| Catch-22 | |
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First edition cover |
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| Author(s) | Joseph Heller |
| Cover artist | Paul Bacon[1] |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Black humor, satire, war fiction, historical fiction |
| Publisher | Simon & Schuster |
| Publication date | 11 November 1961 |
| Media type | Print (hardback) |
| Pages | 453 pp (1st edition hardback) |
| ISBN | 0-684-83339-5 |
| OCLC Number | 35231812 |
| Dewey Decimal | 813/.54 22 |
| LC Classification | PS3558.E476 C3 2004 |
| Followed by | Closing Time (1994) |
Catch-22 is a satirical, historical novel by the American author Joseph Heller. He began writing it in 1953, and the novel was first published in 1961. It is set during World War II in 1943[2] and is frequently cited as one of the great literary works of the twentieth century.[3] It has a distinctive non-chronological style where events are described from different characters' points of view and out of sequence so that the time line develops along with the plot.
The novel follows Captain John Yossarian, a U.S. Army Air Forces B-25 bombardier, and a number of other characters. Most events occur while the Airmen of the fictional 256th squadron are based on the island of Pianosa, in the Mediterranean Sea west of Italy.
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Among other things, Catch-22 is a general critique of bureaucratic operation and reasoning. Resulting from its specific use in the book, the phrase "Catch-22" is common idiomatic usage meaning "a no-win situation" or "a double bind" of any type. Within the book, "Catch-22" is a military rule, the self-contradictory circular logic that, for example, prevents anyone from avoiding combat missions. In Heller's own words:
There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one's safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a 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 were sane he had 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. Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle. (p. 46, ch. 5)
Other forms of Catch-22 are invoked throughout the novel to justify various bureaucratic actions. At one point, victims of harassment by military police quote the MPs' explanation of one of Catch-22's provisions: "Catch-22 states that agents enforcing Catch-22 need not prove that Catch-22 actually contains whatever provision the accused violator is accused of violating." Another character explains: "Catch-22 says they have a right to do anything we can't stop them from doing." The theme of a bureaucracy marginalizing the individual in an absurd way is similar to the world of Kafka's The Trial, and George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four. The concept of "doublethink" has definite echoes in Heller's work.
Yossarian comes to realize that Catch-22 does not actually exist, but because the powers that be claim it does, and the world believes it does, it nevertheless has potent effects. Indeed, because it does not exist, there is no way it can be repealed, undone, overthrown, or denounced. The combination of force with specious and spurious legalistic justification is one of the book's primary motifs.
The motif of bureaucratic absurdity is further explored in 1994's Closing Time, Heller's sequel to Catch-22. This darker, slower-paced, apocalyptic novel explores the pre- and post-war lives of some of the major characters in Catch-22, with particular emphasis on the relationship between Yossarian and tailgunner Sammy Singer.
The development of the novel can be split into segments. The first (chapters 1–11) broadly follows the story fragmented between characters, but in a single chronological time in 1943. The second (chapters 12–20) flashes back to focus primarily on the "Great Big Siege of Bologna" before once again jumping to the chronological "present" of 1943 in the third part (chapter 21–25). The fourth (chapters 26–28) flashes back to the origins and growth of Milo's syndicate, with the fifth part (chapter 28–32) returning again to the narrative "present" but keeping to the same tone of the previous four. In the sixth and final part (chapter 32 on) while remaining in the "present" time the novel takes a much darker turn and spends the remaining chapters focusing on the serious and brutal nature of war and life in general.[4]
While the previous five parts develop the novel in the present and by use of flash-backs, it is in chapters 32–41 of the sixth and final part where the novel significantly darkens. Previously the reader had been cushioned from experiencing the full horror of events, but now the events are laid bare, allowing the full effect to take place. The horror begins with the attack on the undefended Italian mountain village, with the following chapters involving despair (Doc Daneeka and the Chaplain), disappearance in combat (Orr and Clevinger), disappearance caused by the army (Dunbar) or death (Nately, McWatt, Mudd, Kid Sampson, Dobbs, Chief White Halfoat and Hungry Joe) of most of Yossarian's friends, culminating in the unspeakable horrors of Chapter 39, in particular the rape and murder of Michaela, who represents pure innocence.[4] In Chapter 41, the full details of the gruesome death of Snowden are finally revealed.
Despite this, the novel ends on an upbeat note with Yossarian learning of Orr's miraculous escape to Sweden and Yossarian's pledge to follow him there.
Many events in the book are repeatedly described from differing points of view, so the reader learns more about each event from each iteration, with the new information often completing a joke, the punchline of which was told several chapters previously. The narrative often describes events out of sequence, but events are referred to as if the reader is already familiar with them, so that the reader must ultimately piece together a timeline of events. Specific words, phrases, and questions are also repeated frequently, generally to comic effect.
Much of Heller's prose in Catch-22 is circular and repetitive, exemplifying in its form the structure of a Catch-22. Heller revels in paradox, for example: "The Texan turned out to be good-natured, generous and likable. In three days no one could stand him", and "The case against Clevinger was open and shut. The only thing missing was something to charge him with." This atmosphere of apparent logical irrationality pervades the whole book.
While a few characters are most prominent, notably Yossarian and the Chaplain, the majority of named characters are described in atypical extent, with fully fleshed out or multidimensional personas, to the extent that there are few if any "minor characters".
The seemingly random non-chronological structure to the novel is misleading. Catch 22 is actually highly structured, but it is a structure of free association where ideas run into one another through seemingly random connections. For example, Chapter 1 entitled "The Texan" ends with "everybody but the CID man, who had caught cold from the fighter captain and come down with pneumonia."[5] Chapter 2, entitled "Clevinger", begins with "In a way the CID man was pretty lucky, because outside the hospital the war was still going on."[6] The CID man connects the two chapters like a free association bridge and eventually Chapter 2 flows from the CID man to Clevinger through more free association links.
One of the first themes developed in the novel is the question of what is right to do in a moral dilemma-social dilemma or prisoner's dilemma, where a person can cooperate with others to their benefit or can sell them out by not cooperating and get more. Yossarian is presented as having decided upon and relishing the immoral choice to such questions: "Yossarian throbbed with a mighty sense of accomplishment each time he gazed at [the officers' club building] and reflected that none of the work that had gone into it was his", which solidly casts Yossarian as an anti-hero to the reader. Yossarian (and Doc Daneeka) wonder "why me" when it comes to taking risks when others aren't. Major Danby asks Yossarian, "But suppose everybody on our side felt that way?", Yossarian replies, "Then I'd certainly be a damned fool to feel any other way. Wouldn't I?"
Another theme is the perversion of notions of right or wrong, particularly patriotism and honor, which lead most of the airmen to accept abusive lies and petty rules of bureaucrats, though Yossarian whole-heartedly disregards all such notions. When Major Major asks why he wouldn't fly more missions, Yossarian answers:
"I'm afraid."
"That's nothing to be ashamed of," Major Major counseled him kindly, "we're all afraid."
"I'm not ashamed," Yossarian said. "I'm just afraid."
Several themes mingle; "that the only way to survive such an insane system is to be insane oneself" comments on Yossarian's answer to the Social dilemma (that he would be a fool to be any other way) and another theme, "that bad men (who sell out others) are more likely to get ahead, rise in rank, and make money", turns our notions of what is estimable on their heads as well.
Heller suggests that bureaucracies, especially when run by malicious or insane people, often lead organizations to trivialize important matters (e.g., those affecting life and death) and to grossly exaggerate the importance of trivial matters (e.g., clerical errors). Everyone in the book, including Yossarian intially, behaves insanely in their clerical decisions. Catch-22, in its mission-flying variant, epitomizes the danger of bureaucracy: by admitting that willingly flying missions is insane, the bureaucracy recognizes the risks of war, but continues to place soldiers in danger regardless.
Yossarian comes to fear American bureaucrats, more than he fears the Germans attempting to shoot him down, he feels that a majority of people are "out to get him", regardless of their nominal allegiance. Key among the reasons Yossarian fears his commanders more than the enemy is that as he flies more missions, the number of missions required before he can go home increases; he is always approaching the magic number but never reaches it. He comes to despair of ever getting home and is greatly relieved when he is sent to the hospital for a condition that is almost jaundice. In Yossarian's words: "The enemy is anybody who's going to get you killed, no matter which side he's on, and that includes Colonel Cathcart. And don't you forget that, because the longer you remember it, the longer you might live." [7]
While the (official) enemies are Germans, none appear in the story as an enemy combatant. This ironic situation is epitomized in the single appearance of German personnel in the novel, who act as pilots employed by his squadron's Mess Officer Milo, who comes to devote most of his time not to war maneuvers but as a relentless private entrepreneur darting from country to country in search of profit. This predicament indicates a tension between traditional motives for violence and the modern economic machine, which seems to generate violence simply as another means to profit, quite independent of geographical or ideological constraints. Heller emphasizes the danger of profit seeking by portraying Milo without “evil intent”; Milo’s actions and the consequences of those actions are not the result of malice but entirely the result of greed. [8]
Milo's profit seeking also serves to emphasize the danger of colleagues as enemies. Milo, seeking profit, makes a lucrative deal with the Germans to bomb his own base, wreaking havoc on his own "side"; this event serves to emphasize Yossarian's distrust of his supposed colleagues.
Heller wanted to write from an early age; his experiences as a bombardier during World War II influenced Catch-22;[13] Heller later said that he "never had a bad officer." In a 1977 essay on Catch-22, Heller stated that the “antiwar and antigovernment feelings in the book” were a product of the Korean War and the 1950s rather than World War II itself. Heller’s criticisms are not intended for World War II but for the Cold War and McCarthyism. [14]
The influence of the 1950s on Catch-22 is evident through Heller’s extensive use of anachronism. Though the novel is ostensibly set in World War II, Heller intentionally included anachronisms like loyalty oaths and computers (IBM machines) to situate the novel in the context of the 1950s.[15] Many of the characters are based on or connected to individuals from the 1950s. Milo Minderbinder’s maxim “What’s good for M&M Enterprises is good for the country” alludes to former president of General Motors Charles E. Wilson’s statement before the Senate “What’s good for General Motors is good for the country.”[16] The question of “Who promoted Major Major?” alludes to Joseph McCarthy’s questioning of the promotion of Major Peress, an army dentist who refused to sign loyalty oaths.[17]
Czech writer Arnošt Lustig recounts in his book 3x18 that Joseph Heller told him that he would never have written Catch-22 had he not first read The Good Soldier Švejk by Jaroslav Hašek.[18]
In 1998, some critics raised the possibility that Heller's book had questionable similarities to Louis Falstein's 1950 novel, Face of a Hero. Falstein never raised the issue between Catch-22's publication and his death in 1995 and Heller claimed never to have been aware of the obscure novel. Heller said that the novel had been influenced by Céline, Waugh and Nabokov. Many of the similarities have been stated to be attributable to the authors' experiences, both served as U.S. Air Force aircrew in Italy in World War II. Their themes and styles are different.[19]
Catch-22 contains allusions to many works of literature. Howard Jacobson, in his 2004 introduction to the Vintage Classics publication,[20] wrote that the novel was "positioned teasingly ... between literature and literature's opposites – between Shakespeare and Rabelais and Dickens and Dostoevsky and Gogol and Céline and the Absurdists and of course Kafka on the one hand, and on the other vaudeville and slapstick and Bilko and Abbott and Costello and Tom and Jerry and the Goons (if Heller had ever heard of the Goons)."
The title is a reference to a fictional bureaucratic stipulation which embodies forms of illogical and immoral reasoning. That the catch is named exposes the high level of absurdity in the novel, where bureaucratic nonsense has risen to a level at which even the catches are codified with numbers.
The opening chapter of the novel was originally published in New World Writing as Catch-18 in 1955 but Heller's agent, Candida Donadio, requested that he change the title of the novel so it would not be confused with another recently published World War II novel, Leon Uris's Mila 18. The number 18 has special meaning in Judaism (it means Alive in Gematria) and was relevant to early drafts of the novel which had a somewhat greater Jewish emphasis.[21]
The title Catch-11 was suggested, with the duplicated 1 paralleling the repetition found in a number of character exchanges in the novel but because of the release of the 1960 movie Ocean's Eleven this was also rejected. Catch-17 was rejected so as not to be confused with the World War II film Stalag 17, as well as Catch-14, apparently because the publisher did not feel that 14 was a "funny number". Eventually the title came to be Catch-22 which like 11, has a duplicated digit, with the 2 also referring to a number of déjà vu-like events common in the novel.[21]
A 1950s-early 1960s anthology of war stories included a short version as "Catch-17".[22]
As commented on by Heller in the preface to Catch-22 from 1994, the novel prompted polarized responses upon its first publication in the United States.
Reviews in publications ranged from the very positive; The Nation ("was the best novel to come out in years"), the New York Herald Tribune ("A wild, moving, shocking, hilarious, raging, exhilarating, giant roller-coaster of a book") and The New York Times ("A dazzling performance that will outrage nearly as many readers as it delights") to the highly negative; The New Yorker ("doesn't even seem to be written; instead, it gives the impression of having been shouted onto paper," "what remains is a debris of sour jokes") and from another critic of the New York Times ("is repetitive and monotonous. Or one can say that it is too short because none of its many interesting characters and actions is given enough play to become a controlling interest").[23]
Although the novel won no awards at publication, it has stood the test of time and is seen as one of the most significant novels of the 20th century.[3] Scholar and fellow World War II veteran Hugh Nibley said it was the most accurate book he ever read about the military.[24]
This list covers the first and most recent printed publications by the original publisher Simon & Schuster as well as all other formats. Other print publishers include Dell, Corgi, Vintage, Knopf, Black Swan, Grasset & Fasquelle and Wahlström & Widstrand.
The original manuscript is held by Brandeis University.[32]
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