Catch-22

Recently finishing Catch-22, I’ve been taken aback by the ability of an author to convey emotion. I have not been reading as much as I should be, which is to say it has been a while since a book has really struck the right chords, and so any book really is a welcome thing, but regardless Joseph Heller created something truly incredible with his novel. For those unaware Catch-22 is a story about World War 2 – but instead of handling pre-war apathy from the West or carefully written anti-war post cards left around Germany, it dealt with a pilot, Yossarian, stationed out in Pianosa, a tiny island off the east coast of Italy, and the various army officials he has the displeasure of interacting with.

First and foremost, Catch-22 is a pleasure to read: it boasts a delightfully unique satire, and an unrivaled mastery of sophistry that will grow on you as you progress through the book. In addition, there’s a certain rhythm to his writing that highlight his major plot points, such as the girl hitting Orr over the head with her shoe in Rome, or Nately’s whore and her kid sister, or the soldier all in white, not to mention Yossarian’s constant return to the hospital – and, of course, most importantly, Catch-22 itself, the ultimate sophism. These become established early on, constantly keeping you guessing, and then once you find out what they really were everything all falls into place, not just from a plot oriented stand point, but from a thematic one as well.

To elaborate more on Catch-22, it’s a catch in any argument that means you have to do whatever the army tells you to do. The best example is that the only way any of the pilots can get out of flying more missions is to be declared insane, since any other injury can be treated in the hospital and means you can be returned to the field. Of course, any one that asks to be sent home (since this process won’t be done automatically) under the presumption that they’re crazy clearly are not crazy, because they’re asking to return home from a dangerous, life threatening war zone, and to recognize that is obviously to have complete mental faculty, and is therefore prevented from leaving. It’s ironic on so many levels because the military in this case recognize the danger they’re putting men through, but then does everything in their power to push people into the battlefield regardless. In addition, clearly they are aware of their hypocrisy of their argument, but even though it requires that acknowledgement of a contradiction to make it in the first place, they still play stupid.

I really should write up a thorough analysis of the major themes of the book, because there’s really a lot to talk about. Most notable is Yossarian’s plan to escape – recognizing that he can’t fight the army, and that he must instead escape the vicious system all together. Then there is Milo Minderbinder, a cook that develops an ‘enterprise’ in which he trades goods around Europe for incredible profits, and who ends up ordering attacks against his own base with the eventual consent of his superior officers since, supposedly, everyone gets a share of the profits – which really only makes me thing of the highly common trading of weapons to certain foreign empires that have been known to pay for attacks against us and other countries from the west (Saudi Arabia, if that wasn’t clear). There is the significance of Nately’s whore, who finally falls in love with Nately in the end but upon hearing of his death becomes determined to kill Yossarian – symbolic of his own guilt by association, perhaps, but also of the irrational responses many have to grief. In addition, there is something very profound about the way this novel depicts horrible things, and leverages those to make a statement about, obviously, the whole war thing in general, but also about it’s characters. Yossarian is a man profoundly changed by war, actually very empathetic but highly disturbed due to the death of his peers and first hand experience with the worst of war, and people themselves.

The major thing, at the end of it all, is that I can never understand how war continues after books like these come out. They so beautifully and powerfully criticize and undermine war, and make such an impact on the world, that it makes you wonder that even the creation of art like this isn’t enough.