Jessica Christensen Mr. Vanek AP English Period 5 6 November 2014 In Joseph Heller’s satirical novel, Catch-22, Heller disproves of society’s glorified image of war by exposing the soldiers’ world, a world in which people are thoughtless, where the worst in human nature is shown, and where unprovoked violence becomes normal. Heller manages to turn the commonly know "good" war, World War II, into senseless violence by revealing the ineffectiveness and irrationality of the military. Heller demonstrates that war is simply a violent game played by generals and majors that sit from away from actual combat, as if moving chess pieces in a game. As Yossarian points out, he prefers life inside a hospital rather than in the battlefield because …show more content…
The fate of the soldiers are taken out of their hands and their independent thoughts are compromised when they join the military, "Group Headquarters was alarmed, for there was not telling what people might find out once they felt free to ask whatever questions they wanted to”(35). Take Yossarian, for example, who tries to explain to everyone that people are trying to kill him, which they are, but the other soldiers and generals just act like he's crazy. The military ideals of the submissive nature of their soldiers is an essential part because what normal person would not questions their superiors gave them. The true nature of military bureaucracy is demonstrated in many characters including Major Major. Major Major, like almost every other soldier, unquestioningly follows orders given to him. Before, “He was told that he should not kill, and he did not kill, until he got into the Army. Then he was told to kill, and he killed it’s that simple" …show more content…
Because of the lack of direct communication, General Peckem is able to get “all sorts of people convinced I think it’s important for the bombs to explode together and make a neat aerial photograph. There’s one colonel in Pianosa who’s hardly concerned any more with whether he hits the target or not”(325). The funny thing is that when Scheisskopf, a fellow officer, is promoted above him, Peckem is mad and thinks it's absurd that such a stupid person can make officer, “Scheisskopf? The man’s a moron! I walked all over that blockhead, and now he’s my superior officer” (391). The line of command in which military decisions are made is shown to be absurd and further demonstrate the insanity of the militaristic system