Catch 22 Symbolism

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).

The Hadley parents’ express horror in the “yellow hot” African veldt, as they experience “this bake oven [of] murder” for the first time (Bradbury 200). The nursery causes the Hadley’s to fear death as the children lock them in “the hot oppressiveness of the African veldt” (Werlock 1). The veldt poses a threat to the Hadley’s lives as it reflects the dangers of the wild in Africa. The nursery represents the “thoughts of death” which “become prominent in [the] children’s minds” (Bernardo 1). Yossarian finds a loophole in the war where he remains safer than in the air and can keep an eye on death. While “outside the hospital the war” continues, Yossarian flees “into the hospital” where death acts “like a lady” (Heller 16,