The Surprising Aspect of Sex in Catch-22

A detailed Summary of The Surprising Aspect of Sex in Catch-22


The Surprising Aspect of Sex in Heller's Catch-22

Joseph Heller's humorist-war novel, Catch-22, has many surprising passages and themes. The part that is most surprising to me in Catch-22 is the amount of sexual connotation in a novel based around World War II. The question which has to be raised is, Is Catch-22 really about World War II? While this book is a fictious war novel, you get a different look into the lives of the soldiers. Their lives are filled with sex, whether it is a quick stop at a whorehouse in Italy or putting a hand up Nurse Duckett's thighs. Catch-22 is about something deeper than the war. It is about personal experiences of soldiers in the eyes of Joseph Heller which brings this book to a different level than what is expected.

One example of heavy sexual content in Catch-22, is when Heller describes General Dreedle's nurse in great detail. Descriptions like "nubile breasts", "ripened" and "He drank her in insatiably from head to pointed toenail" (230), Or "He licked his parched, thirsting lips with a sticky tongue and moaned in misery again..." (230), make this Catch-22 dirty. It brought this book to whole other level which when I first opened it was not expecting. This level is almost in a way mo


Finally the last of the many examples of sexual content in Catch-22 is when Yossarian, the main character of the novel, molests Nurse Sue Ann Duckett. In a sad attempt of feeling sorry for Nurse Duckett, Yossarian helps her. At this point, Yossarian's definition of "help" involves some sort of sexual action. The next morning when Nurse Duckett is smoothing out Yossarian's sheets, he "slipped his hand stealthily into the narrow spaces between her knees and, all at once, brought it up swiftly under her dress as far as it would go" (303). This sly move comes after the vivid description of Nurse Duckett. Pointing out only the important aspects of her body like her well-rounded ass and small breasts. However this scene, unlike the last, because there is a hint of enjoyment as she sways back and forth on Yossarian's hand. By having Nurse Duckett enjoy herself, Heller is getting away with having such a ludicrous portrayal of Yossarian's constant sexual harassment towards women.

re humanistic than the level I thought it would reach. The typical war story of courage and bravery seem to have disappeared from Heller's depiction. It shows that while there is a traumatic World War, and these soldiers are fighting for their country and more importantly to them, their lives, these soldiers have a life o

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Approximate Word count = 876
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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