Yossarian: Yossarian serves as the protagonist of Catch-22 and is a bombardier of his squadron. Yossarian differs from the average bombardier in that he views the war effort as a meaningless pursuit that simply takes the lives of the innocent. Yossarian does all he can to avoid flying missions, including feigning sicknesses to become hospitalized and moving the bomb line before the Bologna mission. He values life greatly, but in a rather selfish way; Yossarian does not find purpose in risking his own life to save those of countless others. However, when put in a dangerous position, he truly does care for his men and does what he can to keep them alive. Yossarian takes evasive action and does not care if he succeeds in his mission goals as…
Joseph Heller demonstrates his unique talent of manipulating words in his satirical historical fiction novel, Catch-22. In capturing the essence of the military during World War II, he unravels what war does to the human psyche. The novel rejects standard logic at every opportunity, causing the use of satire to be all the more effective. To elaborate, the squadron of focus is governed by an absurd bureaucracy. Most notably, is the rule Catch-22. Its name itself already sparks significance as the duplicated numbers are meant to parallel the repetition between character exchanges. This rule specified, “…that a concern’s for one’s own safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process if a rational mind” (46). Therefore,…
Captain John Yossarian possesses this aggressiveness, lack of morality, and courage characteristic of anti-hero, stemming from a desire to stay alive as long as possible. Major Sanderson diagnoses Yossarian, saying, “‘You have a morbid aversion to dying... You have deep-seated survival anxieties… It wouldn’t surprise me if you’re a manic-depressive!’” (Heller 303). This quote is important because it tells the reader why Yossarian is so aggressive and dishonest; he will do whatever it takes to stay alive. Clevinger also explains Yossarian’s behavior: “...a homicidal impulse to machine-gun strangers, retrospective falsification, and an unfounded suspicion that people hated him and were conspiring to kill him” (Heller 20). Along with this quote,…
DeNiro’s Game is a novel based around war and the effects it has both mentally and physically. The novel is set in the war torn country of Lebanon. The main characters, Bassam and George, are greatly affected by the war. Families are destroyed, there is major corruption, and they are forced to make the choice to either stay and fight or to leave the country. This essay will look at the sacrifices and choices made by both characters.…
Catch-22' was Joseph Heller's first novel and arose out of Heller's own experiences as a U.S. bombardier during World War II. It was published in 1961 and was subject to a great deal of criticism. It presented an unsentimental account of war, replacing the ideals of glory and honour with a nightmarish comedy of violence, bureaucracy and paradoxical madness. Most of the novel takes place in the last year of the war in Europe. It is set in Italy and is very much based on what actually happened, accurately depicting the capture of Rome and other such incidents.…
Two major themes of Catch-22 by Joseph Heller are the absurdity of war and the abuse of power. These two themes depend on one another in order to coexist. It is through the power exhibited by senior officers and command staff that the absurdities take place. In this novel, the main character, Yossarian, is a bombardier in a squadron in Pianosa, Italy. He is surrounded by absurdity and power abuse, most notably from Catch-22. Catch-22 is a provision which states that in order for a soldier to be grounded, he must be insane, but in declaring himself insane, he is showing that he is sane and must therefore continue to fly. Yossarian wishes to be grounded because he is so concerned…
Yossarian is an American airman in world war two who has to endure a nightmarish existence defined by bureaucracy: they are inhuman resources in the eyes of their blindly ambitious superior officers. The squadron is thrown into brutal combat situations and bombing runs in which it is more important for the squadron members to capture good aerial photos of explosions than to destroy their targets. Their colonels continually raise the number of missions that they are required to fly before being sent home, so that no one is ever sent home. Meanwhile all Yossarian wants is to leave the military. The symbols I used to depict the theme, main character, time period and setting of the novel Catch-22 portray the books image mood and overall feel very well.…
Flannery O’Conner argued that “[Distortion] is the only way to make people see”. This famous statement is initially contradictory and incongruous, but in Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 it is easy to see the truth of this paradox. The pages of Catch-22 are lined with distortion and each instance provides for a new kind of clarity. Catch-22 is simply a war story illustrated by ridiculous behavior and illogical arguments and told in a flatly satirical tone. Though the book never states outright that matters are funny, the reader is always aware of how outrageously bizarre the characters and situations are. Heller uses out of sequence narration, a confused distinction between appearance and reality, and the irrationally logical paranoia of characters to create his corrupt military world.…
The comical, semi-autobiographical and prejudicial play written by Neil Simon, Biloxi Blues, captured my attention years ago. This play was actually the sequel to Simon’s, Brighton Beach Memoirs, however, it isn’t necessary to have seen or read the first of the sequel, but the play does pick up or continue with the main character and others heading to boot camp. For me, born into a military family, and then marrying a retired military man, the choice to read and write about this play was quite easy for me. The military stories shared throughout the years of my life made this two-act play comfortable to follow. From the beginning of the play, the characters draw the reader into the experiencing they are currently facing. Over the course of my analysis of this play, the plot, characters, theme, diction, music, spectacle, and convention will…
First published in 1924, Richard Connell 's "The Most Dangerous Game" is perhaps the finest example to date of the "hunter-becomes-the-hunted" tale. Connell, a combat veteran of World War I, began with a somewhat hackneyed plot line, but via excellent description, taut pacing, and crisp dialogue, the young writer produced a surprisingly enduring action-adventure story. Winner of the O 'Henry Memorial Award the year it was published, the tale remains a staple of anthologies of American short fiction. Although commonly dismissed as little more than an exciting, testosterone-pumping duel between two well-matched professional hunters, there is a deeper political and social meaning to this widely read but rarely critiqued story. Beneath the thrill of the chase, the two main characters--Sanger Rainsford, a young American traveler, and General Zaroff, an old Russian aristocrat--represent competing views of the world that were at strong odds in the first quarter of the twentieth century.…
In the beginning of the story is a young man who is merely more concerned with his backgammon game than the war that is at hand. He is in the beginning portrayed as an ignorant and impatient man, naïve to the fact that he is in fact in the middle of war. As he so simply states to his comrade “If you don’t shoot the dice, I’ll go to the personnel officer right now and ask him to send me. Maybe with those guys. I’ll at least be able to finish a game.” (755) When driving into the…
This passage is very significant to the reality of the soldiers in the Vietnam War and brings to life the setting of the entire novel. The soldiers were primarily teenagers and young men in their early twenties who had not yet had the chance to experience life. They soon had found themselves in the midst of an intense war with nothing but uncertainty and fear. They hated it and they loved the fear and adrenaline that ran through their skin and bones. It was a crucial part of their young lives that changed the way they would see their own world. In this passage it shows how the characters perceived the war as their feelings changed everyday, every hour, and even every minute. A strong message is presented through this passage as it brings forth the true raw emotion of the soldiers and the reality of war; which is a major theme throughout the novel.…
In the realistic fiction story “The Sniper” by Liam O’Flaherty there is a war. Based in Dublin, the Republicans and Free Staters are not at peace. In fact, they are in the war. This war is tearing families and friends apart because of their own beliefs. By using the story’s sentence variety, Liam O’Flaherty creates the lesson that every action has a consequence through different craft moves.…
On the surface General Zaroff’s character seems very realistic; a highly decorated military man with wealth, refinement, and a taste for high end goods. However, below the surface Richard Connell’s depiction of General Zaroff is unrealistic. In the story “The Most Dangerous Game” Connell portrays the General as a savage who devalues human life. The General has lost touch with reality as a whole because he has rationalized his hunting of humans.…
Swinton postulates that unconventional tactics must sometimes be adopted to suit a specific battlefield. The author supports his thesis by relating a series of progressive lessons he learned while serving as a lieutenant in the Anglo-Boer War. The main character in the story is Lieutenant Backsight Forethought, a young, inexperienced British Army officer that has a succession of six dreams in which he is given the same task. He has been left with fifty men and charged with defending a river crossing, until a larger force can arrive in the next few days.…