Essay on Greed for Power and Money in Catch-22

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Greed for Power and Money in Catch-22

Although Catch-22 is a novel that entirely takes place at war, the book uses comedy to emphasize the physical and emotional pain of war. The novel shows us how people are changed by war and how their focuses are changed through different experiences. Many of the people in the book are disgusted by their commanding officers and the conditions around them. Joseph Heller served in the war and witnessed crazy occurrences and met strange people like those in the book. By reading the novel, we can see that he strongly disliked war. There are many themes in the novel, two of the main themes are the greed for power and money.

Power greed is a major theme in Catch-22. There are many characters who put others aside for their own gain of power. Perhaps the most notorious power greedy character in the book is Colonel Cathcart. Colonel Cathcart desperately wants to be a major. If he is promoted, he will have much more power, and the power is what he wants. Cathcart is constantly raising the number of missions the pilots and bombardiers must complete to be discharged. Cathcart raises the missions to appeal the commanding officers. The men vehemently hate Cathcart for doing this because it changes their lives. Every time they think they are near being freed from the war, he raises the missions and ruins their plans. The problem with Cathcart is that he is competitive, and only thinks of how he is doing in comparison to how others are doing. He knew that most all men his age were not majors, so his only purpose was to become a major at his young age of 36. He would do anything to those below him to achieve major status.

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...plating sticking wire between the men's wrists and hips. He wanted to surgically install copper wiring so that the men did not move their arms while marching, but forgot about it only after realizing that the wire and surgery would cost too much and the men could not fall down drunk at the end of the parade. Scheisskopf thought of the men as toy soldiers that he could manipulate in any way so that he could be the greatest march coordinator ever. He wanted to manipulate them only so he could be famous and move up in rank to General.

. There are many themes in Catch 22, two of the main themes are the greed for power and money. The greed for power and money takes control of many men in this novel. These men are presented to send a clear message. Heller is saying that war is a terrible thing because it corrupts people and confuses them.

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