How Does Heller Use Informal Language In Catch 22

In the novel, Catch 22, by Joseph Heller there were many informal languages to portray each character’s interactions between one another. Most of the conversations seems to be somewhat brief and short because the author is probably trying to make the story a little bit more interesting and surprising for the reader. Although as the story progresses, Heller switches the tone and sentence structures from informal to a formal tone.

During the beginning of the novel, Heller uses many informal languages to express the character’s feelings about a certain situation. In fact, the characters had a very simple conversation with one another. The reason why Heller is probably trying to keep the conversations brief between the characters because he

wants to make situations more interesting and complex so it keeps the reader wondering what’s going to happen next. For example, when Yossarian and Dunbar had a conversation back when they were in the hospital:
“You murdered him,” said Dunbar
“I heard you kill him,” said Yossarian
“You killed him because he was a nigger,” said Dunbar
“You fellas are crazy,” said the Texan

The conversation between Yossarian, Dunbar, and the Texan was obviously simple and very brief. This can cause the reader to wonder what is actually happening at the time because there wasn’t very much that’s been said. Throughout the novel, there were many images that probably caused the reader to almost feel like they are physically there at the scene. One strong example of an imagery in the novel would be:
"Yossarian shouted back at him in the velvet darkness cloaking the path leading past the still vehicles of the motor pool to the open-air movie theater." (306).
Heller uses this imagery to describe to the reader what Yossarian was actually wearing and what it looked like so that way the reader can learn a little more about Yossarian. He also mentions the setting where Yossarian is at an “open-air movie theater” which the reader can already guess that it is at night time and there is most likely a lot of people because he described that there are “still vehicles of the motor pool”. After all, the conclusion is that Heller uses informal languages between the characters, but he keeps it formal and uses more sophisticated vocabulary when he narrates the story.

Heller did a phemeneous job for his writing skills because of the way he put his sentence structures together to keep the reader interested. He uses a lot of humor and sarcasms for most of the soldiers because it shows the actual interactions between the soldiers or characters within the novel. For example, Heller did use some profanity in his writing to show the true meanings and thoughts of a soldier towards someone or something:

“Appleby was a fair-haired boy from Iowa who believed in God, Motherhood, and the American Way of Life, without ever thinking about any of them, and everybody who knew him liked him.

"I hate that son of a b--ch," Yossarian growled.” (25)

Because of Heller’s use of profanity to describe the opinions of the soldiers on one another, the reader can tell that it is ironic where the narration of Appleby was positive and the reader’s first impression of Appleby is probably a decent person, then it ends off with Yossarian having hatred for Appleby. Throught Heller’s novel, as mentioned before, he uses complex sentences during his narration because he still wants to keep the reader thinking and interested whereas the dialogues are very simple and vague which is where the reader doesn’t get that much of help because it still keeps them wondering even more.

Catch 22 is a satirical novel because throughout the novel, it was either the commander that was running into issues or the soldiers always fear of every war being their last moment to live. Some of the quotes that are going to be provided will show a lot of ironic situations where it won’t necessarily make the reader laugh, but it does use mocking and sarcasm to address the full thoughts of the characters within

others.

Close Reading Analysis
“After he made up his mind to spend the rest of the war in the hospital, Yossarian wrote letters to everyone he knew saying that he was in the hospital but never mentioning why. One day he had a better idea. To everyone he knew he wrote that he was going on a very dangerous mission. "They asked for volunteers. It's very dangerous, but someone has to do it. I'll write you the instant I get back." And he had not written anyone since.” (8).

During this scene, Yossarian overexaggerates the fact that he doesn’t know what is going to happen to him and he made it seem as if he was going to die or will be dead. Yossarian was very vague in his letters where it made his family felt that he was going to die when he mentioned that there was something dangerous going on at war and he will write letters back when he finishes his job. The irony of this situation is Yossarian is afraid to be healthy because he doesn’t want to go to war. He plans to stay in the hospital for the rest of the time during war which is why he needs to make situations seem as if he is unhealthy and create a dilemma that he had a “dangerous mission” which he knows that it will most likely worry his family back at home.

"You killed him because he was a nigger," Dunbar said.
"You fellas are crazy," the Texan cried. "They don't allow niggers in here. They got a
special place for niggers." (57).

The irony of this situation is when Dunbar is trying to blame on the Texan for killing an African person just to create chaos, but the Texan doesn’t get the idea of what Dunbar is trying to say. Instead, the Texan went off as being paranoid and discriminating against the Africans by saying that they belong in a certain area. As a normal person, the Texan should have just stood up for himself instead of making a remark that doesn’t seem to make the situation better, but could possibly have worsen it.

“Men went mad and were rewarded with medals. All over the world, boys on every side of the bomb line were laying down their lives for what they had been told was their country and no one seemed to mind, least of all the boys who were laying down their young lives.” (7)
This quote seems to be ironic because Heller is basically saying that angry men were rewarded with medals. He is probably trying to say the more aggressive a soldier gets is the more they want to fight which is why they are, perhaps, getting medals for promoting to a higher position in the military. And it also doesn’t seem to make sense that all the boys are lying down on the ground in the middle of a war where they know that it is clearly dangerous.

According to Foster’s How to Read Literature Like a Professor, one topic that connects to Catch 22 would be the Setting & Weather. Although in Catch 22, there wasn’t as much that was said about the weather, but the setting played a huge role in the novel. Because at the beginning of the novel, Heller describes that the setting was on an island in Pianosa, Italy. The island is so small that it has an impact on the atmosphere and mood of the novel. According to Foster, it is important that the “setting establishes mood and foreshadows events to come” (75). In Catch 22, Heller made it sound like the island is so small that all the chaos and events happen on one small island which it makes it more dramatic. The area itself has a symbolism of danger, death, and tragedy. Everyday men are dying on that island and there are constant tragedies coming their way which is why the setting plays an important role in the novel. The setting is the way it is in the novel because if the island was “too big” then there would be a different tone or mood. Heller also picked an island as his setting because it is far away from any one soldier’s home which is why in the beginning the reader can already tell that all of the soldier missed their home and it is probably the reason why Yossarian is always making up lies that he is in “pain” so he can go home. This also reveals the tone of the novel by showing that the island is indeed dangerous because there are constant soldiers in the hospital, getting injured, and soldiers creating chaos between one another. The topic reveals the meaning of the work as a whole because the island signifies a trap for all the soldiers and within in that island is where all the war is going on, tragedy between the soldiers and soldiers getting injured. By using the island as a tool to start the the story, it is a great way to show Yossarian’s insights of the island and environment itself which gives the reader a better idea and understanding of the island and all the events that occurred there.