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Annotated Bibliography On Catch 22

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Anthony Riley Mrs. Mitchell English III CP, period 2 8 March 2023 Joseph Heller and Catch-22: The War of Absurdity Thesis: In the novel Catch-22, Joseph Heller conveys the absurdity of fighting a war that does not benefit the combatant through his wartime experiences integrated into the novel and the lingering effects that plagued bombardiers in World War II. Biographical sketch Early life before war Birth Education Occupations Writer Experiences Catch-22 (1961) Creation of the Novel Public Reception WWII and the impact on combatants WWII background Soldiers’ experience/impacts War experience Heller’s experience Relations to his experience in the novel Absurdity of war Forced to fight for nothing Engaging with the absurd system Anthony Riley …show more content…

While men stood up in arms for their country, others went without a choice, and some questioned their battle's true purpose and what it meant for their lives. Joseph Heller was a man who fought in this war and wrote the ever-infamous Catch-22, a satirical war novel that shows the true nature of the battlefield and the horrors attached to it. In the novel Catch-22, Joseph Heller conveys the absurdity of fighting a war that does not benefit the combatant through his own wartime experiences integrated into Catch-22 and the lingering effects that plagued the bombardiers of World War II. Understanding the life of Joseph Heller is an important aspect of his novel, as his life was used to shape the novel in numerous ways. In the busy streets of Brooklyn, New York, Joseph Heller was born on May 1st, 1929 to Russian immigrants Isacc Heller and Lena Heller (Seed 21). Heller attended Coney Island’s Public School …show more content…

Catch-22 occurs during World War II, following a soldier named Yossarian who wants nothing but to live. His constant will to live and fear of death makes him an outsider among his fellow soldiers, though they still enjoy one another as comrades. Throughout bombing missions and antics within their squadron, Yossarian watches the war unfold around him, and every action he takes is one to preserve his life. Despite Catch-22 being as complex as it is, it later became widely known across the United States as the defacto anti-war novel, with the signature “catch-22” that the novel is titled after becoming a common phrase (Pinsker 379). To fully grasp Joseph Heller’s Catch-22, readers must understand the time in which the novel takes place. Off the heels of World War I, another conflict was brewing within Europe due to the tensions left behind by World War I. On September 1st, 1939, Nazi Germany invaded Poland, causing Great Britain and France to retaliate against Nazi Germany, spiraling into the second great war within Europe, World War II (“Catch-22”

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In the 256th squadron which Yossarian belongs to, stationed on an island near Italy, he and his fellow soldiers are consistently oppressed by their commanding officer. After Yossarian remarks that he should be able to go home after completing the required number of missions, he hears word that another fifteen missions are required (48). Whenever a certain amount of missions is to be completed, the commanding officer consistently raises the bar before the soldiers can stop going on their bombing missions. Throughout the novel, the phrase “Catch- 22”, importantly the title of this novel, serves to represent the oppressive nature of the bureaucratic structure of command instituted upon Yossarian and his fellow squadron members. Daniel Green also notes the oppressive nature of the phrase “Catch-22”, and believes that “Catch-22” means that, “You've always got to do what your commanding officer tells you to;” “Catch-22” insists that Group approve the actions of its subordinates.

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In this story, the author exposes the idea of how war can significantly

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Catch-22, a satirical, historical fiction novel focused on an unjust military bureaucracy, follows a young Air Force Captain and his friends who deal with this bureaucracy and injustice firsthand. Yossarian is the protagonist of the novel which is set during the end of World War II, around 1944, on the small island of Pianosa, just off the coast of Italy. Joseph Heller’s main focus in the writing of this book was to antagonize the military and highlight its often unreasonable actions. A central theme of Catch-22 is the absolute power of the military and the lack of logic it displays in dispensing justice. Evidence of this theme can be seen in Clevenger’s trial and in the interrogation of Chaplain Tappman.

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The narrator faces two main obstacles, in the call to adventure stage of his hero’s journey. At only twenty-one years old the narrator is drafted into War. For him this is an obstacle because he is “too good for this war. Too smart. Too compassionate.”

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Catch 22 uses a chaotic structure and form to ensure the reader experiences the story just as the characters would have. This elevates the theme of the life as a soldier in the army, when chaos is expected and logic is absent. Heller pieces together events in the novel mainly through characters. However, the main character is Yossarian, and is told from his perspective of time and thought.

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Dear, Journal My chosen book was “Catch-22”, by Joseph Heller was a recommendation by my teacher for this wide reading task. This novel is revolves the context of World War 2 as it explores the attitudes and positions of the characters in the war. It was a new experience reading this ‘war’ genre-based novel. My expectations of the book was to study the world of war, personal feelings of character progression, times of distress,heroic acts and experience. In the beginning, I questioned the title of the book “Catch-22” and its specific meaning to the novel.

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The novel’s anti-war stance is repeatedly emphasized as the plot unfolds. An example of this stance is seen when the captured soldiers are moved to a new location. The soldiers relocate to a slaughterhouse that “had been built as a shelter for pigs about to be butchered. Now it was going to serve as a home away from home for one hundred American prisoners of war” (Vonnegut 152). The tone of this excerpt expresses how much the author opposes war.

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War’s effect of wiping away the personal characteristics of the soldiers and amalgamating their identity demonstrates its destructive nature. In “An Overview of Catch-22,” Darren Felty’s critical essay, the author emphasizes Heller’s satire of the systematic devaluation of human life through war. Felty explains this scorn through the revelations of the character Yossarian, elaborating on how Heller uses Yossarian to denounce war’s dehumanization by asserting, His satire targets not just the military but all regimental institutions that treat individuals as cogs in a machine. His central character, Yossarian, recognizes the insanity of social institutions that devalue human life and tries to rebel against them, first in minor ways and finally through outright rejection of them (Felty).

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Catch 22 Paper In Catch 22 by Joseph Heller the book is a complex novel. Heller uses many themes, does not have the storyline in chronological order and often uses irony in his descriptions. Many of the themes can be compared to other literature. One of the themes that can be compared is fear in war.

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However, the novel’s aim isn’t to insult, but to expose the negative consequences of war. It provides a necessary alternative perspective, helping students form their own informed opinions. Beyond its thought-provoking arguments, Catch-22 also includes diverse characters and stories. The novel features a variety of characters with different races, religions, thought processes, and sexualities.

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Through symbolism, Heller and Bradbury invoke death into the lives of the characters which creates a sort of anxiety that death is everywhere. While Yossarian expresses distress for his “own safety in the face of” danger, Catch-22 says he must “always…do what [his] commanding officer tells” him to do, jeopardizing his life in the hands of his superiors who constantly raise the number of missions he must fly (Heller 46, 58). Each mission, Yossarian faces death since his “superior officers constitute a greater threat to” his life “than the enemy” as they raise the status quo (Seltzer 15:188). Yossarian inches closer and closer to the “destructive consequences” of war with each mission he flies (Aldridge 36:2). Although he does everything in his power to stay alive, “the moral wickedness” of Catch-22 ultimately influences “Yossarian’s existence” keeping his life in risk as he flies above the enemy line (Seltzer 15:193).

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1124 Words | 5 Pages

In O’Flaherty’s “The Sniper” and Hardy’s “The Man He Killed” both works use plot, irony, and theme to portray the idea that war causes you to kill those you care or may have cared about. There are many similarities and differences In the plot of both “The Sniper” and “The Man He Killed”, there are many similarities and differences.

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Every writer puts his or hers life into each and one of their stories. I feel like that's how they connect to their stories. She poured out her experiences and shared with her readers a lot of her joys and despairs. Mary Shelley was an english novelist, short story writer, dramatist, biographer and travel writer. She a wrote a bunch of stories during her time but her most famous story is obviously Frankenstein.

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1398 Words | 6 Pages

The actual Catch-22 is as follows: if a soldier were crazy, he would not have to fly missions, but if he asked not to, he would be deemed sane and has to. The concept of Catch-22 itself epitomizes the concept of a sane man living in an insane society. Each of the catches Heller presents have the primary goal of providing a false hope for these soldiers. With each catch, the soldiers are meant to feel as though there is a future where they will not have to be trapped, but there is no light at the end of the tunnel. The hopelessness and anguish demonstrated through the soldiers’ experiences are applicable to life in general, not just in war.

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1432 Words | 6 Pages

Yossarian: The Real Anti-hero Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 is a 1961 best-selling novel (Encyclopedia) about war and how the soldiers in the camp survive and deal with the difficulties of war. Catch-22 represents what people in World War II went through and what soldiers had to do to defend their country in war. Joseph Heller wrote this novel for people who lived through World War II to prove to the soldiers that he knew what they went through and try put a funny twist on it for readers to enjoy (Kabourek). Here is an idea about what soldiers went through in WWII: “Our loses were heavy. By the time of the Regensburg mission, I had been in combat several times in 60 days and already I was a seasoned war veteran.

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