Later he contemplates murdering someone and finds it a comforting idea, showing that he is struggling with right and wrong.

Meanwhile, Milo is untroubled by moral issues and hence seems able to keep a more even keel than Yossarian. The doctor has suggested that Yossarian eat lots of fresh fruit so he can recover from the liver ailment he is faking. Yossarian does not want to recover, but Milo concerns himself neither with Yossarian's mental health nor his supposed illness. He simply urges Yossarian to sell the fruit on the black market so Milo can continue to supply the mess with outstanding food.

This is a perk he throws to all the men so they will support his war pfofiteering. Milo, in fact, is so obsessed with marketing that he believes that although he both buys and sells the eggs the soldiers eat, he is making a profit. He is so obsessed with marketing that he doesn't recognize the closed circle. This is an example of the illogic labeled "Catch-22" in the book: one part of a rule cancels out the other, but still seems to make sense to everyone except Yossarian.

Even after Minderbinder is revealed as a fraud, he still garners respect because of his power and influence. To mitigate criticism, he pretends to want to be sent on combat missions, but knows that those over him do not want to risk their cash cow by flying him into danger. In fact they offer a deal to him where others will fly his missions for him, and that if those men earn medals, Minderbinder will get them.

While Yossarian was repelled by the idea that he could only be safer if others faced more risks, Minderbinder has no problem with the plan. By Chapter 38, Yossarian recognize that his desire to avoid combat puts other at risk. He marches around the grounds backwards so no one can catch up with him, another circle of illogic.

His superior officers are worried about him but can't send him home, so they suggest that he only fly on low-risk missions, but Yossarian refuses because that means someone else will have to fly the high risk sorties for him. This contrasts dramatically with Minderbinder, who has made numerous arrangements without regard for the safety of others. He has built his syndicate so that everyone benefits, so the senior officers let him use military planes to move his goods around.

He has negotiated a financial agreement with the Germans so they will not shoot on his planes and views them as business partners rather than enemies. He carries this to such an extreme that he arranges for the U.S. camp to be bombed and strafed. Even though men are killed and wounded, most don't object because they are benefiting from Minderbinder's syndicate in some way.

This reversal of right and wrong comes to a head in Chapter 39 when Yossarian is arrested for being in Rome without a pass while another man rapes.