Catch-22 Thesis

Throughout history, novels have had a quasi-omnipotent power, an ability to transform, motivate, and stir factions like no other. The Jungle by Upton Sinclair roused Congress to immigrants ' plights, Uncle Tom 's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe inflamed the issue of slavery to a point where it could not be ignored any longer, and Common Sense by Thomas Paine served as the wooden match that ignited the fire of the Revolutionary War. In other words, books have measureless abilities because they seemingly provide glasses for readers to see parts of the world, and parts of themselves that they had previously been blind to. With this in mind, Catch-22 by Joseph Heller invigorated America 's post World War II population by inspiring young people across the nation to examine the true natures of war, an examination that ultimately led to a defient generation. Additionally, Catch-22 coined a ubiquitous paradox and came brimful with literary devices that served as the glasses to the post WWII generation insurgency.
Authors Background Joseph Heller was born May 1st, 1923. He was the son of Isaac and Lena Heller, both of whom

In time, Heller landed a job as an English lecturer at Pennsylvania State College (Najarian 2). While Heller worked at Pennsylvania State, he married his longtime girlfriend, Shirley Hield, and together they had two children. During his time as a lecturer, Heller began writing Catch-22, but due to time constraints, he was not able to finish it (Najarian 3). After realizing his love for writing, Heller quit his job as a lecturer and devoted his time solely to writing. During this portion of Heller 's life, Heller wrote several screenplays and ultimately had his novel Catch-22 published in 1961. As Catch-22 's fame grew, Heller ultimately waived the rights to the work of the screenplay adaptation and allowed others to produce the movie (Najarian 4). The movie was not as successful as the novel, yet the production only served to catalyze