Free Catch-22 Essays: Insanity

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Insanity in Catch 22

In all of history, no war seems to have touched the minds of people everywhere as much as World War II. This war brought about some of the worst violations of human rights ever seen. The German military created a system for the public to follow, and if the individual opposed, he was oppressed. This kind of mentality is presented in the novel, Catch-22 (1955). Joseph Heller uses the insane situations of the setting and his characters to show a unique perspective on World War II.

A small Army Air Corps base serves as the setting for Catch-22. It is set on a fictitious island called Pianosa. The island is described as very small and is located in the Mediterranean Sea, off the coast of Elba, Italy. It is set in the time of World War II. The island almost serves as a microcosm of the war taking place around it. This setting accommodates nearly all of the hardships being faced by the victims of WWII. The Air Corps dominates this island and its soldier inhabitants. A system is established and it must be obeyed by all the soldiers. This system is kepy alive through a "catch-22".

Basically the catch-22 is a trap set up by the military bureaucracy to keep all of the soldiers flying in battle. It is best summed up in a piece of dialogue from the novel. It is shared between the main character, Yossarian, and the base's doctor, Daneeka: "Yossarian looked at him soberly and tried another approach. 'Is Orr crazy?' 'He sure is,' Doc Daneeka said. 'Can you ground him?' 'I sure can. But first he has to ask me to. That's part of the rule.' 'Then why doesn't he ask you to?' 'Because he's crazy,' Doc Daneeka said. 'He has to be crazy to keep flying combat missions after all the close calls he's had. Sure I can ground him. But first he has to ask me to.' 'And then you can ground him?' Yossarian asked. 'No. Then I can't ground him.' 'You mean there's a catch?' 'Sure there's a catch,' Doc Daneeka replied. 'Catch-22. Anyone who wants to get out of combat duty isn't really crazy.' "( Heller, 46)

This bureaucratic trap is accepted by most of the naive soldiers. This is why the military is able to make the soldiers do whatever they want them to do.

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