Thesis Statement: Catch 22 can be applied to many actions of the US’s fighting forces, as well as real life and the war itself.
Catch 22, the miraculous answer to everything. "Catch 22 says that you’ve always got to do what your commanding officer tells you to do."(53), " Catch 22. Anyone who wants to get out of combat duty isn’t really crazy." (40). In essence, Catch 22 could be applied to anything going on in life. The Air Force uses Catch 22 as a shield, as if to protect themselves from any criticism. Ironically, we never see a copy of the infamous Catch 22, as "They don’t have to show us Catch 22. The law says they don’t have to." (409) I think Heller’s obsession with the Catch 22 law is a representation of his feelings about the US Armed Forces as well as his opinion of war as a whole.
"Catch 22 says that you’ve always got to do what your commanding officer tells you to do". Doc Daneeka explains this to Yossarian as he complains about the missions being raised. With this facet of Catch 22, Heller exhibits his distaste for the inappropriate canons made by the authority figures of the time. One example of these veritable goofballs of authority figures would have been General George S. Patton. As a tactical advisor, Patton was brilliant, and his patriotism had deep roots. However, he ran to cruelty, and is known for his refusal to resign. General Patton was very tough on deserters and considered them to be the worst of the bunch. There is a true story about his lack of compassion; in fact it is the reason he was asked to resign. On August 3, Patton stopped by an army hospital outside Nicosia and chatted with several injured soldiers; "All were brave and cheerful," he noted. Then he encountered a 1st Division infantryman who seemed unhurt. Patton asked him what was wrong. "I guess I can't take it," the soldier replied. Patton erupted. Cursing the soldier as a coward, he slapped him with his gloves and pushed him out of the tent. Such men, Patton wrote, "should be tried for cowardice and shot." A week later at another hospital Patton came across another "alleged nervous patient," a private in the 13th Field Artillery Brigade whose case was diagnosed as severe shell shock. Again Patton's anger overcame him; again he slapped and cursed the soldier. "I can't help it," he said, "but it makes my blood boil to think of a yellow bastard being babied." Not only was Patton an uncompassionate bastard, but he was also very much anti-Semitic. Patton was responsible for the liberation of several concentration camps, and when he was asked about what to do with the people there, he reportedly said, "We should finish the job the Nazis started." I see Patton as being the bloated colonel with the big mustache who judged the parades, and who was the chairman of the Action Board. As Yossarian said to Clevinger, "You haven’t got a chance, kid; they hate Jews." (77) As Clevinger asserts that he isn’t Jewish, Yossarian replies, "It will make no difference." (77) Yossarian was correct, the Action Board, especially the bloated colonel hated everybody, and it wreaks havoc upon everyone around it, specifically with orders that make no sense, and by verbally abusing innocent enlisted men.
The Catch 22 phrase, "Anyone who wants to get out of combat duty isn’t really crazy"(40) applies to both the war and the book as a whole. In the passage in question, Yossarian was attempting to coerce Doc Daneeka into grounding him. The theory behind the catch was that anyone who had the presence of mind to be concerned about their safety showed sanity, even if they were crazy. Since the only way to get grounded by Doc Daneeka was to ask for it, and asking for it indicated sanity, it was a no-win position. The book is full of these no-win situations. The war itself was also rife with no-win situations. In essence, the position of the bombardier was a no-win situation. No only were the bombardiers forced to sit in a claustrophobia inducing glass compartment in the nose of a B-17, they were expected to help navigate the planes, drop the actual bombs, and somehow come out alive, despite their high vulnerability and lack of escape hatch.
The Catch 22 was also used to represent the petty excuses the military used to harass civilians.
"Catch 22," the old woman repeated, rocking her head up and down. "Catch 22. Catch 22 says they have a right to do anything we can’t stop them from doing."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Yossarian shouted at her in bewildered, furious protest. "How did you know it was Catch 22? Who the hell told you it was Catch 22?"
"The soldiers with the hard white hats and clubs. The girls were crying. ’Did we do anything wrong?’ they said. The men said no and pushed them away out the door with the ends of their clubs. ‘Then why are you chasing us out?’ the girls said. ‘Catch 22,’ the men said. ‘What right do you have?’ the girls said. ‘Catch 22,’ the men said. All they kept saying was ‘Catch 22, Catch 22.’ What does it mean, Catch 22, what is Catch 22?"
"Didn’t they show it to you?" Yossarian demanded, stamping about in anger and distress. "Didn’t you even make them read it?"
They don’t have to show us Catch 22." The old woman answered. "The law says they don’t have to."
Which law says they don’t have to?"
"Catch 22" (409)
In this passage, the cruelty of the Military Police is shown. They attack a bordello that was frequented by many officers and enlisted men, utterly destroy it, and chase out all of the girls. These sorts of incidents happened often in the real war, and many places were pillaged of valuables or family heirlooms. This plundering occurred on both sides of the lines. The Nazi party desecrated many homes of prominent Jews, and melted down the gold that belonged to them.
I liked this book. I found the symbolism to be strong, but the writing layout was erratic at best. I think it would be a good book for mature teens or people in their twenties to read. Admittedly, some of the topics addressed are at least PG-17, and others are graphically violent. Some of the word choices could be different, in a way that would be smoother, but other than that, the book is very well written. The book addresses the war in a comical yet attention catching way, and can be applied to many real life situations.