PLEASE RESPOND: A theme is a reoccurring idea or subject that appears in a novel. In a complex story, such as Catch-22, many themes exist, and there is room for many interpretations about them. Embrace the ambiguity. Explore a major theme from the novel and support your interpretation with evidence from throughout the text.
When you analyze a theme from a novel please consider two things “what” and “how.” The “what” refers your interpretation of a theme, or theme statement, while the “how” relates to the literary devices used to support your interpretation. Literary devices are the technical aspect of literature. Here are a few terms to consider when you discuss a theme: characterization, satire, symbols, tone, imagery, diction…. You will want to include references and examples of literary devices as part of the evidence to support your interpretation of a theme.
When you analyze a theme from a novel please consider two things “what” and “how.” The “what” refers your interpretation of a theme, or theme statement, while the “how” relates to the literary devices used to support your interpretation. Literary devices are the technical aspect of literature. Here are a few terms to consider when you discuss a theme: characterization, satire, symbols, tone, imagery, diction…. You will want to include references and examples of literary devices as part of the evidence to support your interpretation of a theme.
A recurring theme in the novel is the inevitability of death and because the main character is in a fight to either live forever or die trying, he does not realize how fragile life is and how easily it can pass by. Throughout the novel Yossarian's closest friends continue to either die in combat or disappear. Yossarian even has a man die in his arms and cannot realize that everyone will eventually die and are in fact garbage and will rot like garbage too. He is surrounded by death and sees many different ways in which he can die and is apalled by the numerous ways a man can die.
ReplyDeleteA major theme in Catch-22 is the sense of isolation and loneliness that war creates. Through efforts to increase efficiency in the war effort, the war engine throws a wrench between characters that prevents them from forming meaningful relationships. Characters are forced to take solace in material things and the faults of others. Whether it be Major Major, who refuses to see anyone unless he is gone, or Clevinger, who is put down for having reasonable arguments, isolation is a prevailing theme that affects all characters to the point where illogical and insane actions become reasonable. There is also a sense of betrayal present throughout that novel, which prevents characters from allowing themselves to emotionally connect to other characters.
ReplyDeleteThe more prevalent recurring theme I've noticed in the novel is that of authority. Not only authority, but the absolute, unquestionable power. Over and over again, these men, terrified for their survival, are forced to keep fighting useless missions that put their lives in danger. Those in charge, however, seem to just turn a blind eye whenever one of their men tries to reason with them about the craziness of their decisions. The head guys seem to simply do anything they need to put themselves in the right so that those below them do not get a chance to voice their opinion. For example, when Clevinger is tried in chapter eight, he tries to explain himself to Lieutenant Scheisskopf and fight for his innocence. However, whenever he begins to speak, he is constantly interrupted by Schiesskopf, who will not let him finish a sentence without correcting his speaking. He will not even give Clevinger the chance to explain himself, and he does it simply because he can— because he has the power to. The whole concept of the Catch-22 scheme shows the unreasonableness of the authority these men are under, constantly being overruled by their superiors for reasons that do not make sense.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Lexi, authority and the need for control are both significant and reoccurring themes in the book. Each character is in some way fighting for power. These men, having donated their lives to fight unitedly for their country, find themselves rendered completely powerless and vulnerable in the military. They have no control over their health, sanity, life, death, or time. The only men who are able to make their own decisions are those such as Yossarian and Milo who gain power by outsmarting and overpowering the system in which they are enslaved.
ReplyDeleteThough the novel at certain points has seemed both muddled and confusing, two characters that stand out with clarity are those who manage to obtain power. Yossarian takes control of his health and uses it to rebel against the flights he is being forced to fly. Milo takes control of his wealth and manages to construct a thriving syndicate to which the whole world contributes. Both of these men are characterized with strong personalities and an indifference to authority. The tales of their pasts and actions throughout the story stand out against the blurred characters that fly together under the radar.
I feel one of the major themes in Catch- 22 is Confidence. Each character expresses this theme. One example of this is through Coronel Cathcart. Cathcart tries to appear as if he has confidence in himself. His way of gaining confidence is through seeking attention and popularity from his superiors and the newspaper.
ReplyDeleteAnother example is the Chaplin, who struggles with his insecurities and gets pushed around by others because of them. The first sign of confidence the Chaplin has in himself is when he gains friends. Yossarian’s friendship gives him enough confidence in himself to talk to Cathcart, a man he is terrified of, about the missions. The idea of being liked or accepted gave him the start of confidence, although he was still not able to stick up for himself. He appears to have more confidence later when he is being questioned and argues with the intimidating men. He denies any involvement with Washington Irving and states his outrage at the way the men are treating him. At the end, when he heard about Orr, he decides to have faith in himself and God and to persevere through the war. He has enough confidence to stand up for himself and nag people until someone finally listens to him.
Finally there is Yossarian who complains all through the book about the insanity of everyone around him. Only at the end does he stand up and say he will not put himself in harm’s way. Though he is afraid of what might happen to him he appears to have so much confidence that his superiors have to get rid of him before he starts putting ideas in the other soldier’s heads.
Very much like every social setting today, confidence, or the appearance of confidence, is the key to success. Like Kirsten mentioned with her idea of isolationism no one will be friends or have respect for you if you do not appear to have confidence in yourself.
Although, not a huge, standout theme, Heller's mentioning of God in the novel is worth noticing. The examples and text from the book point toward a theme of loss of faith and trust in God. In chapter 18 when Yossarian is discussing God with Lieutenant Scheisskopf's wife he refers to God as someone who is "clumsy, bumbling, brainless, [and] conceited." Yossarian is confused how God, the supreme being and creator of the universe can be holy and just when he allows so much pain into people's lives. This theme is further expanded upon when the military camp's religious leader, the chaplain, loses faith in God also. The chaplain is constantly made fun of while simultaneously being ignored. He is treated so poorly by his peers that by the end of chapter 25 the chaplain descries the Bible as just being a book and that in this cruel world there were no "miracles, [and] prayers went unanswered." Heller uses the chaplain in this manner to highlight one of his themes of losing faith. He shows a situation in which even the holiest man in the camp can fall and forsake his God.
ReplyDeleteA theme that I found very prevalent among most of Catch-22's characters was that of extreme selfishness, especially those of higher rank. This theme was found throughout the novel as characters regularly put themselves above others, even to the point of ridiculous, time and time again. First and foremost was Colonel Cathcart, who, through his recognition fetish and obsession with being seen in magazines in hope of being promoted, forged the greatest antagonist in the book: missions. Perpetually raising the required amount, breaking down his men, unwittingly instigating plots of mutiny, all for a stake of an appearance in some magazine, Colonel Cathcart is the epitome of egocentricity. Although an extreme example, he is not alone. General Peckem, not at all interested in a war of global proportions, instead goes to battle against a fellow General in his army, General Dreedle. He removes reinforcements from other areas and brings them to him solely to overtake Dreedle in numbers, Colonel Scheisskopf for example. He also invents a goal he calls “tight bomb patterns” simply to make himself sound better than other people. Corporal Whitcomb, the man who masterminded the Chaplain’s detainment and interrogation, also cares nothing for those around him and only acts for personal gain. I’m not even going to write about Milo. Hate. His. Guts. I’ll rant in another blog post. Even Yossarian, when given the chance to go home and leave the dying to the rest of the soldiers, initially agrees to cut a deal with Colonel Cathcart and Colonel Korn, forsaking himself and all of his ideals so that others can die instead. Thankfully, he abandons that plan, although he remains selfish in other areas.
ReplyDeleteHeller portrayed evidence of man’s inherent selfishness in so many characters that it was clearly meant to be a major, major, major, major theme. All the despicable, deplorable, disgusting acts that Heller satirized seemed to stem all from the selfishness of the people responsible. They did not care for the war, really the war was nonexistent in the book and was only used to create a setting, or the lives of others, save Yossarian and a few others who reacted despondently to friends’ deaths. It is a theme that can be overshadowed by some of the acts and can be very subtle in some cases, but when it comes down to it, it is the seed from which only deception and vice sprout.
A reoccurring theme in Catch 22 is, like Kirsten’s theme, loneliness. But instead of war creating this theme, I believe it is created by the insanity that thrives within the camp. It is impossible for any of the men to create attachments to others, due to the fact that everyone in the camp is mentally unwell. All the men suffer from a unique “disorder” that is driven by their own experiences and fears. It is arguable that Yossarian finds friendship with many of the men, but it is hard to say one way or another that the men he makes friends with aren’t suspicious that he is out to get them or have ulterior motives; which seems to be a common ailment among them. In this scenario all that the men have is each other, that’s it, but no one trusts anyone else. Everybody is too paranoid to make the alliances that are necessary to mentally survive their service term. At the end of the day, they are all too crazy, and too fixated to even realize that they are alone.
ReplyDeleteThere are many examples: such as Dunbar who wants to slow down time as much as possible due to his fear of life moving too fast. Along with people like Major Major Major, who will only see people in his office when he is out of his office. There is also Crazy Joe who screams in his sleep, and by name is crazy. Each one of them struggles with their own problem and cannot make emotional attachments with others because they all have unresolved troubles that get in the way.
One of the major themes in Catch- 22 that seems extremely prevalent is the sense of desperation due to an inept understanding of their morals which diminishes their confidence that each character feels throughout the novel. Each character is desperate whether it be emotionally or physically to be more confident about their abilities whether it is for promotional purposes, affection, or their ability to escape and survivor the hectic warfare.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Caitlin that the Chaplain was one of the most insecure people at the camp. As the story begins, he is very timid and reluctant to explain his opinions in an authoritative manner. As he begins to question his faith about God, such as when Colonel Cathcart tries to pursue his ambitions in being in the “Saturday Evening Post” he tries to create a character that would eventually get him into the news using God as a figure and creates confusion for the Chaplain on what his faith is meant to inspire to people. He begins to feel desperate for a more useful way to invoke his religion towards others in a more docile manner to influence others, rather than for power. However, as Caitlin mentioned that when the Chaplain is influenced by Orr’s death and Yossarian’s excitement to escape, it motivates him to be able stand up for himself and to endure more warfare.
Another desperate moment was with Natley and his beloved one in Rome. He seemed satisfied with life because war did not hurt him too much mentally, and he was wealthy in America. Although he seemed content his life, he felt incomplete with the woman he loved in Italy. He was desperate to see her and he fantasized about her all the time. His confidence seemed to deteriorate though every time she rejected him however he was still desperate to be her lover. As he dies he never is able to complete his goal in the war which was to marry the women and bring her back to the States.
Colonel Cathcart, the Chaplain and Natley are just a few that seemed desperate for their own needs. Their confidence diminished quickly and they were determined to find a way to conquer their morals and to set them straight.
As far as themes go, there are some things that are extremely obvious. I know that each reader has noticed this, but we cannot just avoid the big picture without delving into the ridiculously clear. What I seemed to find, without fail, in each and every chapter, was the idea of sheer, stupid, craziness. Everybody is insane. They all handle the war in their own ways, but the outcome is a list of about forty characters who each have quirky personality traits and tendencies.
ReplyDeleteFor example, Hungry Joe has horrible nightmares, and a strange obsession with taking pictures of naked women. Doc Daneeka sincerely believes that his problems are far worse than anybody else’s. Milo has the intense desire to be the best mess officer, and he ends up running the economy and politics of various countries throughout the world. Yossarian thinks that the entire world is trying to kill him. Major major major major only sees people in his office when he is not there. Dunbar tries to make time pass as slowly as he can, so he chases after mundane tasks. The reader looks at each of these quirks (and many, many more), and cannot help but see the sheer insanity that is imperative to the story. Catch-22 says that a person cannot fly if they are crazy, but if they want to get out of combat duty, they aren’t really crazy.
The book is full of hundreds more examples of crazy—to the point where every page feels insane. By doing this, Heller shows the seemingly inescapable effects of war, provides all the humor and satire the story is rich with, and shows several intricacies of human nature and survival instincts. The war is woven with the very threads of insanity, and that cannot be overlooked.
A recurring theme in Catch-22 is survival and coping with war. Staying alive is on Yossarian’s mind throughout the whole book but what really sold me on the theme is when Nately talks to the old guy in the club. The old man talked about how pointless it was for people to die for a piece of land and how losing wars are more beneficial than winning wars.
ReplyDeleteAll the characters deal with the stress of war differently. Clevinger blindly follows orders, Dunbar likes being disturbed so time slows down, Orr planned and practiced a way out the war and the colonels try to improve their rank and the Generals go to clubs. The best example is probably Milo with his ability to get out of flight missions by taking care of the mess hall. He even manages take control of the war by being a political leader in practically every country involved.
As far as the crazy characters, I think Heller wants the reader to realize that war changes people’s attitudes. I can’t really see Yossarian being so paranoid without the war going on. The Chaplain went from extremely devoted to God to questioning his very existence. After all, people act different once they realize they might not see the daylight of tomorrow.
One of the main themes that caught my attention in the novel was the theme of persistence. Throughout the book, the main character, Yossarian,had one goal. That goal was to overcome Catch-22. His constant acts of insanity were always on purpose. Eventually, Yossarian convinced his therapist that he really was crazy, only to discharge the man that his therapist really thought that he was. Without a pause though, Yossarian went beck to work. Regaining his march, Yossarian took up his gun and took off his clothes, marching naked through the days and the nights. Eventually, Yossarian found a way of escaping the military, but he was persistent in his ability of overcoming Catch-22.
ReplyDeleteI agree entirely with Elise with her feelings about persistence in the novel. Her examples of Yossarian's persistence were very accurate, but I would like to note that he was not the only character who showed this trait. Colonel Cathcart showed great dedication when it came to getting his picture in "The Saturday Evening Post." Cathcart tries to bring the poor, innocent chaplain into his crave for fame by asking him to say a prayer before each mission his men were to fly. Upon asking the chaplain's help, Cathcart shoots down his prayer ideas, then ends up disregarding the idea as a whole. In a later chapter, Colonel Cathcart thinks he will win over "The Saturday Evening Post" with an idea to send out letters of condolence to the immediate families of the men that died fighting. Unforunately for the colonel, his persistence did not score him a photo in the post.
ReplyDeleteA recurring theme for me in Catch-22 is confusion. I'm sure everyone opened this book for the first time, sat down to read the first chapter, and just looked at the book in awe for a little bit. There's no doubt that this book requires careful reading and re-reading before one can truly start to understand what is being said. Several of the dialogues are so confusing that you just have to "roll with it" and it's not until much farther on that what was being said is made clear. I think that the reason that confusion is such a huge role in this book is because war itself is confusing. As Bergam said, it's just plain crazy most of the time. Not only is every man struggling with his own personal problems and issues, but they're fighting in this war when most of their missions are only ordered because of aerial photographs. Not for freedom, or justice, or heroism. They're risking their lives...for pictures. And to me, that just doesn't make sense and adds to the general confusion. Now, look at Catch-22. Is it anything but a paradox? A paradox - by definition - defies logic. Catch-22 is one of the major motifs in the book, and by far one of the most confusing. The way that the book is written is confusing as well. It doesn't exactly go in chronological order, it's sprinkled with flashbacks and foreshadowing, almost leading the reader through a maze in which the prize in the center is comprehension of the book.
ReplyDeleteI found another theme of the book to be how men deal with adverse situations. Maybe this theme is a reason for the extreme number of characters Heller illustrates in his novel, whether they are important later or not. Some characters that come to mind are Major Major Major, who ends up hiding from everyone due to his circumstances. And even though he is a major, he becomes a very timid and unconfident person. Then there is Orr who pretends to be crazy and giggles constantly, yet plots to escape from the awful war conditions the whole time. I believe Scheisskopf focuses so much of his attention on parades so he doesn’t have to think about the fact he is in the middle of a World War. Obviously many of the men degrade to saying rude things, drinking, and spending lots of money and time sleeping with prostitutes. Because the reason of Heller’s book was to write anti-war literature, having the theme of ‘how men deal with adverse situations’ would really show the readers just how people in the war, fighting it, forced to be there against their will and forced to kill people they don’t even know become these unrecognizable people, many of them resulting to usually unaccepted low morals. I think Heller’s inclusion of this is what truly made it an anti-war piece, because what gets to the heart of most people who have not experienced the tragedy of war is seeing how it changes their fellow men, and who they inevitably become because of it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Lexi and Kammie in their assessment that authority and control is a prevalent and reoccurring idea throughout the novel. Although I believe there is a lack of acceptable authority that is taking place in the book. The military was filled with cocky military heads that barely registered as sane let alone acceptable leaders. There was no military tactics being learned, and no special training going on. The lieutenants, colonels and generals simply issued orders to feel important or came up with stupid activities they believed as necessary to subject the men to. General Scheisskopf for example was promoted from lieutenant all the way to General of the entire camp in the span of 300 pages. He wasn’t promoted for his leadership in war or his natural fighting abilities, because all that was ever on his mind was parades.
ReplyDelete“The parades themselves seemed equally absurd. Yossarian hated a parade…..He hated being made to take part in them. It was bad enough being an aviation cadet without having to act like a soldier in the blistering heat every Sunday afternoon.”(page 72)
These men are risking their lives to help in World War 2. They are aviation cadets and running missions to help take out the enemy, but instead of doing productive things for the military or learning new aviation techniques, they are required to parade around a field every Sunday for the amusement of their leaders.
In the end we see how pitiful the men in charge truly are and the corrupt leadership system in place when they realize they cannot break Yossarian’s insubordination and persistent protests of flying more missions. Rather than acting like military leaders they succumb to making a deal with Yossarian that would have him home in a matter of days in return for making the military leaders look good by lying for them. “Say nice things about us here and back in the states” Colonel Korn told Yossarian upon introducing the deal. Colonel Korn and Colonel Cathcart made a deal to send Yossarian home if he said flattering things about the two back in the states, the two Colonels think it will benefit them by helping them be promoted to general. In order to gain more authority and more power they agree to grant Yossarians wishes of returning home
I agree completely with Hannah that the craziness and absurdity of war is a reoccurring theme in Catch-22.
ReplyDeleteIn the novel almost every character seems insane to some degree: Yossarian signs his papers with the name ‘Washington Irving’, Hungry Joe has horrific nightmares, a soldier in the hospital randomly shouts “I see everything twice!”, and Orr constantly puts crabapples or hose-chestnuts in his cheeks and later says that Appleby can’t see he’s got flies in his eyes if he’s got flies in his eyes. Also, the men in charge of the whole situation seem just as crazy as the rest of the soldiers: Major Major jumps out of his back window whenever someone comes to visit him, General Scheisskopf is constantly scrambling to come up with new ways to make his parades on Sunday morning even better, and Colonel Cathcart unceasingly volunteers his men for more missions just to make himself look better. Furthermore, the logic of Catch-22 itself seems insane; a soldier who is insane can be excused from the war but only if he reports that he is insane, yet a soldier who asks to get out of the war must be considered sane and therefore must continue flying more missions.
To the outside world, such the reader themselves, all these seem pretty absurd, and Heller adds these to add humor as well as highlight the fact that war itself is insane—not only are the men cut off from their homes and the rest of the world, but also the adrenaline rush and amount of overwhelming stress from killing other human beings, witnessing the deaths of their own companions, and coming almost face-to-face with their own death soon becomes too much to handle and causes the soldiers in Catch-22 to act in bizarre ways.