Catch-22 is a satirical novel written by Joseph Heller. The story takes the third person omniscient perspective, and has an interestingly chaotic style of organization. The main storyline, set in World War II, follows the experiences of Captain Yossarian, a bombardier within the U.S. air force. The novel itself is divided into various subsections, alternating between the present storyline and flashbacks to previous events that provide the reader with an idea of character and plot backgrounds. The story also gets darker throughout, with more and more atrocities being shown to the reader as the chapters progress. The logical paradox of Catch-22 is also constantly covered, and the main character, Captain Yossarian, fights against Catch-22 in a variety of ways.
Yossarian pretends to be ill numerous times in order to escape combat duty. In the beginning of the story, we are told that he faked a liver pain in order to stay in the hospital up until the point when the Texan drove him out, and later on, when The Soldier Who Saw Everything Twice was introduced, he was also faking illness in order to escape cadet training. He is fighting against Catch-22 by rebelling against the fact that he could not be grounded. The narrator explains that “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 56). After going to Doc Daneeka about the issue of grounding, he discovers that he was not going to be able to win the argument over Catch-22, and, as a result, simply decides to fake his illness in order to be taken off of combat duty, albeit temporarily.
This fight against Catch-22 is largely symbolic in the way that Catch-22 isn’t just a simple regulation, but represents bureaucratic oppression in general. Yossarian’s fight against Catch-22 symbolizes an individual’s struggles against the potentially oppressive nature of governments. This is especially clear when the old woman in the whorehouse grieves that “Catch-22 says they have a right to do anything we can't stop them from doing” (Heller 392). Later in the discussion, she also mentions that “‘They don’t have to show us Catch-22,’ the old woman answered. ‘[Catch-22] says they don’t have to’” (Heller 392). Yossarian firmly believes throughout that Catch-22 doesn’t truly exist, and, as a result, struggles against it every part of the way.
It’s important to note that Yossarian isn’t the only one struggling under Catch-22. The majority of the members of the squadron also do, most notably Hungry Joe, Nately, and Dunbar. Everyone under Colonel Cathcart suffers under Catch-22 the same way Yossarian does. Doc Daneeka has stated that “Catch-22 [...] says you’ve always got to do what your commanding officer tells you to” (Heller 56) further noting that “Even if the colonel were disobeying a Twenty-seventh Air Force order by making you fly more missions, you’d still have to fly them, or you’d be guilty of disobeying an order of his” (Heller 56). As a direct result of this, most of Yossarian’s friends die, with the exception of Dunbar (disappeared by high command) and Orr (who, near the end of the story, is discovered to have miraculously escaped to Sweden).
The symbolic importance of Yossarian’s struggle against Catch-22 goes far beyond the simple plot contained within the novel, settling Catch-22’s position within the literary world as a war satire. Yossarian’s fight symbolizes individual struggle under bureaucratic oppression, with Catch-22’s circular logic added within the story as a means of comic relief.
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