PlotOverview

Thenovel
Catch22
isbasedonabombardier
namedYossarianwhoisstationedwiththe
ArmyAirForce.ThestorysetsinItalyduring
WorldWarII.Duringthewar,Yossarianandthe
squadronaresentintodangerousmissions.
Yossarianfromtheverybeginningseemsto
haveaverydifferentperspectiveonthewar.He
takesthewarpersonal,becausehethinks
everyoneintheworldistryingtokillhimandhe
doesntunderstandwhy.Soldiersinhis
squadrondislikehimwhichleadstoYossarian
believingthattheproblemisnottheenemy,but
inhisownarmy.Hisperspectiveofthewar
causepeopletothinkheiscrazy.Yossarian
wantstoliveandhedoesntliketheideaofthe
war.Hedeclareshimselfinsanetoberemoved
frommissionswhichviolatesCatch22,arule
thatstates:amanisconsideredinsaneifhe
willinglycontinuestoflydangerouscombat
missions,butifhemakesaformalrequesttobe
removedfromduty,heisprovensaneand
thereforeineligibletoberelieved.Becausehe
declaredhimselfinsane,heisthrownbackinto
theworldofchaoshewantedtoescapefrom.

AbouttheAuthor

NovelNotes

JosephHellerwasaverypopularwriterinthe
Catch22
twentiethcentury.Hellerwroteshortnovels,
filmscriptsandtelevisionscripts.Hewasalso
intheArmyAirCorps.Afterthenovel
Catch22
becameasuccess,hequithisjobandbecame JosephHeller
fulltimewriter.Aftercatch22Hellerwas
diagnosedwithanervediseasethatcaused
GuadalupeSalgado
himtobeparalyzedformonths.Hebecame

weak,buthestillwrotewiththehelpfrom
3/15/16
friends.Hediedfromaheartattackon

December12,1999.Afterhisdeath,some

EssentialQuotes
bookswerepublished.

TherewasonlyonecatchandthatwasCatch22,
whichspecifiedthatconcernforonesownsafetyin
thefaceofdangersthatwererealandimmediate
wastheprocessofarationalmind(Heller46).
In
thisquoteCatch22isintroducedtothereaders.
Throughoutthenovel,thephraseCatch22means
differentthingstodifferentpeople.Yossarianhasa

difficulttimeunderstandingthemeaningandifits
ThenovelisbasedonJosephHellers
actuallytrue.
experienceduringWWII.DuringthewarHeller Clevingerreallythoughthewasright,but
wasabombardierinthesquadron.Some
Yossarianhadproof,becausestrangershedidnt
charactersarebasedonsomefriends.Ittook knowshotathimwithcannonseverytimeheflew
morethanayeartoplanthebookandseven
upintheairtodropbombsonthem,anditwasnt
yearstowriteit.Thefirsttitlehecameupwith funnyatall(17).
Hetakesthewarpersonal
wasCatch18,butthatlaterchangedto
becausehethinkseveryoneintheworldistryingto
Catch22
.Hellerdecidedtowriteaboutthe
killhimandhedoesntunderstandwhy.Yossarianis
suspicionanddistrustoftheofficialsduring
apersonwhowilldoanythingtogetoutofthewar,
WorldWarII,whichweresimilartohiswartime evenifhehastoclaimheiscrazy.

experiences.
AddWorkCitedHere:

Biography.comEditors."JosephHeller."
Bio.com
.

A&ENetworksTelevision,n.d.Web.30Mar.2016.

Najarian,Jennifer."Heller,Joseph."
Heller,Joseph
.
N.p.,2005.Web.30Mar.2016.

HistoricalContext

CharacterAnalysis

YossarianHeistheprotagonistofthenovel.
Heisthecaptainofthesquadron,butseemsto
bedislikedbyhisfellowsoldiers.Hisconcern
throughoutthewaristhateveryonetryingtokill
him,evenhisownarmy.Hebelievesthatthe
problemisnottheenemy,butinhisownarmy.
Hedoeseverythinghecantoavoiddeath
becausethatishisgoal,tolive.Itsverydifficult
tohaverelationshipswithothersbecausehe
doesntgetalongwithothers.

Themes

Survivalsurvivalisathemebecause
Yossarian,theprotagonist,hismaingoalisto
liveandsurvivethewar.Hehatesthewarand
fighting,soheiswillingtodoanythingtoleave.
Basedonsomeexperienceshehadwiththe
deathofsomefriends,heistryingtoavoid
death.Hewantstoenjoylifeandhecant
whenheisriskinghislifeeveryday.For
Yossarianitisverydifficulttosurvivethewar
whenhedoesntknowwhoisthreateninghim.

Boththeenemyandhisownarmyareputting
MajorMajorHisfathernamedhimMajorMajor himindangeroussituations.
asajokeandliedtohimandhismothersaying
hisnamewasCalebMajor.MajorMajorwas
SuperiorPowerSuperiorpowerisatheme
politeandshy.Hefollowedeveryone'sorders
becausethesquadronisfollowingordersfrom
andhebecamewhattheywantedhimto
thecaptainandthehigherranking.Inthenovel
become.Itsdifficultforhimtomakefriend
thereisalotofdistrustandsuspicionofthe
becauseofhisnameandthewayheacts.He
officialsinthegovernment,whichiswhy
wasalsopromotedbyanI.B.Mmachineand
Yossarianfeelshelplessness.Theyarebeing
laterpromotedasthesquadroncommander.
toldwhattodoandthisisahugepartofthe
HelookedsimilartotheactorHenryFonda.
warandarmybecausetheyareriskingtheir

livesbyfollowingorders.
DocDaneekaHeisthesquadronsdoctorand
healsoexplainedtoYossarianthepolicyof

Catch22.HeisafriendofYossarian.Hismain
concernismaintaininghisjobasaphysician

andmakingmoney.

MotifsandSymbols

Thechaplainisasymbolforreligionandhow
sensitiveitisforsoldierstotalkaboutreligion
orgod.Yossariandoesntbelieveingodand
saysthatanygodwouldntallowhumansto
suffer.YetYossarianisstillinterestedinwhat
thechaplaintalksaboutandwhathebelieves.
Yossarianinsistofthechaplainvisitinghim.
Forexample,thefirstsentenceinthenovel
referstoYossariansloveforthechaplain.

Inthefirstchapterofthenovel,Yossarianis
thehospitalbeingtreatedforafeveranda
whitesoldiersissetbesidetheTexan,whois
alsoasoldier.Thesoldierinwhiterepresents
thegovernmentignoringthedisabledsoldiers
andhowtheyreplacethem.Thesoldieris
coveredwithbandagesalloverhisbody.When
thesoldierdiesintheafternoonthenurses
tendtohim,buttheofficerseemstonotcare.
Everydaysoldiersdied,buttheywouldbe
quicklyreplacedbyothers,mostlyyounger
men.