Parnassus AP
Reading and Responding to Literature
If Junior Project book which 5 (1-8)
Bibliographic Entry
Heller, Joseph. Catch - 22. 1955
What is the Subject of the Novel?
This novel is based on the experiences of Captain John Yossarian, an Air Force
pilot who is the leader of his squadron. However, he is haunted by the memory
of his friend, Snowden, who has died in combat and feels that everyone in
the war is out to kill him. Captain Yossarian vows to stay alive and the story
is based around his experiences while trying to avoid actual battles. Also,
the novel alludes to Catch-22, a paradoxical law which governs several situations
in the book.
Find and state (in the author's words) a "defining" passage, one
which best summarizes the direction of the novel-its theme.
"There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that
a concern for one's own safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate
was the process of the rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded.
All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy
and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions
and sane if he didn't, but if he was sane he would have to fly them. If he
flew them he was crazy and didn't have to; but if he didn't want to he was
sane and had to."
Paraphrase this passage (in your own words):
This passage basically defines the laws of Catch-22. This occurs when Doc
Daneeka explains to Yossarian about how the rules work. In the military, it
is possible to get discharged if one claims to be insane. However, by claiming
that they are insane, the person had just proven that they were sane because
only a sane person would claim insanity to avoid flying missions.
Paraphrase three subsidiary, supporting ideas, images or symbols using complete
sentences.
1. Milo Minderbinder is an extremely greedy mess hall officer. He controls
a black market which began by selling eggs, but his greed eventually grows
and Minderbinder starts to become willing to do anything for a profit. For
instance, he sold out his own squadron by bombing them as part of a deal with
the Germans. Minderbinder is a representative of how dangerous capitalist
greed can be and how profit is more important than ideals.
2. The laws of Catch-22 serve to perplex and to trap officers within the army. Catch-22 is implemented by the commanding officers to control their soldiers. Also, Catch-22 is used to explain and provide reasoning for various things, such as "they have a right to do anything we can't stop them from doing."
3. The chaplain, one of Yossarian's friends, starts to lose his faith in God during the war. He finds that religion is used as a tool by officers to gain something. This losing of faith in religion is symbolic of how people tend to lose their faith during times of war.
Make a list of and name the characters you have found in the essay, supply a characterizing quotation and tell why you think the author used the character.
Character's Name
Quote the text!
Why used?
1.
John Yossarian
"As far back as Yossarian could recall, he explained to Clevinger with
a patient smile, somebody was always hatching a plot to kill him… But
they couldn't touch him, he told Clevinger, because he had a sound mind in
a pure body as strong as an ox."
Yossarian was used as a protagonist of the story. The entire novel is written
from his point of view and the way he sees the war.
2.
Doc Daneeka
"'He thinks he's got troubles? What about me?' Doc Daneeka continued
slowly with a gloomy sneer. 'Oh, I'm not complaining. I know there's a war
going on. I know a lot of people are going to have to suffer for us to win
it. But why must I be one of them? Why don't they draft some of these old
doctors who keep shooting their kissers of in public about what big sacrifices
the medical game stands ready to make? I don't want to make sacrifices, I
want to make dough.'"
Doc Daneeka is the doctor in the story. His own private practice was interrupted
by the war and he feels sorry for himself. He is also confused about his role
as a doctor in a time when the world is attempting to kill and injure one
another. He represents how some people look out only for themselves as well
as how the war disorients people toward their job.
3.
Milo Minderbinder
"But that's just a trick to get me to confess I've been making money
in the black market."
Milo Minderbinder is the mess hall officer who starts his own black market.
He takes his job as mess officer seriously and tries to feed his squadron
the "best meals in the whole world." His greed grows with his syndicate
market and eventually, he becomes willing to do anything for money. Minderbinder
is a representation of capitalist greed and the importance of profit over
ideals.
4.
Colonel Cathcart
"Colonel Cathcart wanted to be a general so desperately he was willing
to try anything, even religion, and he summoned the chaplain to his office
late one morning the week after he had raised the number of missions to sixty…"
Colonel Cathcart is the commander of Yossarian's squadron. He cares nothing
about his men or the ideals of the war. His main concern is with getting promoted,
so he repeatedly raises the number of missions the pilots have to fly and
always volunteers his own squadron for the most dangerous missions to obtain
recognition from his superiors. Cathcart shows us commanders fought the war
not for ideals, but rather to better one's position.
Summarize the plot, noting the complications, climax or crisis and resolution
of the piece:
The plot of the story is the experiences of Yossarian and his struggle to
stay alive and to not fight in a dehumanizing war. It is told in various anecdotes
which contain various subplots. These include the fight against bureaucracy,
the syndicate black market of Milo Minderbinder and the greed which it represents,
the misplaced Doc Daneeka, the loss of faith of the Chaplain, the death of
Snowden, the determination of Yossarian's commanding officer to becoming promoted,
and most importantly of all, Catch-22. After these various anecdotes, the
story comes to a climax near the end when Yossarian refuses to fly any more
missions and is jailed in Rome for wandering the streets. His commanding officers
are willing to honorably discharge him if he states support for their policy
to increase the number of missions to 80. Yossarian considers the offer, but
eventually rejects it because he does not wish to endanger the lives of his
fellow soldiers. In the end, Yossarian deserts the army and flees to Sweden.
By doing so, he had overcome the laws of Catch-22, and is free to control
his own life.
Explain your view on the issues raised in the book. Do you agree, disagree
or partially agree with the author? Give at lease three reasons you believe
as you do.
In this novel, Heller tells the story of Yossarian to describe the pointlessness
of war and to comment on human character. He also tells of the effects of
war on people. Heller alludes to the fact that war is controlled by bureaucracy
and pointless violence. He claims that the war is fought by people's whose
heart are really in the war: the soldiers are trying to survive just long
enough to be sent home and the commanding officers are thinking of nothing
else besides becoming promoted. Heller also makes references to capitalist
greed and how profits are valued more than ideals by characters, such as Milo
Minderbinder. He also claims that the war misplaces people, such as Doc Daneeka,
and causes other to lose their faith in religion, such as the chaplain.
I agree with Heller on many of his points. I feel that wars are basically pointless and people who are forced to fight the wars are not in it due to the ideals, but are either forced to do it or are hoping to make personal gains during the war. I also agree that money and greed will cause people to lose sight of ideals. It seems evident that money is at the root of most, if not all, evils and can cause people to compromise their belief if it will return a profit. I agree with Heller on the effects of war on people, too. I found that war can drastically change a person and some of these changes may include feeling displaced in society and losing faith in things such as religion.
(back)
Name your Junior Project Theme
Humor in America
How does this book express your Junior Project theme?
This book uses absurd irony and paradoxical reasoning to portray the war from
the view of a common soldier. The book also comments on the character of man
through descriptions of characters, such as Milo Minderbinder, the chaplain,
and Doc Daneeka. This book is humorous in the sense that it portrays unusual
circumstances and faulty reasoning.
List the other books and authors you have read on this theme:
· Irving, Washington. A History of New York.
· Twain, Mark. Tom Sawyer. 1886
· Henry, O. Collected Short Stories
· Hurston, Zora Neale & Langston Hughes. Mule Bone.
In two paragraphs explain how the theme you have selected appears in each
of the books you have read tracing at least three threads of characterization,
setting, plot devices, diction, style, symbols, or doctrine and philosophy.
The three threads which I have chosen to follow are the source of humor, the
characteristics of the humor, and the humorist's approach towards the audience.
In his book, A Knickerbocker's History of New York, Irving chooses to poke fun at presumptuous people. For instance, Irving mocks the self-importance of historians and disqualifies the claims of Europeans to the lands of Native Americans.
The main characteristic of Irving's humor is satire. He uses satire to mock his subjects. For example, he pretends to be a historian and bring about a horde of strange and obscure facts to make his point. Also, Irving disqualifies the claims of Europeans to the land of Native Americans by saying that they are justified in taking away the land and giving a ridiculous example of people from the moon taking over the earth in the way that Europeans took away the land of and oppressed Native Americans.
When using his satire, Irving uses the audience as part of the joke. His audience is usually the very people he is poking fun at because his works are read mainly by Americans, the very people whose claim towards land he is disqualifying.
In The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Mark Twain mocks well established institutions, such as religion and the practices of "civilized" people. This is done through the eyes of innocent and naïve children, such as Tom Sawyer. The children oftentimes question the practicality and reason for many such institutions.
The characteristic of Twain's humor is usually observatory. He uses the observations of characters, such as Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, to show how ridiculous some revered and established institutions are.
Twain tends to treat the audience as if it were in on the joke and points out the oddities to make the audience understand and laugh. Sometimes, the audience can tell what would be the ridiculous circumstances which are at the core of the joke.
In Collected Short Stories, O. Henry brings out the humor in strange and unpredictable happenings. He illustrates a story and will bring out a strange twist of fate or unsuspected occurrence to both stun and make the reader laugh.
The short stories of O. Henry tend to put irony to use extensively. His stories illustrate strange occurrences which produce a feeling of contrariness and humor. These ironic twists of fate are usually produced at the end to stun the reader and to make the reader think about the joke.
O. Henry's tends to keep the audience in the dark until the very end. He tells of a story and the ending is always both unexpected and ironic. However, once the irony is revealed, the audience is basically in on the joke and in able to recognize the irony of the situation.
In their collaborated work Mule Bone, Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes portrays the comical side to black society. This is done through the telling of how a town treats a murder which occurs outskirts of town. The community is divided into two factions, the Baptists and the Methodists. The town is then portrayed debating what should be done about the crime in an often nonsensical manner.
Hurston and Hughes use situational comedy to render the humor in the story. Also, the use of dialect and characterization of the townspeople contributed to the humor in the story. The humor is characterized by how the townspeople react to the murder and their reasoning behind their beliefs.
The authors of this play allow the audience to be in on the joke as an observer. The audience is able to witness it is that brings about the humor and is able to comprehend how the humor is being portrayed. I found that I was able to connect further with this play after reading the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God because I finally realized that the characters in the play were the people of Eatonville. In fact, some of the scenes from the play correspond exactly to occurrences in the book.
In Catch-22, Joseph Heller mocks the bureaucracy of war and the pointless violence which it brings. Heller also comments of characteristics of humans, such as greed and selfishness, through the use of characters. Also, he discusses the effects of war on people, such as the loss of ideals and religious faith.
The characteristics of Heller's humor tends to be both slapstick and paradoxical. He is able to mock the absurdity of bureaucracy and war through example of ridiculous characters, such Colonel Cathcart, and through his description of the strange laws of Catch-22. Like Twain, Heller also uses observations in his humor. Heller shows the characters of Milo Minderbinder, the chaplain, and Doc Daneeka to display human trait and the effects of war on the human spirit.
Heller allows the audience to be in on the joke and is able to show various situations which describe the uselessness of the war and how the characters are affecting one another. The audience is able to observe Heller's colorful, jaded, and selfish characters and laugh at their extreme portrayal of traits which all of us possess.
3-15-02 JL
