Catch-22
In Catch-22, Joseph Heller reveals the perversions of the human character and society. Using various themes and a unique style and structure, Heller satirizes war and its values as well as using the war setting to satirize society at large. By manipulating the "classic" war setting and language of the novel Heller is able to depict society as dark and twisted. Heller demonstrates his depiction of society through the institution of war (i.e. it's effects and problems during and after war). In the novel, the loss of individuality through the lives of the soldiers; the insanity of war and Heller's solution to insanity; and the idea of "there is always a catch" in life is shown to a dramatic extent. Heller's novel not only satirizes war, but all of society. Catch-22 shows how the individual soldier loses his uniqueness not as much from the battlefield like other novels set during a war, but from the bureaucratic mentality. An example of this Lt. Scheisskopf's obsession with parades that he sees the men more as puppets than as human beings. At one point in the novel, he even wants to wire them together so their movements will be perfectly precise--just as mindless puppets would be. This theme also appears when Colonel Cathca
These descriptive styles help depart from pure realism--they serve to transcend physical reality by making sensations metaphors for states of mind and by attributing unusual qualities to objects, making the reader take a second look at familiar objects and feelings. These help to create new and altered perceptions of the world--common in satires as they try to solve the problem being satirized by having those satirized (the human character) realize its faults. One example of the absurd humor that helps to abandon realism for the reader are the deaths of some of the men--the war kills men in both expected and unexpected ways--some die through anti-aircraft fire, while others did in odd ways such as Clevinger whose plane disappeared in the clouds; Dunbar who simply disappears from the hospital; and Sampson who is killed by a propeller of one of the bombers-- this departure from pure realism (i.e. the exaggeration, the grotesque, the comic-like characters, the unusual deaths) is aimed to first make the reader laugh, then look back at horror at what amused them--and this is the technique Heller applies to satirize society. Through various themes and structural and descriptive styles, Heller's Catch-22 is not the typical war story, but a satire. Heller gives us a different perception of war and society--such as the pointlessness of war and how when it is looked at closely hurts both the enemy and the allies--and from a greater perspective, how we humans inflict catastrophe on ourselves. Catch-22 ultimately makes us stop and think about the faults and tendencies of the human character. In form, Catch-22 is a social satire--it's a novel us
Some common words found in the essay are:
Doc Daneeka, Colonel Cathcart, Joseph Heller, Major Major, Heller's Catch-22, Washington Irving, Lt Scheisskopf's, Air Force, Corporal Snark, Colonel Korn, descriptive styles, human character, various themes, war setting, absurd humor, satirize society, satirizes war,
Approximate Word count = 1116
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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