Analysis Of Joseph Heller's Catch-22

Title Analysis - Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 is a title that explains the entire novel in one simple phrase that was so significant to the literary community, that it has been added into the English dictionary. Merriam Webster’s dictionary officially defined a Catch-22 as “a dilemma or difficult circumstance from which there is no escape because of mutually conflicting or dependent conditions.” This perfectly describes the law that traps the protagonist, Yossarian, in the army where he is forced to fly bombing missions against his will. Catch-22 is an abstract rule enacted by the despotic officers in Yossarian’s division that basically states that only insane men would want to fly into life threatening situations and all a soldier had to do was ask to be discharged, but only a sane man would ask to go home, so you are fit to fight since you are mentally sound. This paradox is quixotic to all of the other soldiers but they respect it’s “simplicity” largely due to their ignorance and conditioning to follow orders. The officers in turn continually raise the quota of flying missions their enlisted men must meet so they can never return home. This rule of Catch-22 eventually diffuses into the soldiers daily lives as their actions become increasingly meaningless due to their cyclical nature much like

The nurses seem unconcerned with his health and really just leave him to die. He is unidentified and will remain so since his face was burned off. The others are unsure if he is even alive anymore. This represents the inhumane practices of the officers as they do not worry about his safety or well-being. He has served his sole purpose as a soldier and made a “sacrifice” for their cause. They can’t even remember what soldier would have come back from a mission injured or recognize anything about him because he is meaningless. He is left like an animal for