Catch-22 by Joseph Heller is a satirical book written towards the end of World War II which employs slapstick comedy to display the true horrors of world warfare. The novel takes on a different perspective of war that many critics and individuals were not expecting as the book develops the war through anecdotes and characterization of multiple characters. The book drifts apart from the traditional war novel, as it does not depict the horrors of war, but rather gives light to an underlying theme of war: bureaucracy. Heller is able to expose the inconsistency of bureaucratic laws which are made to only favor those who make the laws themselves. Catch-22 uses satire, paradox, and a psychoanalytical view to show how warfare is corrupt as power lies in the hands of the elites, with little or no regard for human life.
Satire is used
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Sigmund Freud mentions, “repetition compulsion is the reoccurrence multiple times of a traumatic event in order to return to a state of non-existence” (Kennard). In Catch-22 trauma is psychologically manipulated to facilitate a more amenable group of soldiers who become indifferent to their environment they are subjected to and their task at hand. Kennard claims, “many soldiers experience death of fellow comrades, yet they continue to fly and re-experience the trauma which thus acts as a propeller for war”. Even though sane characters are trying to desert the insane environment, the soldiers continue to do what they are told without making an effort to leave the military until trauma severely affects them and makes them revolt. This is seen when Yossarian finally revolts and refuses to fly any more missions when one of his dearest friends dies in his arms. The conscious mind of the soldiers is weak and formless making it easily vulnerable, and represents the strong control the superior elites have over the