Post Number Four: Live Free or Post Hard

Alex Dzwierzynski

Post Number Four

          If there is one thing that Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 excels at, it is making fun of humans and the rules we create. As such, a constant theme throughout the novel is the absolute absurdity of the army’s rules and regulations. Many of these rules function as Catch-22s including when Doc Daneeka explains the army’s rule about grounding pilots to Yossarian and the rule that states that you must follow a commanding officers orders even if it goes against other rules. There are other examples of Catch-22s as well, such as when Major Major is placed under the command of the Lieutenant Scheisskopf, whom he outranks. This results in confusion as although Major Major outranks the Lieutenant, the Lieutenant is “still your commanding officer so you better do what I tell you, sir, or you’ll get into trouble” (97). Thus, because of this Catch-22, both men end up calling each other sure, not knowing what else to do. Some, like Milo Minderbinder see opportunity in the chaos of the rules and exploit them to their favor, with Milo’s criminal syndicate making loads of money justifying his action by claiming that “everyone has a share” (241).  However, the absurdity and strength of the bureaucracy drives no one crazier than Yossarian, who is panicked at the fact that millions of people he has never met are trying to kill him in ways both directly and indirectly. They are trying to kill him directly, by shooting at him while he is flying and the army is trying to kill him indirectly by making him fly the plane in the first place. Distraught by the fact that he and his friends are placed in constant danger without having a say in the matter, Yossarian has made it his life’s goal to stay alive through the war at all costs. He goes to great effort to achieve this goal, by constantly checking into the hospital due to the fact that “he always ran a temperature of 101,” and “tiptoed out of his tent to move the bomb line up over Bologna,” making it seem like Bologna was already captured and allowing them not to bomb it (15, 129) Yet in his constant effort to avoid combat, he finds himself trapped by the Catch-22s of military law that does not allow him to go home due to the required number of missions that is constantly raised. By noticing the lengths that Yossarian goes to in order to avoid combat is how I came to understand the theme of Catch-22. That, along with the long strands of dialogue between the various soldiers about rules that never seem to go anywhere. The theme of Catch-22, is the absolute power of the bureaucracy that forces people to follow rules no matter how stupid or contradicting they may seem.

While reading Catch-22, at first I did not notice how any of the authors suggestions were effecting my reading, But, after reviewing the list, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the techniques of Nabokov, Foster, and the like were taking place automatically in my head. Like Nabokov and Prose stressed, I was rereading things when I did not understand them the first time (and there was a lot of things that I did not understand and had to reread) and like Foster suggested, I marked down pages where patterns I had been noticing had shown up such as when I saw a Catch-22 in the text. However the lessons taught by O’Connor had the biggest impact on my reading. Because, as mentioned before, Catch-22 is a novel of characters, I took mental notes on characters, both major and minor as O’Connor suggested. Because there are so many of them, I observed when various characters did what and why they did that thing, going back and reading that characters particular chapter when I blanked or forgot.

And now, we come to the part of this last post where I suggest whether or not you fine people reading this should read Catch-22 or not. I’ve thought about it quite a bit, and I’m afraid to say that I’m a little bit conflicted. One part of me wants to recommend this book, because I know that many consider it one of the best books of the twentieth century and if you are looking for an entertaining truly hilarious read that contains some of the best characters ever invented in the history of literature than look no further. However the other part of me is annoyed with this book. There is almost no plot in this book and despite how great and interesting the characters are, the vast amount of names makes it hard to keep track of who is who. Basically, my main quarrel with this book is that it goes on for way too long. While plot-centered books can go on for hundreds of pages while remaining interesting, this book struggles too. Its redeeming quality however, is its charm and humor, which, in my opinion, makes the book worth reading. It’s humor revolves around Yossarian, who I believe is truly one of the most clever, brilliant, weird, funny, and intriguing characters ever put on paper, and to see him and his comrades ridiculous stories play out it truly worth the ride. 

Post Number Three: Post with a Vengeance

Alex Dzwierzynski

Post Number Three

            As mentioned in a previous blog post, Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 is mostly character based, with plot having little to do with the story overall. Being a character based novel, it is required that more characters other than Yossarian and Major Major Major Major be interesting. And they are. But while most of the characters besides the aforementioned two are interesting, none more so than Milo Minderbinder, a mess officer in charge of a vast criminal syndicate in which “every man will have a share” (76). Milo starts his business as a simple egg selling business in which he can “buy eggs in Malta for seven cents apiece and sell them at a profit in Pianosa for five cents” (76). Although he explains how he does this to Yossarian several times, nobody really understands how Milo does this. Eventually, he turns his egg-selling business into an elaborate money-making scheme buying eggs in Malta and selling them to the soldiers in his squadron and three others, resulting in his planes flying “back and forth seven days a week as every officer in the four squadrons began devouring fresh eggs in an insatiable orgy of fresh-egg eating” (145). Growing jealous that Milo’s bomb group and associates get fresh eggs, the other groups dispatch their “own planes to Malta for fresh eggs, but discovered that fresh eggs were selling there for seven cents apiece,” more expensive than the five cents Milo sells them for (146). So, these other bomb groups turn their planes over to Milo to get fresh-eggs, who eventually all arranges them in his international criminal empire known as the syndicate. The syndicate grows to the point where eventually, anything is able to be procured. As the war progresses, Milo’s syndicate grows more powerful, eventually shaping up into a business, with his captured German planes having their swastikas painted over with the words “M & M Enterprises, Fine Fruits and Produce,” transforming “his syndicate into an international cartel” with planes coming in “from everywhere in Europe, in fact, but Russia, with whom Milo refused to do business” (264). By creating a successful criminal syndicate, Milo is profiting off the war, bending the rules to suit his own needs and the need of the syndicate. Milo justifies his selfish actions by claiming that “everybody has a share” of his syndicate and that everybody benefits when he benefits, although throughout the novel, nobody seems to benefit except for Milo (241). Through his syndicate, Milo becomes so profitable and successful, that because of his vast trade connections, he has become the Vice-Shah of Oran, as well as the “Caliph of Baghdad, the Imam of Damascus, and the Sheik of Araby” also becoming “the corn god, the rain god, and the rice god in backward regions where such crude gods were still worshipped” (247-248). However, in typical Heller fashion, Milo’s luck takes a turn for the worse when he agrees to “purchase the entire Egyptian cotton crop” only to figure out that nobody wants Egyptian cotton (267). After an attempt to coat the cotton with chocolate and trying to feed it to Yossarian fails, “M&M Enterprises verged on collapse” (267).

As a result of his empire collapsing, Milo’s true nature is revealed, and he is shown to only care about money. Making a deal with the German’s to “bomb his own outfit,” Milo is revealed as the closest thing this novel has to a true antagonist (267). By bombing his own outfit purely for the monetary benefit of it, Milo is representative of a war profiteer, one who engages in war only to seek money off of it and the people who surround him. By claiming that everyone has a share in his syndicate, Milo is running on the notion that whatever is good for him, must be good for everyone else. Although he is selfish, greed and a criminal, through Heller’s amazing writing ability, he remains one of the funniest and most likable characters despite his faults. 

Post Number Two: Post Harder

Alex Dzwierzynski

Post Number Two

In Joseph Heller’s Catch-22, the titular conundrum plays a major role as a motif throughout the novel. But before I go into detail on the various instances in which a Catch-22 appears, I feel it vital to explain the concept of Catch-22, as it can be quite confusing. A Catch-22 refers to a piece of circling reasoning that keeps one trapped in a paradox due to contradicting rules. As the book explains, the catch of Catch-22, is “the best there is” (55). Yossarian, the main character experiences this excellent catch firsthand when he decides to be grounded by reason of insanity due to a “rule that states that the Doc Daneeka, the company’s doctor has “to ground anyone who’s crazy” (54). Now that rule makes perfect sense, no one in their right mind would want someone crazy anywhere near an airplane, especially one filled with explosives like the military ones. But, upon further inspection of the rule, we the reader finds the Catch-22. As Doc Daneeka explains, he can ground anyone, “but first he ask to ask me to,” as “that’s part of the rule” (54). However, a crazy person would never ask to be grounded because they are crazy and don’t know any better. If a pilot does ask to be grounded in order to get out of flying, Doc Daneeka knows that they are sane because “anyone who wants to get out of combat duty isn’t really crazy,” as no sane person would want to put their life at risk by flying airplanes (55). Thus, crazy or not, the soldiers are stuck in a Catch-22, if they ask to be grounded, they are obviously sane and thus will not be grounded.

            However, while that certainly is the most obvious example of Catch-22 throughout the novel, there are many more, with most of them relating to how the army forces its men to follow its absurd rules, even if they contradict each other. For example, throughout the novel, the required number of missions a pilot has to fly before they can go home is constantly raised, much to the annoyance of Yossarian. Yossarian and fellow pilot Hungary Joe keep flying the required number of missions only to see them raised. Yossarian eventually learns about the Catch-22 that’s keeping him trapped. Although “forty missions is all you have to fly as far as the Twenty-seventh Air Force Headquarters are concerned,” it is required that you also obey your commanding officer at all costs (67). And, if your commanding officers disobeyed a “Twenty-seventh Air Force order by making you fly more missions, you’d still have to fly them, or you’d be guilty of disobeying an order of his,” which would result in a punishment of more missions for not following your commanding officers orders (67-68). Thus once again, Yossarian is stuck in a Catch-22, forced to do more than required in order to follow his commanding officers orders. 

Post Number One

Alex Dzwierzynski

Post Number One

In Joseph Heller’s masterpiece, Catch-22, characters are everything. The novel centers around an American bombardier in World War II named Yossarian, a soldier who is annoyed due to the required amount of missions needed to be dismissed from the army keeps getting raised. A coward, Yossarian does his best to avoid fighting at all cost in an effort to keep himself alive. Catch-22 is full of bizarre characters like Yossarian but one character really sticks out, Major Major Major Major. Yes, you did in fact read that right. Born Major Major Major as a result of his father’s bizarre sense of humor, the story of this unfortunately named major is quite sad and fascinating at the same time. Growing up believing that his name was Caleb Major, the realization that his actual name was Major Major hit him heard, causing his friends to abandon him, thinking him a stranger and mistrusting him as he had “deceived them by pretending to be someone they had known for years” (95). As a result of growing up alone and friendless, he excelled at school, taking “his studies so seriously that he was suspected by the homosexuals as being a Communist and suspected by the Communist of being a homosexual,” resulting in the FBI opening a file on him, gathering enough information on Major Major “to do whatever they wanted with him” (95, 96). Sent to the army, he was promoted on his first day to Major by an IBM computer with “a sense of humor almost as keen as his father’s,” becoming Major Major Major Major (96). Finally finding happiness in the army, his life takes another unfortunate turn when he is promoted to squadron commander. This isolates him from his fellow soldiers as they believe he “had been elevated to squadron commander because he resembled Henry Fonda,” with some of them going so far to believe that “Major Major really was Henry Fonda but was too chickenshit to admit it” (99). And as squadron commander, he is plunged back into his childhood misery, being forced to eat “broiled Maine lobster with excellent Roquefort salad and two frozen éclairs” instead of the normal grub they feed the other soldiers, further isolating him (110). “Being bored and dissatisfied with his new position,” he starts forging the name Washington Irving on important documents after a man comes to investigate Yossarian for doing it. Finding immense satisfaction in the forging, doing “all his signing with his left hand and only while the dark glasses and false mustache” (107).

In the simple forging of Washington Irving’s name instead of his own, Major Major is putting himself in control. All of his life he has been subject to unhappiness based on decisions that he cannot control. From the unfortunate humor of his father and the IBM computer to his promotion to squadron commander, Major Major’s life has been the result of events out of his control. By faking his name while wearing a costume, he feels like he is finally taking control of his own life. Fed up with everyone always changing his life, his forging of Washington Irving also works to express his dissatisfaction with his name and rank, both of which were given to him by forces outside his control. This becomes a recurring theme throughout Catch-22, with numerous other characters being subject to executive decisions outside their control.