Catch 22

Catch-22 is a novel that tells many stories, but the crux of the novel concerns Joseph Yossarian, a bombardier stationed at the United States Army Air Force base on the fictional Mediterranean island of Pianosa. A war rages between the Allies and the Nazis, but there is another, more important war occurring for Yossarian - a far more personal war. His war is not only against the Germans but also against anyone else who tries to kill him, including the military hierarchy that demands that he continue to fly combat missions. According to Robert M. Young, Yossarian's only goal is to "live forever or die in the attempt, and his only mission...[is] to come down alive" (Young). To Yossarian, the war begins to seem quite mad. Leon F. Seltzer states that Yossarian lives in a "nightmarish world in which one's superior...officers constitute a greater threat to one's life and sanity than the enemy" (188). Officers in the military should be models of leadership to their subordinates, setting an example and putting the needs of the men under their command before their own desires. The officers in Catch-22, however, abuse their power in order to achieve some personal goal: public recognition, promotions in rank or position, or some form of individual gratification. The men commanded by these corrupt leaders "no longer serve a cause; they serve the insane whims of their superiors," as indicated by Darren Felty (106). Joseph Heller's goal is not just to criticize the act of war, but also to satire "those who subvert...institutions for their own advantage" (Young 351). In Catch-22, Heller redefines the role of authority from responsibility and accountability that are used to serve and protect one's subordinates to control that allows self-seeking men to fulfill their selfish goals.

The main obstacle to Yossarian in achieving his goal is his wing commander, Colonel Cathcart, who constantly raises the number of missions his men have to fly before they can transfer stateside.