Catch-22
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- This article is about the Joseph Heller novel. For other uses, see Catch-22 (disambiguation).
| Author | Joseph Heller |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Simon & Schuster |
| Released | 1961 |
Catch-22 is a novel by the American author Joseph Heller.
[edit] Plot introduction
The novel follows Captain John Yossarian, a fictional U.S. Army Air Forces B-25 bombardier, and a number of other characters during World War II. Most events in the book occur while the airmen of the Fighting 256th (or "two to the fighting eighth power") Squadron are based on the island of Pianosa, west of Italy. Many events in the book are described repeatedly from differing points of view, so that the reader learns more about the event with each iteration. The pacing of Catch-22 is frenetic, its tenor is intellectual, and its humor is largely absurd, but with grisly moments of realism interspersed.
[edit] Explanation of the novel's title
A magazine excerpt from the novel was originally published as Catch-18, but Heller's publisher requested that he change the title of the novel so it wouldn't be confused with another recently published World War II novel, Leon Uris's Mila 18. The number 18 has special meaning in Judaism and was relevant to early drafts of the novel which had a somewhat greater Jewish emphasis.<ref name="title"> N James. The Early Composition History of Catch-22. In Biographies of Books: The Compositional Histories of Notable American Writings, J Barbour, T Quirk (edi.) pp. 262-90. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1996.</ref>
There was a suggestion for the title Catch-11, with the duplicated 1 in parallel to the repetition found in a number of character exchanges in the novel, but due to the release of the original movie Ocean's Eleven this was also rejected. Catch-14 was also rejected apparently because the publisher did not feel that 14 was a "funny number". So 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.<ref name="title"> </ref>
[edit] The concept
Catch-22 is, among other things, a general critique of bureaucratic operation and reasoning. As a result of its specific use in the book, the phrase "Catch-22" has come into common use to mean a no-win situation or a double bind of any type. Within the book, "Catch-22" is introduced as a military rule, the self-contradictory circular logic of which, 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 was 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.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 the use of paradox. For example, The Texan turned out to be good-natured, generous and likeable. 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 constantly undermines the reader's understanding of the milieu of the characters, and is key to understanding the book. An atmosphere of logical irrationality pervades the whole description of Yossarian's life in the armed forces, and indeed the entire book. Other forms of Catch-22 are invoked at other points in the novel to justify various bureaucratic actions. At one point, victims of harassment by military agents quote the agents as having explained one of Catch-22's provisions in this fashion: 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. An old woman explains: Catch-22 says they have a right to do anything we can’t stop them from doing. Yossarian comes to realize that Catch-22 doesn't actually exist, but that because the powers that be claim it does and the world believes that it does, it nevertheless has potent effects. Indeed, because it does not really exist there is no way it can be repealed, undone, overthrown, or denounced. The combination of brute force with specious legalistic justification is one of the book's primary motifs.
- "That's some catch, that Catch-22," he [Yossarian] observed.
- "It's the best there is," Doc Daneeka agreed.
[edit] Major themes
The book sets out the absurdity of living by the rules of others, be they friends, family, governments, systems, religions or philosophies. The world itself is portrayed as insane, so the only practical survival strategy is to be oneself insane. Another theme is the folly of patriotism and honour, which leads most of the airmen to accept Catch-22 and the abusive lies of bureaucrats, but which Yossarian never accepts as a legitimate answer to his complaints. While the (official) enemy are the Germans, no German ever actually appears in the story as an enemy combatant. As the narrative progresses, Yossarian comes to fear American bureaucrats more than he fears the Germans attempting to shoot down his bomber. This ironic situation is epitomized in the single appearance of German personnel in the novel, who act as pilots employed by a private entrepreneur working within the US military. 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.
The development of the novel can be split into five parts. The first, Chapter One to Ten, broadly follows the story of the present, though it is fragmented with respect to the time and location and to particular events and characters. The second, Chapter Eleven to Sixteen, flashes back to the Great Big Siege of Bologna. The third, Chapter Seventeen to Twenty-two returns to the narrative present. The fourth, Chapters Twenty-two to Twenty-four flashes back to the origins and growth of Milo’s syndicate. The final fifth part, Chapters Twenty-five onwards returns to the narrative present with much less fragmentation than the first and third parts.[2]
While the previous four parts develop the novel in the present and by use of flash backs, it is the fifth and final part (from Chapter Twenty-nine to Thirty-nine) where the novel significantly darkens. Previously the reader had been cushioned from experiencing the full horror of events, but now the events are laid open bare allowing the full effect to take place. The horror begins with the attack on the undefended mountain village, with the following chapters involving the despair (Doc Daneeka and the Chaplain), disappearance (Orr and Dunbar) or death (McWatt, Kid Sampson, Dobbs, Nately, Chief White Halfoat and Hungry Joe) of most of Yossarian’s friends, culminating in the unspeakable horrors of Chapter Thirty-nine, in particular the rape and murder of Michaela, who represents pure innocence.[3]
[edit] Characters in Catch-22
Below is a list of all the major characters in the book; there is a separate page for a complete list of characters.
[edit] Influences
Although Heller always had a desire to be an author from an early age, his own experiences as a bombardier over Avignon during World War II strongly influence Catch-22.<ref> DM Craig. From Avignon to Catch-22. War, Literature, and the Arts 6, no. 2, 1994 pp27-54. </ref>
Czech writer Arnošt Lustig recounts in his book 3x18[4] that Joseph Heller personally told him that he would never have written Catch-22 had he not first read The Good Soldier Švejk by Jaroslav Hašek.[5][6]
Largely influenced by The Illiad.
[edit] Allusions/references to other works
There are very few references to other works, but one of note is when the Chaplain shows concern about his belief in the Bible:
So many things were testing his faith. There was the Bible, of course, but the Bible was a book, and so were Bleak House, Treasure Island, Ethan Frome and The Last of the Mohicans. Did it then seem probable, as he had once overheard Dunbar ask, that the answers to riddles of creation would be supplied by people too ignorant to understand the mechanics of rainfall? Had Almighty God, in all His infinite wisdom, really been afraid that men six thousand years ago would succeed in building a tower to heaven?
Other works mentioned in the novel include Moby Dick and Crime and Punishment.
Also, the Chaplain is described as an outsider in the novel with the following allusion to The Merchant of Venice:
If they pricked him did he not bleed? ... It seemed never to have occurred to them that be, just as they had eyes, hands, organs, dimensions, senses and affections, that he was fed by the same food...
Joseph Heller used the Iliad as the basis for this book with Achilles as the inspiration for the character of Yossarian.
There are also biblical references, including an allusion to the Garden of Eden in chapters 24 and 25.
[edit] Literary significance & criticism
As commented on by Joseph Heller himself in the preface to Catch-22 from 1994 onwards, the novel raised very polarised views on its first publication in the United States.
Reviews in a 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")[7] 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 being 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")[8]
Although the novel won no awards at publication, and some highly respected critics such as Harold Bloom thought that the novel "was destined to fade into irrelevance in a decade or so",[9] it has stood the test of the time and now is seen as one of the most significant novels of the 20th century.[10]
[edit] Influences on other works
Catch-22 was published during the Vietnam War, and became a given concept in the vast number of war novels published of that time. John C Pratt states that there are at least nine novels that probably would not have been written if it were not for Catch-22; five of these are realistic but incorporate Catch-22 situations or characters, and four are more fantastic like the world that Heller creates in Catch-22.<ref>JC Pratt, 1991 Yossarian's Legacy: Catch-22 and the Vietnam War. in Fourteen Landing Zones: Approaches to Vietnam War Literature edited by PK Jason (edi.) pp88-110, University of Iowa Press</ref>
Realistic
- The Land of a Million Elephants by Asa Baber
- Parthian Shot by Lloyd Little
- Incident at Muc Wa by Daniel Ford
- The Only War We've Got by Derek Maitland
- The Bamboo Bed by William Eastlake
Fantastic
- Ears of the Jungle by Pierre Boule
- Gangland by David Winn
- Brandywine's War by Robert Vaughn and Monroe Lynch
- Bridge Fall Down by Nicholas Rinaldi
[edit] Allusions/references in other works
Tomorrow When the War Began by John Marsden - The recovering of luggage from atop 'Satans Steps' is referred to as a Catch-22. As, if they had the provisions they were going to gather, they would have the energy to go and get them.
[edit] Awards and rankings
Awards - none known.
- The Modern Library ranked Catch-22 as number 7 (by review panel) and as number 12 (by public) on its list of the greatest novels of the twentieth century.[11]
- The Radcliffe Publishing Course ranked Catch-22 as number 15 of the 20th century's top 100 novels. [12]
- The Observer ranked Catch-22 as number 74 on its list of greatest novels of all time.[13]
- Time puts Catch-22 in the top 100 English language modern novels (1923 onwards unranked).[14]
- The Big Read by the BBC ranked Catch-22 as number 11 on a web poll of the UK's best-loved book. [15]
[edit] Film adaptations
Catch-22 was adapted into a feature film of the same name in 1970, directed by Mike Nichols.
[edit] Release details
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.
- 1961, Simon & Schuster ISBN 0-671-12805-1, pub date June 1961, Hardback
- 1961, Simon & Schuster ISBN 0-440-51120-8, advance Paperback with signed bookplate
- 1978, Franklin Library ISBN 0-8124-1717-8, signed limited edition Leather Bound
- 1984, Caedmon Audio ISBN 0-694-50253-7, Audio Cassette
- 1996, Simon & Schuster ISBN 0-684-83339-5, pub date September 1996 Paperback
- 1980, Books On Tape ISBN 0-7366-8962-1, unabridged Audio Cassette reader Wolfram Kandinsky
- 1980, Books On Tape ISBN 0-7366-9085-9, unabridged Audio CD reader Jim Weiss
- 1994, DH Audio ISBN 0-88646-125-1, abridged edition Audio Cassette reader Alan Arkin
- 1999, Simon & Schuster ISBN 0-684-86513-0, pub date October 1999, Hardback
[edit] Sources, references, external links, quotations
<References/>
[edit] See also
- Catch-22 (logic)
- Hobson's choice
- Morton's fork
- Paradox
- No-win situation
- Antinomy
- The Good Soldier Svejk
- Closing Timecs:Hlava XXII
de:Catch-22 fr:Catch 22 roman ko:캐치-22 it:Comma 22 (romanzo) he:מלכוד 22 ja:キャッチ=22 no:Catch-22 pl:Paragraf 22 fi:Me sotasankarit sv:Moment 22 zh:第22条军规
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