Catch-22

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For other uses, see Catch-22 (disambiguation).

Catch-22 is a 1961 novel by American novelist Joseph Heller. It was adapted into a feature film in 1970.

The novel follows Captain John Yossarian, a fictional World War II US Army Air Corps B-25 bombardier, and a large number of other American airmen and other characters during World War II. Most events in the book occur while the airmen of the Fighting 256th (or "two to the fighting eighth power") squadron are based on the island of Pianosa, west of Italy. Many events in the book are described repeatedly, from differing points of view, so that the reader learns more about the event with each iteration. The pacing of Catch-22 is frenetic, its tenor is intellectual, and its humor is largely absurdist — but with grisly moments of realism interspersed.

In the December 1987 issue of Playboy magazine, a chapter that had been cut from the novel was published under the title "Yossarian Survives." It featured a physical-education instructor named Rogoff.

A sequel containing many characters from Catch-22, Closing Time, was written by Heller and published in 1994.

1 The title
2 The concept
3 Themes
4 Characters in the book
5 External link
6 See also

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The title

A magazine excerpt from the novel was originally published as "Catch-18," but Heller's publisher requested that he change the title of the novel to "Catch-22" so it wouldn't be confused with another recently published World War II novel, Leon Uris's Mila 18.

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The concept

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Catch-22 is, among other things, a general critique of bureaucratic operation and reasoning. As generalized from its specific in the book, described below, the phrase "catch-22" has come into common use to mean a double-bind of any type.

Within the book, "catch-22" is introduced as a military rule, the self-contradictory, circular logic of which, for example, prevents anyone from avoiding combat missions. In Heller's own words:

There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one's safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn't, but if he was sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn't have to; but if he didn't want to he was sane and had to. Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle. 'That's some catch, that Catch-22,' he observed. 'It's the best there is,' Doc Daneeka agreed.

As in the above example, much of Heller's prose in Catch-22 is circular and repetitive, exemplifying in its form the structure of a catch-22. Heller revels in the use of paradox. Examples are The Texan turned out to be good-natured, generous and likeable. In three days no one could stand him, and The case against Clevinger was open and shut. The only thing missing was something to charge him with. This constantly undermines the reader's understanding of the social milieu of the characters, and is key to understanding the book. An atmosphere of logical irrationality pervades the whole description of Yossarian's life in the armed forces, and indeed the whole book.

Other forms of Catch-22 are invoked at other points in the novel to justify various other actions. At one point, victims of harassment by military agents quote the agents as having explained one of Catch-22's most macabre and rococo provisions in this fashion: Catch-22 states that agents enforcing Catch-22 need not prove that Catch-22 actually contains whatever provision the accused violator is accused of violating. An old woman explains: Catch-22 says they have a right to do anything we can’t stop them from doing. Yossarian comes to realize that Catch-22 doesn't actually exist, but that because the powers that be claim it does and the world believes that it does, it nevertheless has potent effects. Indeed, because it doesn't really exist there is no way it can be repealed, undone, overthrown, or denounced. The combination of brute force with specious legalistic justification is one of the book's primary motifs.

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Themes

The book sets out the absurdity of living by the rules of others, be they friends, family, governments, systems, religions or philosophies. The world itself is portrayed as insane, so the only practical survival strategy is to be oneself insane. Another theme is that of the folly of patriotism and honour, which leads most of the airmen to accept Catch-22s and being lied to by abusive bureaucrats, but which Yossarian never accepts as a legitimate answer to his complaints.

While the (official) enemy are the Germans, no German ever actually appears in the story. As the narrative progresses, Yossarian comes to fear American bureaucrats more than he fears the Germans attempting to shoot down his bomber.

As the Czech writer Arnošt Lustig [1] recounts in his latest book 3x18[2], Joseph Heller personally told him that he would never have written Catch-22 had he not first read The Good Soldier Švejk by Jaroslav Hašek. Some would also trace the influences on Catch-22 to the novel, A Fable, by William Faulkner.

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