Flying in the Face of Sanity
Catch-22 was written by Joseph Heller, and is about a WWII oddball bombardier named Yossarian. The novel was brilliantly written. The depths of the various characters were unparallel to those of any other author. There are thirty-nine characters in the book and every one was unique. Heller must have been a genius to keep all of them straight. This reader struggled to keep track of them and had to jot down a few notes while reading. Catch-22 is laugh out loud funny. It is a satirical indictment of military madness and stupidity, and the desire of an ordinary man to survive it. The author throws in symbolism for bureaucratic absurdities, religion, and social issues to actually make the reader think. Anyone who does not like Catch-22 does not like to think. Heller's opinions appeal to every person because his characters oppose each other on issues. Heller was capable of looking at the world from a different perspective. That is what made the novel so intriguing. He would take the idea of maintaining sanity during war and completely flip the concept upside down and force the reader to question one's own sanity. The reoccurring argument in the story carried on by Yossarian illustrate
The following passage conveys this reader's admiration of the novel, and its essence combined. --"They're trying to kill me," Yossarian told him calmly. The Generals take advantage of others to further themselves in their careers. The meaning of the title is by far the best part about the book in its complex simplicity (I did that on purpose). I don't see heaven or saints or angels. Because of this he stops just short of provoking the system into ruining him. Their survival in career terms is maintained at the expense of the literal survival of the officers and enlisted men who lie below them in the military chain of command. Catch-22 takes many forms, but the central one is that you do not have to fly any more missions if you're crazy, but you have to ask first, and anyone who wants to get out of combat duty isn't crazy (I know you're not supposed to use "you"). What did matter was that everyone thought it existed, and that was much worse. In the book, Catch-22 did not exist, Yossarian was positive of that, but it made not difference. This is the point of the book's title. Ideals are good, but people are sometimes not so good. "Yossarian rejected the advice with a skeptical shake of his head. There are other examples of characters that struggle to fit in, and their feelings of desolation are clearly written so to show the affect one's actions have on other people.
Common topics in this essay:
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Yossarian They're,
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