Literary Analysis Essay On Catch 22
Catch 22 Critical Analysis
“Catch 22, anyone who wants to get out of combat duty isn’t really crazy.” (Pg. 46) In Joseph Heller’s Catch 22 the difference between the ranks resembles the bourgeois and proletariat class system. This class system is a result of the Allied Military’s assembly line like product of sending men to die in the war. The main character, Yossarian, a pilot in World War II is ordered by his totalitarian superiors to fly mission after mission. This takes a toll on him which results in him to look for a variety of ways to escape the system. Catch 22 is easy to see through a Marxist nature through the struggles of Yossarian to overcome the oppression, the escape of Orr from a totalitarian system, and the disregard for social …show more content…
Within this system, the military hierarchy is reminiscent of the different classes in a Marxist society. The generals are the bourgeois because they possess control over the masses, while soldiers like Yossarian and Orr are the proletariat. “Make a note to give Yossarian another pill, and move the five of them along to the next bed.” (Pg. 7) We see that the bourgeois, the generals, have no concern for Yossarian’s well being and only care about their efficiency in getting men back to the front line. The message this seems to send is that during war the officers do not care about the well being of individual peoples and therefore their oppression is justified by the effort to only care about the bigger picture, win at all costs.
Joseph Heller's Catch 22 has a large Marxist structure. This is shown through the struggle that Yossarian has, as a lower class soldier, to obey the upper class officers, through the escape of the system by Orr and through the disregard of the men’s health by the generals. Through the book the author alludes to a larger conflict in society; the conflict of the class struggle. With the Marxism in Catch 22 we get a better sense of the structure of society during World War II and through this we can understand the difficulties that soldiers had and the thoughts of those in charge of
“Catch 22, anyone who wants to get out of combat duty isn’t really crazy.” (Pg. 46) In Joseph Heller’s Catch 22 the difference between the ranks resembles the bourgeois and proletariat class system. This class system is a result of the Allied Military’s assembly line like product of sending men to die in the war. The main character, Yossarian, a pilot in World War II is ordered by his totalitarian superiors to fly mission after mission. This takes a toll on him which results in him to look for a variety of ways to escape the system. Catch 22 is easy to see through a Marxist nature through the struggles of Yossarian to overcome the oppression, the escape of Orr from a totalitarian system, and the disregard for social …show more content…
Within this system, the military hierarchy is reminiscent of the different classes in a Marxist society. The generals are the bourgeois because they possess control over the masses, while soldiers like Yossarian and Orr are the proletariat. “Make a note to give Yossarian another pill, and move the five of them along to the next bed.” (Pg. 7) We see that the bourgeois, the generals, have no concern for Yossarian’s well being and only care about their efficiency in getting men back to the front line. The message this seems to send is that during war the officers do not care about the well being of individual peoples and therefore their oppression is justified by the effort to only care about the bigger picture, win at all costs.
Joseph Heller's Catch 22 has a large Marxist structure. This is shown through the struggle that Yossarian has, as a lower class soldier, to obey the upper class officers, through the escape of the system by Orr and through the disregard of the men’s health by the generals. Through the book the author alludes to a larger conflict in society; the conflict of the class struggle. With the Marxism in Catch 22 we get a better sense of the structure of society during World War II and through this we can understand the difficulties that soldiers had and the thoughts of those in charge of