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AP Language
13 April 2012

Joseph Heller: Catch-22

Heller's Catch-22 picks up amidst a group of pilots in World War II. Heller uses his main
character, Yossarian, to introduce other characters. Catch-22 has a unclear plotline, chapters
follow each other non-chronologically. It is not a book about war, but about how the war has
affected the men in it. Every chapter describes a story of one or more men and what they did to
the military, or what the military did to him. This would be a boring book, if Heller wasn't
satirizing the military. Heller expertly makes every person, situation, and idea a target of his
satire as much as possible. This element is what makes Catch-22 a great novel.
"Group Headquarters was alarmed, for there was no telling what people might find out once
they felt free to ask whatever questions they wanted to" (Heller 43).
The upper ranks of the military banned anyone who asked questions from the educational
session they created, so only those who never asked questions remained. Then the sessions
become unnecessary to educate those who never question anything.
Most dialogues are over-redundant, repetition is overwhelming, and not much gets
accomplished. The greatest example of redundancy and contradiction is the idea of Catch-22, in
which to get out of the military you must be crazy, but only a sane person would want to get out
even though only a crazy pilot would fly into a mission and face death.
"'Don't interrupt.'
'Yes, sir.'
'And say 'sir' when you do,' order Major Metcalf.
'Yes, sir.'
'Weren't you just ordered not to interrupt?' Major Metcalf inquired coldly.
'But I didn't interrupt, sir,' Clevinger protested.
'No. And you didn't say 'sir', either'" (Heller 78).
In many conversations, nothing gets accomplished or resolved, the author does this to as
part of the satire in the military, the military can't get anything accomplished in a timely matter.
The military is inefficient, it takes weeks to complete simple missions, and the higher ranked
men are just as or more clueless than the pilots.
"'Why don't we give him a medal?' Colonel Korn proposed.
'For going around twice? What can we give him a medal for?'
'For going around twice,' Colonel Korn answered with a reflective, self-satisfied smile" (Heller
136).

Yossarian is rewarded with a medal for failing to drop his bombs from his plane on the
first fly-over and going around a second time causing the other pilots to get killed. This was a
target they had been trying to hit for over a week. The conversation in which he is rewarded a
medal extends over two pages and very redundant. Although reading such repetitive writing can
get dull, Heller uses such wide range in diction, it is surprisingly engaging.
Another technique that Heller uses throughout the entire novel is the diction he chooses
and how it changes the tone.
"'Why,' swore Yossarian at him approvingly, ' you evil-eyed, mechanically-aptituded,
disaffiliated son of a bitch, did you walk around with anything in your cheeks?'" (Heller 32).
Heller's choice of words and large vocabulary makes the book enthralling to read, it gives
a sense of creativity that isn't seen in many other books.
"To German intelligence, Major ------ de Coverly was a vexatious enigma; not one of the
hundreds of American prisoners would ever supply any concrete information about the elderly
white-haired officer with the gnarled and menacing brow and blazing, powerful eyes who
seemed to spearhead every important advance so fearlessly and successfully" (Heller 130).
A large portion of the novel is descriptions of other characters that stem out from off
topic subjects, Heller's story gets off track in a similar way the military gets off track of their real
mission. Chapter 21, General Dreedle, spends 7 pages talking about Colonel Cathcart and
Yossarian before the story actually begins focuses on General Dreedle.
Many times, Heller starts with what Yossarian is doing, then bridges off to someone
else's story. This is the author's technique of making time for satire. The ability to get off
subject so smoothly makes reading the side stories much more tolerable.
Heller could have written a novel on anything and it would have been a good novel. But
choosing the military makes a great book, makes an entertaining plot, and shows the reader
Heller's view on how the inside of a military operates. It gives him a good target of satire and an
excuse to characterize a wide variety of characters. Whether you are interested in the military or
not, the expertise of Heller makes this book a great book to read.