Overall Meaning

Catch-22 is a war book.  Like most war books, it focuses on individual soldiers and their troubles rather than the system that has put them in such a situation.  However, unlike some other books, it makes clear that the entire system and way in which wars are declared and fought is not only terrible, but also ridiculous and even crazy.  There are those who wish to go and fight for their countries, but Heller, through Yossarian and some of his friends, shows what some call cowardice, weakness, or treason, but others call a will to live.  This is the main message that I got from the book:  In war nothing makes sense, and every soldier must choose between love of country and love of life, because you cannot serve both.

Heller's use of contradictions are not only there to make the reader chuckle; they are indicative of how the larger system doesn't make any sense.  The Colonels and Majors just sit in their offices and sign papers, caring only about their image.  Heller has them put rules in place that contradict themselves explicitly, but through them he shows how the real orders from these bureaucrats are just as insane.  Though it might make sense for a large group of people to fight a wrong together, Yossarian sees no reason that he himself should be forced to fight and possibly die when there are millions who are willing to do just that in his place.  Though this attitude might not be admirable, it does make sense why a soldier would behave in this way.

A character who I don't think I've even mentioned, yet plays a key symbolic role in the story, is an unnamed 107-year-old man that Nately meets in a brothel in Rome.  The old man is a ruthless pragmatist, saying that he was the staunchest Nazi when the Germans were in control of Rome and now was fervently pro-American.  When Nately tells him that it is better to die on your feet than live on your knees, the man says "it is better to live on your feet than die on your knees."  When Nately tells him how wonderful it is to die for one's country, the old man replies, "Englishmen are dying for England, Americans are dying for America, Germans are dying for Germany, Russians are dying for Russia.  Surely so many countries aren't worth dying for."  When Nately says that anything worth living for is worth dying for, he says,"And anything worth dying for is worth living for."  Many people would cringe at this ruthless pragmatism, but Heller makes his point through the fact that the old man is 107--his ideas help you survive, and, if survival is your goal, pragmatism is the way to go.  At its root, this book is darkly cynical, but perhaps that is the only appropriate tone for a war book.  Heller, through Yossarian, wants patriots to go and fight and die, while everyone else is allowed to survive.

Finally, I want to leave with one more quote from the conversation between the 19 year-old, idealistic Nately, and the old man who has been able to survive for over a century:

"America," he said, "will lose the war. And Italy will win it" 

"America is the strongest and most prosperous nation on earth," Nately informed him with lofty fervor and dignity. "And the American fighting man is second to none."

"Exactly," agreed the old man pleasantly, with a hint of taunting amusement. "Italy, on the other hand, is one of the least prosperous nations on earth. And the Italian fighting man is probably second to all. And that's exactly why my country is doing so well in this war while your country is doing so poorly."
Nately guffawed with surprise, then blushed apologetically for his impoliteness. "I'm sorry I laughed at you," he said sincerely, and he continued in a tone of respectful condescension. "But Italy was occupied by the Germans and is now being occupied by us. You don't call that doing very well, do you?"
"But of course I do," exclaimed the old man cheerfully. "The Germans are being driven out, and we are still here. In a few years you will be gone, too, and we will still be here. You see, Italy is really a very poor and weak country, and that's what makes us so strong. Italian soldiers are not dying any more. But American and German soldiers are. I call that doing extremely well."

The Home Stretch -- Chapters 32-42

I am not entirely sure what makes a novel AP worthy.  At first thought, I can come up with a few requirements: some symbolism, character development, discussion of important issues.  The cynic in me added “long” and “old” to the list, then deleted the entire list and replaced it with “any book the teacher says is AP worthy is AP worthy.”  After a long, hard-fought battle, however, I have knocked my cynic out, and while he’s recovering in the hospital, I want to write about why though I am not sure exactly what makes a book AP worthy, Catch-22 certainly is.

Heller’s writing style is unlike any I have seen.  The way he can blend humor with sincere regret and mourning for the horrors and victims of war is incredible.  Though I can understand how some could find the constant wordplay, switches in perspective, and jumps in time annoying, I enjoyed every pun immensely.  World War II, though it ended 70 years ago, is still a major topic in society today, and it changed America greatly and the rest of the world even more.  The fact that Heller could write a book about World War II with a character named “Major Major Major Major” and that it could still have parts that are very meaningful alone makes this book, to me, AP worthy.

I wonder what kind of a man could come up with some of these characters: Chief White Halfoat, who dreams of dying of pneumonia; the aforementioned Major Major, who discovered that he could sign “Wahsington Irving” to official papers and it would cut down on his already light workload; Colonel Cathcart, who constantly makes charts comparing the amount of “black eyes” he has suffered to the number of “feathers in his cap;” but, most of all, Yossarian.

Yossarain and Colonel Cathcart are, I believe, embodiments of the establishment and disobedient citizens.  Colonel Cathcart’s only concern is his image, as he volunteers his men for every mission possible.  He gets most of his ideas from advisors, and constantly schemes to get into the Saturday Evening Post, as he once saw another colonel do.  He raises mission requirements constantly, without any regard for his troops or their morale.  However, he is afraid of Yossarian, and is even convinced by the end of the book that there are multiple Yossarians, “probably three, but possibly two,” under his command.  Yossarian commits treason on multiple occasions, poisoning the troops to avoid a mission and conspiring to kill Colonel Cathcart, before finally deserting.  These actions in real life would be immediately condemned by everyone, but Heller makes a convincing argument for how Yossarian is actually fighting his enemy—Colonel Cathcart.  Even in a war that nearly everyone believes was just, Yossarian’s point about how he knows that people have to die, but he doesn’t, does seem to carry weight.  Let those who are willing to die die, and let those who are unwilling live.  In the end, I think that this commentary on the justice of war itself is the biggest reason the Catch-22 is AP worthy.

Chronologically Confused -- Chapters 23-31

In medias res is Latin for “in the middle of things.”  It describes a popular literary technique where the story begins not with the first chronological event, but somewhere in the middle.  Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey begin this way, and a more modern example would be the first episode of Breaking Bad.  Catch-22, however, does not just provide a glimpse into the future before doubling back and telling the rest of the story in order; until this section, the entire story is jumbled, with constant references forward and back. Though the action becomes more linear a couple of chapters into this section, I wanted to try to put the chapters into general order and explore how the characters grow chronologically, though the order that Heller puts the chapters in is probably better to read than this.  To determine the order, I am mostly using the number of missions the men are required to fly, which moves up in increments of five throughout the book from 25 in the beginning to 70 at the end of chapter 31.

 

1. Chapters 8 and 18

These chapters cover Yossarian’s training, before he comes to Europe.  He is already obviously not one for authority, and often argues with his friend Clevinger about the value of patriotism.  He also discovers that faking sick to get into the hospital is a good technique for avoiding things he doesn’t want to do.  He also argues with his commander’s wife about God, whom Yossarian believes is real and evil but Mrs. Scheisskopf believes is fake and good.  Yossarian has started to grow into the character we see later, but is not completely disillusioned yet.

2. Chapter 6

Yossarian first arrives in Europe, needing 25 missions to be grounded.  Unfortunately, Colonel Cathcart takes command, and the required number of missions begins to rise.  Looking back chronologically, this is the point in the book where Yossarian is doomed to fly missions until the war is over.  Yossarian is fond of saying that anyone who is trying to kill him, German or American, is his enemy; Colonel Cathcart, though he is only mentioned intermittently, is the personification of the American leadership who has no problem feeding lives into the war.  This is also the first chronological mention of the Ferrara mission, when Yossarian went back over a bridge that he had missed and got a fighter pilot named Kraft killed.  This is when he starts going from run-of-the-mill disobedient to self-preserving at all costs.

3. Chapters 12-16

These chapters focus on what Yossarian calls “The Great Big Siege of Bologna.”  The men, fearful of the staunch defenses at Bologna, try everything they can to not go.  They poison themselves by eating soap, secretly alter the maps of the commanding officers, and when that fails, Yossarian turns his plane around because his intercom is faulty.  This is the first time a group of chapters is mostly chronological, though there are still many flashbacks and looks ahead.  

4. Chapters 4-5, 17

The main focus of these chapters is the Avignon mission, when a Yossarian’s rear gunner, Snowden, dies in his arms because of the ineptitude of his navigator, Aarfy.  Yossarian truly loses it for a while after this; he shows up to receive his medal for valor totally naked, though it seems like that is because he no longertwants to wear his uniform.  Yossarian’s friend from training, Clevinger, disappears into a cloud during this mission and, to this where I am in the book, has never been seen again.  Yossarian finally decides to go back into the hospital for the rest of the war, which brings us back to…

5. Chapter 1

The novel opens with Yossarian in the hospital, ostensibly recovering from a liver condition, but maybe, as I look at this chronology, recovering from watching Snowden die.  Snowden haunts Yossarian for the rest of the book, but Yossarian is at least able to function after this trip to the hospital.

6. Chapters 25-31  

Finally, the action seems to be coming in a specific order.  There are many chapters I haven’t mentioned, but that is either because their events happen over such a long period of time (including many chapters that follow one character), and some that I can’t identify when they occur.  

I am of course not entirely sure of Heller’s intentions in ordering the book in such a fashion, but perhaps he is trying to show how events come back to veterans—jumbled, in a confusing order that mirrors the chaos of war itself.  So far, Catch-22 would be a great book backwards, forwards, or upside-down, and I am a little sad that it is drawing to a close.

Halfway There -- Chapters 12-22

If you have read my previous blog posts, you can probably tell that I am enjoying Catch-22 immensely.  Although I have no experience with war and hope to keep that trend alive for the rest of my life, I have enjoyed Heller's many insights into the absurdity and insanity of war.  My favorite thing about the book, however, is its humor.  Heller most often creates this humor by finding and pointing out the aforementioned direct and consecutive contradictions, often accompanied with a shift from a formal voice to an informal one, the viewpoint of one character to another, or other such shifts.  These contradictions are so common in the book that they become the lens through which almost all actions are seen.  I am going to share some examples of this style from chapters 12-22, but this is by no means a complete list; you could probably find a contradiction for every statement made in the book.  If you find these as clever and funny as I obviously do because I won't shut up about them, I would implore you to give reading Catch-22 yourself a try.

"Yossarian wrinkled his forehead with quizzical amusement. 'You won't marry me because I'm crazy, and you say I'm crazy because I want to marry you? Is that right?'
'Si.'
'You're crazy'!' he told her loudly."

Yossarain, who has a habit of falling in love with every woman he meets, asks an Italian woman to marry him.  However, she insists that anyone who wants to marry her is crazy, and she doesn't want to marry anyone who is crazy.  The humor in this passage mostly comes from the fact that this conversation continues in this circle for about a page.  Yossarian, by the way, has even fallen in love with somebody because she is the only woman who doesn't make him fall in love with her, another contradiction.  As the woman, named Luciana, leaves, a somewhat similar situation occurs:

"'Why don't you ask me to let you write my name and address on a piece of paper so that you will be able to find me again when you come to Rome?' she suggested.
'Why don't you let me write your name and address down on a piece of paper?' he agreed.
'Why?' she demanded belligerently, her mouth curling suddenly into a vehement sneer and her eyes flashing with anger. 'So you can tear it up into little pieces as soon as I leave?'
'Who's going to tear it up?' Yossarian protested in confusion. 'What the hell are you talking about?'
'You will,' she insisted. 'You'll tear it up into little pieces the minute I'm gone and go walking away like a big shot because a tall, young, beautiful girl like me, Luciana, let you sleep with her and did not ask you for money.' 
The minute she was gone, Yossarian tore the slip of paper up and walked away in the other
direction, feeling very much like a big shot because a beautiful young girl like Luciana had slept with him and did not ask for money."


This contradiction is a little bit longer and more complex than the first.  Though Luciana is the first one to suggest that she give Yossarian her address, she becomes angry when he agrees with her.  This is also an example of something Heller does often: repeat the same phrase directly after it has been said, often for comedic effect, but also sometimes to show how one phrase can mean two different or even opposite things.

"Yossarian ran right into the hospital, determined to remain there forever rather than fly one mission more than the thirty-two missions he had. Ten days after he changed his mind and came out, the colonel raised the missions [requirement] to forty-five and Yossarian ran right back in, determined to remain in the hospital forever rather than fly one mission more than the six missions more he had just flown."

Yossarian often goes in and out of the hospital with fake illnesses.  He always goes in with the intent to never emerge, then comes out after a truly sick person or someone he doesn't like enters the ward, at which point he simply tells the doctors that the pain in his liver is gone and walks out.  The story actually begins with him being chased out of the hospital by an overly-patriotic Texan.  Unlike ex-P.F.C. Wintergreen, who has spent the war safely digging and then refilling holes as punishment,  Yossarian for some reason cannot stay out of harm's way despite his constantly stating that that is his one and only goal for the war.  His inability to do this might be chalked up to the same reason Huck and Jim continue south after missing the Ohio River in Huckleberry Finn; there wouldn't be a story if they hadn't continued south, and there wouldn't be a story if Yossarian laid in the hospital the whole time.

"There were usually not nearly as many sick people inside the hospital as Yossarian saw outside the hospital, and there were generally fewer people inside the hospital who were seriously sick."

By "sick," the narrator probably means "crazy," and, as we have seen throughout the entire book, it is impossible to be truly sane during war, as to remain sane in such circumstances is itself insanity.  However, at face value, this statement is showing a deeply ironic fact about war.

"'I can't ground you,' Doc Daneeka mumbled. 'How many times do you have to be told?'
'Yes you can. Major Major told me you're the only one in the squadron who can ground me.'
Doc Daneeka was stunned. 'Major Major told you that?  Why that dirty, scheming liar!' Doc Daneeka cried. 'He wasn't supposed to tell anyone. Did he tell you how I could ground you?'
'Just by filling out a little slip of paper saying I'm on the verge of a nervous collapse and sending it to Group. Dr. Stubbs grounds men in his squadron all the time, so why can't you?'
'And what happens to the men after Stubbs does ground them?' Doc Daneeka retorted with a sneer.
'They go right back on combat status, don't they? And he finds himself right up the creek. Sure, I
can ground you by filling out a slip saying you're unfit to fly. But there's a catch.'
'Catch-22?'
'Sure. If I take you off combat duty, Group has to approve my action, and Group isn't going to.  They'll put you right back on combat status, and then where will I be? On my way to the Pacific Ocean, probably. No, thank you. I'm not going to take any chances for you.'
'Isn't it worth a try?' Yossarian argued. 'What's so hot about Pianosa?'
'Pianosa is terrible. But it's better than the Pacific Ocean. I wouldn't mind being shipped someplace civilized where I might pick up a buck or two in abortion money every now and then. But all they've got in the Pacific is jungles and monsoons, I'd rot there.'
'You're rotting here.'
Doc Daneeka flared up angrily. 'Yeah? Well, at least I'm going to come out of this war alive, which is a lot more than you're going to do.'
'That's just what I'm trying to tell you, goddammit. I'm asking you to save my life.'
'It's not my business to save lives,' Doc Daneeka retorted sullenly."

In this passage, Yossarian is trying to get Doc Daneeka to ground him again.  The titular "catch-22" makes it technically possible but in practice impossible for men to be taken off of combat duty, as they must ask to be taken off and any man that asks to stop flying missions must be sane.  This passage also, however, contains another deeply ironic comment: the squadron doctor telling Yossarian that it is not his business to save lives.  Though this could just reflect badly on this one character, it says something greater about the attitude of the military in general.

A Cast of Characters -- Chapters 4-11

Catch-22 has continued to be consistently funny, insightful, and engaging throughout the first quarter of the novel.  It is becoming increasingly clearer that the frequent contradictions that give the novel much of its humor is commentary on the contradictions and general insanity of war itself.  We have been introduced to many characters, from enlisted men to officers who still fly combat missions to bureaucratic higher-ups who catch much of the book's criticism.  Though this is not true of all of the book's chapters, every chapter from 4 through 11 is named after a different character who plays a relatively prominent role.  I'm going to briefly talk about each of these characters, in addition to Yossarian, the main character.

Yossarian

Yossarian is the main character of Catch-22.  He is deeply disillusioned by the war, and does all that he can to avoid combat.  He spends weeks in the hospital claiming to have liver pain, and only exits when an overly patriotic Texan comes into the ward and annoys all of the patients out.  He pesters Doc Daneeka to "ground" him, or write him a doctor's note declaring him insane and unfit to fly.  We see much of the book trough Yossarian's eyes, and I, at least, am rooting for him in his crusade to survive a war that, as he sees it, requires death but not necessarily his own death.

Doc Daneeka

Doc Daneeka is the squadron's somewhat incompetent doctor.  He ran a corrupt practice back in the United States, and was forced into the military after he was discovered.  He lives in constant fear of being transferred to the Pacific, and because of that refuses to do anything that has a chance of annoying his superiors.  This includes grounding Yossarian.  The opposite of a prototypical doctor, he is portrayed as crooked and selfish.

Chief White Halfoat

Chief White Halfoat is a very interesting character.  He and his (Native American) family were chased around the American west, unable to settle down because wherever they tried to live, oil was found.  Soon, prospectors started following the Halfoats around and digging wherever they stopped.  Chief White Halfoat has decided that he wants to die of pneumonia, because it just sees like a nice way to die to him.  This is probably a commentary of how soldiers prefer to die of anything but combat, but Halfoat's quest to die of pneumonia is one of my favorite parts of this book so far, just for its humor.

Hungry Joe

Hungry Joe is the most prolific fighter pilot in the squadron.  He was the first and only to attain the number of missions required in order to be discharged, but the number was raised before he could be sent home.  After this happened a few times, he tired of writing letters home telling everybody that he was coming, and now simply waits for the mission requirement to be raised once he attains it.  Unless he is flying a mission the next day, Hungry Joe screams all night with his nightmares.  His inability to be sent home is probably a criticism of the bureaucracy in the military; his night terrors show the flimsy psychological state of soldiers.

McWatt

McWatt is Yossarian's pilot and one of his close friends.  Like every other character, Yossarian thinks that he is crazy, but McWatt's craziness comes from the fact that he is able to remain sane.  Because of his sanity there is little to note about McWatt; he is most likely present to show that during war, sanity itself is a form of insanity.  This is another catch-22 that the novel presents; it is no longer possible to be sane during war.

Lieutenant Scheisskopf

Lieutenant Scheisskopf, whose name no doubt is a favorite for German-speaking readers of this book, is not on the island of Pianosa with most of the other characters. He was Yossarian's training officer when he was still an air cadet, and this chapter mostly focuses on Yossarian's experiences while undergoing training.  Scheisskopf was interested less in training, however, and more in the parades that each squadron would compete against each other in on a weekly basis.  He obsessed over the parades, and his cadets eventually became so adept at them that the parades ended and Scheisskopf was promoted to First Lieutenant.  This is an example of how promotions in the military are often not based on merit, but instead on areas wholly unimportant to the training and leading of men.

Major Major Major Major

Major Major Major Major (or just Major Major) is the commander of Yossarian's squadron.  His father, whose last name was Major, named him Major Major Major, and his ascent to the rank of Major was entirely because of that name, as he was "promoted by an I.B.M. machine with a sense of humor almost as keen as his father's."  For a while, Major Major sat in his office and signed his name to papers all day, but he soon discovered that he would get the same papers later and have to sign them again.  When he tried signing the name "Washington Irving" to the papers instead, they never returned, and so he resolved to never sign his real name to a paper again.  His ineptitude at his role is another example of the lack of merit promotion.  

Ex-P.F.C. Wintergreen

Ex-P.F.C. Wintergreen seems to have the system figured out.  Once a private, first class (P.F.C), he went AWOL and as punishment was stripped of his rank and was forced to dig and then fill in holes.  Once he finished his sentence, he went AWOL again and was again  forced to dig and fill in holes.  He has decided that he will do this until the war is over.  This seems to be a commentary on how many military positions are as pointless as digging and filling in a hole, and Wintergreen talks about digging holes like soldiers talk about combat: "'It's a matter of duty,' he observed, 'and we each have our own to perform. My duty is to keep digging these holes."

Captain Black

Captain Black considers himself the most intelligent person on Pianosa, so he is enraged when Major Major becomes the squadron commander instead of him.  In order to punish Major Major, Captain Black starts the Great Loyalty Oath Crusade, which involved having every soldier sign a loyalty oath, recite the Pledge of Allegiance, and/or sing the Star-Spangled Banner in order to be able to do anything from eat to get in their planes to fly off to combat.  He refuses to allow Major Major to sign an oath, then criticizes him for not signing the oath.  This chapter appears to mock the level of patriotism that Americans in general and soldiers in particular are expected to display.

Catch-22 is, through the first 89 pages, one of my favorite books ever.  Though I know that it is still early, I would call it a must-read for fans of absurd or offbeat yet meaningful humor, and it shows that it is possible to illustrate the issues of war without being darkly realistic.