In Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 and George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, both stories have a similar setting and character behaviour. The relationship of both stories connects through Yossarian and Winston, who live in a dystopian society where they try to regain the freedom they have lost from the totalitarian government. In Catch-22, Yossarian is a soldier in the army during World War II, who wishes to escape from the army. He knows that the army has trapped him and that no one around him tries to help him. In addition, the military that represents the regime creates restrictions to prevent withdrawal, especially the rule of Catch-22. Correspondingly, in Nineteen Eighty-Four, Winston lives under a tyrannical government who controls the past …show more content…
Initially, as he attempts to leave the army, the military uses their power to keep him there. From first learning about the rule of Catch-22, the entity is the main factor that traps Yossarian within the military. It controls the soldiers by having contradicting, but believable definitions that diminish their privileges. Despite the fact that he talks about Orr and Catch-22, it relates to him as even Orr “[has] to be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he [does not], but if he [is] sane he [has] to fly them” (Heller 46). Because of the conditions that have reduced his rights, his spirit slowly deteriorates, as his chances of leaving decrease. He continues to be a slave to the military, which they exploit him for their own benefits. Thus, it becomes apparent that his character slowly loses his chance for independence, lowering his morale. Moreover, Colonel Cathcart plays a role in denying Yossarian’s chance to leave the army. Ignoring his soldiers’ rights, it becomes palpable that Cathcart “[wants] to be a general so desperately he [is] willing to try anything” (Heller 189). Having more power than the soldiers do, he exploits them often so that he attains what he yearns for. As a result, Yossarian loses more of his freedom due to Cathcart’s selfishness in trying to carry out his ambitions instead of …show more content…
Firstly, he is one of the characters who retain his persona, whereas the rest of the people have become slaves who follow the Party and their beliefs. His perception towards the regime leads him to search and fight for the truth, not acknowledging the lies and manipulation the Party has created for accomplishing their desires. Even though it is easier to believe it, Winston reaches out to the truth and reflects on his ideologies. For the same reason, he knows “freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two makes four. If that is granted, all else [shall] follow” (Orwell 84). Comparatively to Yossarian, Winston faces several restraints that strip him of his freedom and forbids thoughts different from those of the Party’s. Similarly, his mind remains functional as his determination creates the incentive to keep opposing the harsh reality of the Party and to create a new reality of independence. In addition, Winston knows that for one to stop the Party’s totalitarian actions, one must have the proper perspective of what is the real world. As an individual who pursues the legitimacy and ignores the ideologies of the authority, he knows being alone is not enough. To succeed in escaping the tyrannical government, he knows that, “[until people] become conscious they [can] never rebel, and until after
Yossarian’s refusal to fly the ever-rising amount of missions and his reputation with the other men in his squadron show the heroic qualities of his actions. At first, his avoidance of combat seems merely self-centered, as the war is not something he believes in. When Yossarian has his traumatic experience trying to save Snowden in which he realizes that “man is matter” (450), his motives broaden as he realizes how fragile life is. Not only is he practicing self-preservation by refusing to fly, which can be seen as a heroic act in itself in a situation where life is so undervalued, but he is also refusing to kill and risk the lives of ...
He openly questions the war and the governments handling of if it. Yossarian was upset because ¨strangers he didn´t know shot at him with cannons everytime he flew up into the air to drop bombs on them.¨ (Heller 17). Yossarian followed orders for a long time until he began to realize that fighting strangers he didn´t know for reasons no one would tell him about. He felt like he was going in an endless circle, so he tried to rebel, but in the begining of his transformation, Yossarian was still conforming to the government. He did what the Generals and the Colonels told him too with only mild complaining. He did what he told to for a good part of the time and he was a halfway decent bombadier. He did his missions, and when the number of required missions was raised, he continued to fly more missions. The book´s anti-war message was made apparent through the eyes of Yossarian, who was once a previously decent soldier turned desserter. While he conformed outwardly, Yossarian rebeled internally and decided he had grown tired of the war and planned to join Orr in Sweden. He was a conformist through the begining of his time in the
...and up to the Catch-22 scheme, he ends the novel with Yossarian standing up to the military and refusing to fly more missions. His growth over the course of the novel is important, however, the final chapters show him as a hero. After everything he has been through, including many deaths and the sight of Snowden in the plane, his ability to remain sane throughout the war proves heroic and his growth as a person has made him a valuable hero. The ripeness in “Ripeness was all” (450) concludes Yossarian’s boldness to stay alive because, after all, man can, for a short time, remain alive with himself. His loyalty to his fellow soldiers categorizes him as not only loyal but a soldier who cherishes the relationships he shares with his tent mates. His importance as a hero is defined by his act to face the military and help his fellow soldiers instead of being narcissistic.
Winston Smith from George Orwell’s 1984 is a creative thinker who starts off behaving like a common man, but in the end, he ends up rebelling against the ruling Party. Throughout the book, Winston revealed that he is an intelligent individual with interest in literature, he loses his fear in the Party over time, and is unable to control his emotions.
...ptions to choose. Winston world is controlled by the party. By limiting his options to what he sees and what he does not see, the party is successful in controlling Winston’s free will in a direction that favors their ideals. Free will does not disappear in the ignorant nor does it disappear in the closed minded, therefore one cannot say that Winston has not lost free will simply because information is controlled and he suppresses idea contrary to the party. It would not be erroneous to say that if the circumstances were different, if Winston lived in a democratic society where the majority truly rules instead of a party and information truly flows freely, Winston would act different because the environment would be different; there is more information and thus more paths for his free will to take. But in the world of George Orwell’s distopia this is not the case.
As Winston does lose his identity and beliefs it does give some hope and optimism. Not to Winston but to the public. To the readers of Nineteen Eighty Four, George Orwell the author of this political novel wrote this novel to inform and by this grim ending he has done this. Big Brother and the party has control over everything, they control families, control language, control media and even the control of history. This creates full control over every act, thought and belief of a person. Consequently with Winston this is done so therefore Orwell’s point is made.
Throughout the book he tries to overcome the government, but in his heart, he knows he has no hope of thriving because “…was already dead” for committing ThoughtCrime and involving himself in acts worthy of death (Orwell 36). All of his character traits combined lead him to his ultimate death. His attraction to beauty makes him keep hold of objects and things considered suspicious, his rebelliousness causes him break nearly all of society’s rules, and his curiosity steers him toward people and places that eventually causes the Winston torture he endures in Ministry of Love. Winston could have had some false hope of a better world where he could get away from all of the harsh rules and regulations of the Party, but in reality, his personality traits dragged him through a life already pre-written and stamped with an early
Winston is willing to fight even though he doesn't know exactly what he is fighting. O'Brien tells him, "You understand that you will be fighting in the dark. You will always be in the dark. You will receive orders and you will obey them, without knowing why"(Orwell, 174). This is evidence that he is truly committed to making a difference, and not worrying about his own complete
This quote from a research article about the book Catch 22 specifically addresses this exact rule. This catch-22 represents Yossarian’s overall Air Force experience. “Actions do not necessarily proceed from reason, and all logical assertions seem to negate themselves. The words and actions of commanding officers appear to possess no rationale.” (Catch 22 Literature) The author of this article was basically saying that while the catch 22’s of the novel were humorous and added a clear purpose to the novel they were not at all realistic to what actually would have happened during World War II. Another catch 22 type rule was the amount of missions that the men had to fly in order to be transferred back to the United States. The problem was that the amount of missions was continually raised by Colonel Cathcart who has been analyzed by many writers specifically in this excerpt “Cathcart is the squadron 's colonel. In order to increase his chances of promotion, Cathcart keeps raising the number of missions the men must fly before getting rotated. Because he is obsessed with being promoted to general.”(Catch 22 Novel) By the end of the book the soldiers of the 256th brigade had to fly 80 missions in order to be transferred. This serves as yet another example of
Winston’s first act of rebellion is when he writes in a journal, which is illegal because it involves thoughtcrime. Later in the novel, Winston has an affair with Julia as another act of rebellion because the Party only wants people to have relationships for reproduction. Winston’s most significant act of rebellion is when he believes he joins the Brotherhood: “... a vast shadowy army, an underground network of conspirators dedicated to the overthrow of the State”(Orwell 13). Because Winston joins the Brotherhood, he agrees to do whatever the Brotherhood ask of him, which includes giving up his life, committing murder, and much more. Since Winston joins the Brotherhood, it shows that he is fully devoted to rebelling against the Party. But, later in the novel, O’Brien betrays Winston because O’Brien pretends to be part of the Brotherhood, when O’Brien actually works for the Party. Winston gets tortured to his breaking point. While Winston is being tortured, he betrays Julia and loses all of his individuality. Winston fails because he gives in to the dominant Party, and he does not retain any of his individuality. For example, at the end of the novel, the narrator says, “[Winston] [loves] Big Brother” (Orwell 298). This shows that the Party has complete control over Winston and he is like all of the other people in Oceania. If a government acquires too much power and
During the war Yossarian has one single goal: stay alive. All of his deceptions are carried out in the name of self preservation. Catch-22, starts off with almost immediate deception as Yossarian waits in the hospital with made up liver
In the first section of the book, readers can watch as Winston silently commits one of the most heinous crimes of Oceania, thoughtcrime. Readers are informed that Winston has a small corner of his apartment which cannot be seen, in which he writes in a diary, an act forbidden by the government. Although a simple act of rebellion against “Big Brother”, Smith commits the act in silence. He takes care to know that he is being completely secretive in his law-breaking. As he goes through his daily life, harboring his dangerous secret, Winston must face the numerous punishments that the government hefts onto its citizens, including vaporization. As evident in this section, Winston can face away from the heinous acts of the government to remain safe. However, how do his rebellious behaviors progress and evolve throughout the
Winston works for 1 of the 4 government agency’s, The Ministry of Truth. In his job he re-writes old news articles so they show that The Party has always been and will be in control. By re-writing everything in print, The Party effectively changes history. The only proof of actual history is in the minds of the people who were there. Winston realizes that there is something wrong with this, yet he doesn’t know what. The re-writing of history is all he has ever known. It is most likely Winston’s job that leads him to rebel against The Party.
The people of Oceania are divided into two classes, the members of the Party and the proletariat. The Party members are like machines that do the jobs of the government. In this world, never has anyone thought any different of his or her place in society. Due to this authority that attempts to control the human train of thought, paranoia among the people became common. Nobody would talk to each other. Bonds between one another were broken, and it was never thought to be any different than before. To hold on to what makes you human - emotions and the ability to speak freely - was considered a crime against Big Brother. Of course, with authority comes punishment. To break from traditional views essentially asks for some form of retribution. For Winston, this resulted
Winston Smith is the main character in George Orwell’s “1984”. He is a thirty-nine year old man, he commits thought crimes, and he has anti-party views. Winston, also, is not in the best of health. “1984” tells of Winston’s struggles as he tries to make a change in his society. He and every party member is constantly being watched and listened to by the telescreens. There are such things as the “Thought Police,” “Hate Week,” and the “Junior Anti-Sex League”. The party’s main goal is to control their people and sculpt them into feeling nothing unless it is love for the party and for the Brotherhood and Goldstein. The society is split up into four parts, the slaves, the proles, the outer party members, and the inner party members. Winston feels that everybody is against him and he desperately wants to find a member of the Brotherhood, if it exists. O’Brien had struck him as a man that was on his side during one of the Two Minutes Hate sessions when they had eye contact