Theme Of Insanity In Joseph Heller's Catch-22

As defined in the dictionary, absurd means, “ having no rational or orderly relationship to human life, also lacking order or value.” In Catch-22 by Joseph Heller, the author uses the idea of Catch 22, itself, to drive the absurdity within his novel. During Chapter 5, Joseph Heller identifies the central ideas around catch 22 through a conversation between Doc Daneeka and Yossarian, “Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All that was he really had to do was ask. And as soon as he did that, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions, and sane if he didn’t, but if he were sane he had to fly them.” (46) This explains that Yossarian’s attempt to escape is what makes escaping impossible

to achieve.
The Catch-22 idea clouds the fine border between insanity and sanity causing Yossarian to reevaluate not only his sanity but also the sanity of those around him.

Yossarian’s higher-ranking officers misuse the paradoxical situation to not only avoid their responsibilities that come along with their ranking but also to continue to trap the soldiers under their order. For instance, Colonel Korn, establishes an order declaring that the only ones that can ask questions are the ones that usually would never. Korn’s rule guarantees that the soldiers will receive little too no information and only the informations provided by the officers. Major Major will not see any of the soldiers in his office, unless he is out of the office. The motives behind his use of the Catch-22 idea is just as strange as Korn’s questioning rule. Major provides another case of a superior figure in the military exchanging his promise to his soldiers with an obsession with absurd rules that keep them blind from reality. Continuing with the idea of absurdity in the novel, Colonel Black advocates that the soldiers do not need to sign the Oaths, however they will be punished if they don’t(113). Black approaches the soldiers with a paradox that removes the men’s potential to make independent decisions, and in return, causes Yossarian to feel powerless over his mortality and actions. On another note, Heller’s utilizes satire and dark humor to convey the absurdity theme within the book that is noted with these three main

generals.
With Catch-22, Joseph Heller utilizes absurdity not only as the underlined theme but also as a base for other main concepts, such as corruption within the bureaucracy and it's authority, to be based upon. Similar to how Joseph Heller uses the concept of a dirty as a web for many parts of the boom, the head officials on the island use absurdity, often through the use of the Catch-22 idea, as a barricade between them and their soldiers to disguise the corruptions within their institution. War, in Catch-22, is identified as the battle between good men fighting for their survival and a corrupt organization wishing to ruin their lives, putting Yossarian in a situation where he's going against everyone else. Joseph Heller expresses this understanding after Cleverger's trial, " These men who hated him spoke his language and wore his uniform, but he understood instantly that nowhere in the world, not in all the of the fascist tanks or in all the beer halls, were there men who hated him more ” (83). Heller pushes the idea that war stories should focus less on the battle between the opposing groups and more of the inhuman situations that the soldiers go through. The absurdity in this novel helps the reader to understand war with more depth and knowledge.