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Psychology in Catch-22
Catch-22 is a black comedy novel about death, about what people do when faced with the daily likelihood of annihilation. For the most part what they do is try to
survive in any way they can. The book begins, 'The island of Pianosa lies in the Mediterranean Sea eight miles south of Elba.' That is the geographical location of the
action. Much of the emotional plot of the book turns on the question of who's crazy, and I suggest that it is illuminating to look at its world in Kleinian terms. The
location of the story in the inner world is the claustrum - a space inside the psychic anus, at the bottom of the psychic digestive tract, where everyone lives
perpetually in projective identification, and the only value is survival. If one is expelled from the claustrum, there are only two places to go: death or psychotic
breakdown (Meltzer, 1992). What people do in these circumstances is to erect individual and institutional defences against the psychotic anxieties engendered by
unconscious phantasies of the threat of annihilation. These defences are extreme, utterly selfish and survivalist.
In certain institutional settings they are erected against death itself and correspond to what Joan Riviere called in her essay 'On the Genesis of Psychical Conflict in
Early Infancy' (1952), 'the deepest source of anxiety in human beings' (1952, p. 43). She suggests 'that such helplessness against destructive forces within is
ubiquitous and constitutes the greatest psychical danger-situation known to the human organism...' (ibid.). Isabel Menzies Lyth argues that these anxieties are
re-evoked in the work of nurses, where death is present and imminent. 'The objective situation confronting the nurse bears a striki...
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...titutions under duress. 'That's my trouble, you know,' Yossarian mused sympathetically, folding his arms. 'Between me and every ideal I always find
Scheisskopfs, Peckems, Korns and Cathcarts. And that sort of changes the ideal.'
'You must try not to think of them,' Major Danby advised affirmatively, 'And you must never let them change your values. Ideals are good, but people are
sometimes not so good. You must try to look up at the big picture.'
Yossarian rejected the advice with a sceptical shake of his head. 'When I look up, I see people cashing in. I don't see heaven or saints or angels. I see people
cashing in on every decent impulse and every human tragedy.' (435)
...'From now on I'm thinking only of me.'
'But Yossarian, suppose everyone felt that way.'
'Then I'd be a damned fool to feel any other way, wouldn't I?' (p. 436, cf. pp. 58, 102)
The majority of our society holds the notion that nurses are no more than trained professionals, working for a doctor, who simply provide medical care for the sick and informed. However, what nursing means to me goes deeper than that belief. Nursing is a profession in which individuals are responsible for not only the care of the sick and infirmed but are also responsible for being a support system and an educator, as well as an advocate for the promotion of optimal care. In today’s society, nurses are an important part of any medical facility’s investment. This paper will address the many different aspects of nursing in which nurse’s act as not only caregivers but also act as, counselors and educators.
Before he takes off, Danby asks Yossarian how he feels, to which he responds, “fine. No, I‘m very frightened,” and Danby replies, “that’s good… It proves you’re still alive” (463). This reminder brings back the point of Snowden’s message: “man was matter… The spirit gone, man is garbage” (450). Still alive, still full of spirit and courage, Yossarian makes the jump to protect his honor and that of his fellow men, which truly marks his heroism. Despite his escapist characteristics, Yossarian’s actions upon the illogic he encounters in the novel highlight his heroic qualities, as does his harboring concern for the well-being of others throughout his experiences. Yossarian proves his worth as a hero through his logic, compassion and, in the end, even self-sacrifice for the sake of justice.
In the year 1625, Francis Bacon, a famous essayist and poet wrote about the influences of fear on everyday life. He stated, “Men fear death as children fear to go in the dark; and as that natural fear in children is increased with tales, so is the other” (Essays Dedication of Death). Clearly, external surroundings affect perceptions of fear as well as human nature in general. Although C.S. Lewis published the novel, Out of the Silent Planet, over three centuries after Bacon wrote his theory on fear, Lewis similarly portrayed external surrounding to manipulate perceptions of fear. From the first chapter of the novel, Lewis revealed fear to be a weakness that leads to ignorance. It was this ignorance that apparently fueled the cycle of corruption and immorality on “The Silent Planet.” Using the character Ransom to reveal the effect of memory and morality on fear, C.S. Lewis demonstrates that fear is a quality of the “bent” race (humans), and only by eliminating fear in our lives can the human race become hnau.
This fear of the unknown is similar to the one shown in Gordon Grice’s essay, “The Black Widow.” In his essay, Grice explains how his fear of black widow made him curious about them. He once feared black widows because most people associated black widows as deadly animals that kill people. However, once Grice said, “I fell, hands first, into a mass of young widows … In about ten minutes my arms carried nothing but old web and the husks of spiderlings eaten by their sibs. I have never been bitten” (47). This revelation for Grice shows that black widows aren’t what he had thought them to be, but in fact mostly harmless to humans. “We want the world to be an ordered room, but in a corner of that room there hangs an untidy web. Here the analytical
Pattanik, Dipti R. "The Holy Refusal': A Vedantic Interpretation of J.D. Sallinger's Silence." Melus 23.2, (Summer 1998): 113, (15). Ebsco.
Catch-22 is one of the most poorly constructed, and distasteful books I’ve ever read. It’s order of events, or lack of order, becomes clear after the very first chapter. In fact “It doesn’t even seem to have been written; instead it gives the impression of having been shouted onto paper” (Stern 50). By the middle of the book it seems every character in the book has lost any sense of morality they may have seemed to have. The novel “gasps for want of craft and sensibility” (Stern 50).
Karl Albrecht, Ph.D. "The (Only) Five Basic Fears We All Live By." Psychology Today (2012).
The nursing profession is formed upon the Hippocratic practice of "do no harm" and an ethic of moral opposition to ending another human’s life. The Code of Ethics for nurses prohibits intentionally terminating any human life. Nurses are compelled to provide ease of suffering, comfort and ideally a death that is coherent with the values and wishes of the dying patient, however; it is essential that nurses uphold the ethical obligations of the profession and not partake in assisted suicide. (King, 2003)
Catch-22 follows the protagonist, Yossarian’s experience during WWII. However, the book is nowhere near chronological and jumps from different time periods of Yossarian’s service in the military. The novel depicts many events of where Yossarian
This paper is a first attempt at forming and articulating my own philosophy of nursing.
Nursing professionals deal with a lot of stress in the course of their duty, and this can lead to burnout, and frustration. They absorb both positive and negative auras constantly when dealing with suffering and dying patients and their families. Due to their close proximity to patients, they stand the risk of getting blamed when situations become unpleasant. However, the most important factor to recall is that nursing is all about compassionate and non-judgmental care. It is imperative to note that many patients believe that their illness is a form of punishment from God, perhaps because of a past sin or an unfulfilled promise.
A nurse’s role in our society today is exceptionally significant. Nurses are somewhat idolized and looked to as our everyday “superman”. “The mission of nursing in society is to help individuals, families, and groups to determine and achieve physical, mental, and social potential, and to do so within the challenging context of the environment in which they live and work” (“The Role of a Nurse/Midwife”). Many Americans turn to nurses for delivery of primary health care services and health care education (Whelan). In our country, there is constantly someone in need of health care. There will always be a baby being born or a person dying, someone becoming ill or growing old. Some people due to their physical and/or mental state of health are completely dependent on a nurse and wouldn’t be able to get through the simple obstacles of every day, or achieve the necessary requirements of a simple day without their aid. Not only do nurses help, and assist you when you’re sick, but also act to promote good health to others. They end...
Parfit uses a famous case of division (or fission), as imagined by Wiggins (1967), to illustrate his claim that identity is not what matters in survival. When A’s brain is split into two parts, each housed within two separate, brainless bodies (B and C) it seems that we have three options. We either believe that:
The American Nursing Association defines nursing as ““protection, promotion, and abilities, prevention of illness and injury, alleviation of suffering through the diagnosis and treatment of human response, and advocacy in the care of individuals, families, communities, and populations” (American Nurse Association, 2011, p. 7). There is so much more to nursing as a whole moreover throughout this paper I will be examining my own personal nursing philosophy, which is what I believe is the core characteristics of nursing, the approach of my nursing philosophy, along with my belief and value system of caring, compassion, advocacy, respect, honesty and integrity. I will be discussing my choice of becoming a nurse, what
One of the most poignant statements that I have heard during my tenure in nursing school is that “Nurses are often the first person that an infant sees at birth and the last person that a patient sees upon death.” Nurses have contact with patients recurrently along this continuum of life, now more than ever. This is due to the world’s aging population and the correlating factor of higher patient acuity (Larson, 2013). This frequent and close contact with nurses has fostered a sense of trustworthiness in the minds of U.S. citizens. This is evidenced by a recent Gallup Poll which listed nurses as the most honest and ethical professionals in America (www.galluppoll.com, 2015). Nurses have the challenging task of providing this trust-worthy,