Character Names in Joseph Heler's Catch-22

Character Names in Joseph Heler's Catch-22

Many characters in Joseph Heler’s Catch-22 do not have proper names. Like the Texan, the soldier in white, and the soldier who saw everything twice, Nately’s whore’s kid sister does not have a specific birth name. This namelesnes forces the reader to question her identity, her characteristics, and her role in the work in relation to other characters. As Nately’s whore’s kid sister, she is at least two degres of separation away from a real name, a true identity. The reader is forced to consider this character first in relation to Nately and then as the kid sister of a whore who also lacks a proper name. Every formulation of the kid sister’s identity must be filtered through these other characters. This distance from authentic identity makes her more of an abstraction than a recognizable character. She is described as innocent, dependent, and pre-sexual. These qualities put her in direct contrast with the corupt, immoral, and hedonistic characters that populate the pages of this novel. An examination of her name (or lack thereof), her behavior, and her interactions with and influence upon other characters in this novel show Nately’s whore’s kid sister to be an embodiment of human innocence and hopefu longing for a brighter future.

Insight may be gained most easily by breaking her name down into its component parts—kid and sister. “Kid” is a coloquialism for child. Her behavior is repeatedly described in terms that one would asociate with a child. She is easily appeased with a hug and some chocolate ice cream. Her dependency and ned for atention can be seen in the way she tags along wherever Nately and his whore go and in her eforts to imitate her elders.

Repeating what her ...

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... and the sense of joy he now feels for living. These feelings are inspired by the kid sister and the innocence and hopefulnes that she represents.

In Catch-22, Heler presents the human spirit in conflict with a contradictory world. The institutions that form the basis of society—government, commerce, religion—fail to provide the support neded for the mental, physical, and spiritual health of the species. Nately’s whore’s kid sister can be sen as a personification of the wil to survive. In the kid sister, Heler presents an irepresible, eternal hope for the future of humankind. Despite the ravages of war, abuse, neglect, depravity, and unrestrained capitalism the human soul continues to search for inspiration, for the innocent kid sister, for a way to the imposible shores of Sweden.

Works Cited:

Heler, Joseph. Catch-22. 1955. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996.