Catch22: Chapter 40-42

These final chapters of Catch-22 resolve some of the major issues caused by World War II in Yossarian's life. After Yossarian is arrested in Rome, he is brought in front of his commanding officers, who finally offer him the option of going home even though the reoccuring logical loophole Catch-22 does not allow to without consessions. However, he would have to act as a puppet for the Colonels, which would entail him betraying the men he served with. Ironically, this catch is not enough to keep Yossarian from considering the opportunity and actually decides to take the deal. However, Nately's whore decides to stab him again (which amost mortally wounds him again). This actually turns out to be the experience that makes him realize his mistake in taking the deal.

In the hospital, Yossarian is semi-conscious and encounters his previously deceased friends who make him realize that betraying them is morally wrong even if it means that he gets to return home. When he wakes up in the hospital he finds out that his only remaining living friend is dead, he now has nothing left. This actually acts as the final factor in helping him determine his decision. When he confronts the colonels, he standing up to them and assertively tells them that he will not take the deal. At the very end of the book, Yossrian decides to run to Sweden. Heller runs into the distance which symbolizes his freedom from all of the burdens of war, an appropriate ending to Catch-22. Throughout the whole book, the effect of war is the most important idea. The protagonist, Yossarian, has a very cynical view of war and by induction, human nature in general because of the horrible experiences that he has encountered. Death is an unavoidable reality in war and Yossarian is greatly affected by the death of his close comrads. Author Joseph Heller, effectively achieves his purpose of portraying the realities of war.

Catch22: Chapter37-39

This chapters showcase a change in Yossarian's characters. Before, he was always displeased at the wartime policies of this superior officers. He was utterly disgusted by his Colonel's policies of raising the number of missions necessary to leave the battlefield (effectiveness keeping all of his men in the warzone until the war is over). However, Yossarian always followed orders and flew the missions. In chapter 37, he decides to stop flying missions and for once his officers are actually understanding because Yossarian's friend Nately was killed. As time goes on Yossarian does still earn the enmity of his officers because he refuses to fly even non-combat missions.

An interesting break from the policies of war occurs in Chapter 38, when Yossrian encounters' Nately's female friend in Rome. She attempts to murder him, which is a classic example of "killing the messenger." This experience, which, severely injures Yossarian (stab wounds) physically, compounds to his cynical view of war and thus human nature. It is very ironic that Yossrian, fater fighting many battles, is unscratched, yet is so severely wounded in a non-combat related incident. It seems that the war has completely drained his ability to normally interact socially with others outside the battlefield.

The Stargate Connection

War is a common theme in many modern television programs. Science fiction shows especially those that involve extra-terrestrial beings give us a completely new perspective on the concept of war because they enlarge the battlefield to no just anthropocentric matters but also intersteller conflicts. New standards and morality questions undoubedly arise. Specifically, the series Stargate sg1 and Stargate Atlantis offer many good insights into both diplomacy and armed conflict between different races living on different planets. As a brief overview, the stargate universe is based heavily on Earth's mythology. A member of the parasitic race (a major antagonist) called the Goa'uld, Ra arrives in Ancient Egypt and abducts many primitive humans for slave labor on other worlds. The Goa'uld are in possession of an Ancient(another race) device called the stargate, which enables the instanteous travel both matter and energy through an established wormhole between two locations in the Milkyway Galaxy. There is a rebellion on earth and the Ra is banished from the planet. As ar result there are many humans living on other worlds in the galaxy who are in various stages of technological development in the present day. In the series Stargate sg1, colonel Jack Oneill portrayed by Richard Deal Anderson has a tendency to try to impose the ways of earth on the people from other worlds. He even goes as far to try to break thousand year old rituals held by the Jaffa (genetically engineered humans). Acting as his foil, Daniel Jackson, a civilian archeologist, usually respects the traditions of other races and their sovereignty. This showcases a sharp contrast in methodologies of approaching both diplomatic relations and war in space. In the series Stargate Atlantis, diplomacy and the war between humans and the Wraith (a hostile alien race that needs to feed on the human life force to survive) is even more pressing than in sg1 because the plot takes place in a completely different galaxy. Aspects of human wartime and peaceful diplomacy are used such as the Geneva Convention. Major John sheppard, the chief military officer of Atlantis (the base of operations in the Pegasus galaxy), tends to rejects earth laws in the war against the wraith. Once he sites that if the Wraith were present at the the Geneva Convention, they would start feeding on all the delegates.

Catch-22 Chapters 32-36

These chapters elaborate on three major reoccurring ideas from the story - death, religion, and corruption (exemplified by Milo). Chapter 32 begins very graphically when it is stated the Kid Sampson's (who was killed by a propeller) legs are still lying on the beach where his body was ripped apart. This image adds to the previous image of Snowden's death that haunts Yossarian. Although it seems that death is greatly troubling Yossarian, it seems to have become a very integral part of his person (due to the war). When new soldiers move in with Yossarian and suddenly remove Mudd's belongings, which symbolized death, he suddenly feels uncomfortable. It seems that he no longer sees the tent as his dwelling. He quickly absconds to Rome.

The chaplain appears once again in Chapter 36 and seems to have gained much more confidence that before. Ultimately however, he is still powerless to influence any of the happenings around the military base. The chaplain exhibits strong emotions for the first time as he becomes infuriated by the accusations of his crimes. He then goes to confront a military official, Colonel Korn, about the number of missions that a soldier much fly in order to be grounded, which seems to rise interminably. This uncharacteristic bout of confident, however, is futile as the colonel informs him that a new general is taking over the operations, and blatantly states that there is nothing anyone can do to change there policy for the number of missions.

Milo also returns in Chapter 35. He seems to be so conniving and powerful that he is able to use logic to turn other people in his favor. Through deception, he is able to get Colonel Cathcart to ground him for all future missions. Heller presents teh great disparity of power between the corrupt (having all the power) and the honest (having almost no power) to show the tremendouly negative effects that the war have caused even upon some of the most fundamental assumptions about human life.

Catch-22 Chapters 23-28

Author Joseph Heller creates a very interesting character, Milo, as a foil to the other American soldiers fighting World War II. Milo controls so much of the black market that he is actually working on both sides (American and German), which at times undermines the American bombing operations. He seems to be driven entirely by money and greed, without regard for his country. Milo even contracts German anti-aircraft guns to shoot down American planes, one of which was flown by a soldier who lived in Yossarian's tent. That soldier, Mudd, was killed and his belonging have kept the "stink of death" close to Yossarian. I wonder what he will do later in the story? Will he get caught and be charged for treason, or will he continue his less than honorable ways undetected throughout the war? More is revealed about the chaplain in chapter 25. Ironically, everyone seems to be very uncomfortable in his presence even though he is there to use his faith to comfort the soldiers. No one allows his into their lives and everyone shuns him. Even he begins to wonder about the existence of god. Through this encounter with the chaplain, Heller shows the readers that the war has truly taken its toll on even some of the most fundamental beliefs that many during times of peace taken for granted. War seems to overshadow even religion for a man who's occupation is dedicated to preaching the existence of a higher being. Situational irony is very prevalent in chapters 27-28. Yossarian feigns mental illness once again and this time the psychiatrist actually believes him and decides to send him home, something that he had wanted for a very long time. However, Yossarian switched his identity with a lower ranked man before the ordeal in hopes of getting sent home and as a result, that other man is sent home, while he stays on the front. Nothing seems to go in favor of the main character, which futher strengthens his cynicism.

Catch-22 Chapter 17-22

Heller introduces the element of religion into his perspective on World War II. Colonel Cathcart wants a chaplain, the religious figure, to give a prayer before each bombing mission to ensure the success of the mission. However, it seems that the colonel does not care too much for the lives of his men, as evidenced by his habit of continually raising the number of missions that one must fly until he is allowed to go home. Therefore, the chaplain objects and the practice is stopped because he says that god might seek to punish the colonel. When the chaplain does address the issue of the missions, the colonel ignores him. Later, when Corporal Whitcomb encounter the Chaplain, he is very hostile to the religious man, who then feels horrible that he cannot use his faith to improve the moral of the troops. The futility with which the chaplain tries to improve the lives of the men offers insight into the men's view of religious. It seems that religious has become an after-thought for the soldiers after they have seen so much death and destruction. If god really did exist, it would not have allowed the atrocities of war to occur in the first place. In chapter 22, Yossarian's "moment of truth" is revealed to the reader. Before the war began, Yossarian, like any other soldier, does not know what to expect. After seeing the horrible conditions that the war has brought, his opinions about it changed drastically. The one moment that completely turned him against the war was the mission in which one of his comrades was killed in action. That experience tormented him and haunted him for many days, which has developed his cynical and pessimistic personality.

Catch-22 Chapters 14-16

These three chapters showcase both a very prevalent technique that author Joseph Heller employs to negatively portray war and a lighter moment that takes place off the battlefield. After all of the hindrances both natural and artificial, Yossarian's bombing squadron is given the green light to bomb Bologna. Yossarian, still disgusted at the war and strongly believing that high casualties will result as it had before, orders his plane to desert the battle. Ironically, when he returns, he is surprised to discover that the bombing mission was a success that was met with almost no resistance. In this case, Yossarian's anti romantic view of war is not only pointless but also incurs upon himself a serious reprimand from his superiors. It almost costs in his life later on because he might not have missed a key target that called for a second bomb run, one that was met with great resistance and resulted in many fatalities (Yossarian luckily survived). Off the battlefield, Yossarian meets a young woman named Luciana, whom he quickly gets involved with. This is one of the lighter and more humorous moments in the story. This brief relationship both shows a side of Yossarian that the reader has not yet been exposed to and brings up another example of Catch-22. Yossarian is involved with a great war and likely has been for a long time (which allowed his current cynical perspective to develop). It seems that he uses this relationship to get away from the realities of war, but Heller causes the relationship to process strangely to show the reader the toll that war has taken on Yossarian's social abilities. The latest instance of Catch-22 can be seen in the relationship. Yossarian expresses a desire to marry Luciana (although they had only known each other for a few days) and proposes. However, Luciana rejects him on the basis that he is crazy to want to marry a woman who had already lost her virginity. Therefore, he does not actually desire to marry her. I find the concept of Catch-22 both very intriguing and a little baffling at times. I have heard it many times in other media such as TV shows but never new what it meant until I starting to read this book. I have already gained much insight into Catch-22 and the logic behind it and I hope that more instances of its application present itself later in the story. It looks like I will not be able to follow my original essential question for this book, but it will likely give me a broader view of war due to its very unique perspective. World War II was usually glorified, but this story completely removes all of the heroism and honor usually associated with fighting World War II.