Catch-22 Part 1

After reading the first few chapters of Joseph Heller's Catch-22, I find myself eagerly awaiting the finish of this blog so I can continue reading the novel. Really, I didn't know what to expect when I chose the novel, but I certainly didn't expect a story that would actually entertain me.

It is a war novel, so to speak, but it deviates from the normal standards set forth by other great war stories, popular conceptions, and by association Hollywood. There is no great honor here. There are no heroes. And there is nothing worth fighting this war for. This lattermost fact is perhaps one of if not the central facet of the novel at this stage. All that matters to the generals controlling the troops is getting a promotion; all that matters to the troops is staying alive long enough to go home. Nobody is worried about the larger political or noble goals of the war. This grand irony is shown in a number of small ways, namely through Yossarian's self-defeating, paradoxical actions, which in the big picture have little or no meaning whatsoever. In the hospital, for example, Yossarian and his companions hate the Texan because he is so likable, and Yossarian makes a fool of the chaplain even though he senselessly loves him. Furthermore, wielded with wickedly satirical intent, the banter between characters is full of paradoxes as impossible as Catch-22 itself.

The characters all seem to realize this point about themselves, and also realize the complete lack of control that they have over their own fates. Their futures lie in the hands of bureaucrats who's agendas do not include the well-being of common soldiers. Yossarian and the others strike out against this by embracing the paradoxes of their situation, pursuing irrelevancy, meaninglessness, and nonsense as though they are real values in a world where relevancy, meaning, and sense are impossible. This is further emphasizes by the impersonal increase in mission number requirements by Colonel Cathcart.

In the face of these paradoxes, I find myself sympathizing with Yossarian. He's a man who does not necessarily hate or love the war, but just wants out of it. The only real reason he argues against the way the war is being prosecuted is because he doesn't want the dumb-donkey bureaucrats who have their heads up their butts and are more used to checkers than running an army to get him killed. Frankly, this seems fairly reasonable to me. (478)