Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 The True Insights within Classic Literature Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 goes into the life of a 488th squadron air bomber by the name of Yossarian. Heller places Yossarian in Italy during World War II, but instead of putting him in the front lines of battle, he puts him in “the hospital with liver pain…short of being jaundice” (Heller, 8). The way the setting is introduced gives the reader an idea of the setting and giving the reason why Yossarian in the hospital begins to build the character that is Yossarian. Heller seductively draws his audience with an excellent use of literary elements such as imagery and characterization drawing their attention to the character of Yossarian. Heller gives Yossarian very aggressive …show more content…
He places Yossarian in the hospital where “he spends his time writing letters to member of his squadron” (Heller, 8). The details Heller gives about Yossarian leads the reader to make his/her own predictions of what will happen as the story continues. The theme of isolation is not clearly shown to where Yossarian is completely isolated. It is shown in the way he feels alone in finding ways to break out of the war. The theme of isolation can also be found a lot clearer in the Ralph Ellison’s classic Invisible Man. In Ellison’s novel the details of how the character lives “underground… stealing electricity from a power plant” (Ellison) show how the character lives in complete isolation. The difference between the two is subtle, but in the way Ellison and Heller word the text gives it the exact same definition. Isolation is made evident in this story all because the authors of both give details in the setting. Without the setting it would be impossible to determine certain characteristics of the story as well as finding the themes and motifs within it. Heller is an excellent author in the way he uses setting and the minor details which constructs the main