Power And Corruption In Joseph Heller's 'Catch-22'
Thomas Li
Ms. Cannon
English III
22 September 2014
Catch-22
It is often said that absolute power corrupts absolutely. While this statement may be a little extreme, the basic concept that power corrupts those it is given to is shown and satirized in Joseph Heller’s Catch-22. Heller emphasizes the incompetence, pettiness, and corruption rampant within the ranks. The officers are often blindly selfish, heartless, and wildly ambitious. They would do anything to simply gain more power, and use their power to subjugate those beneath them. The titular Catch-22s in Joseph Heller’s novel Catch-22 are used as symbols of the power and oppression of bureaucratic authority.
Catch-22s appear throughout the novel, in different contexts and for different …show more content…
This is seen through Captain Black’s manipulation of others’ outward opinion of Major Major. Captain Black’s Glorious Loyalty Oath Crusade required men to sign loyalty oaths before they were to be given food to eat as proof of their loyalty and patriotism. Black uses this opportunity to take revenge against Major Major, by accusing him of Communism, refusing to allow Major Major to sign loyalty oaths on the grounds of this false accusation. He then imparts the reasoning upon others that Major Major’s refusal to sign loyalty oaths and pledge to the US was a consequence of his Communist political affiliations. When he was confronted about this, he brushed it aside, merely stating that it would defeat the whole purpose of the crusade – essentially an admission that he was merely using the loyalty oaths to ostracize and foster public outrage at Major …show more content…
When Yossarian finds the old woman sobbing in Rome, he once again encounters the use of Catch-22 as an excuse for the bureaucracy’s actions.
"Catch-22 says they have a right to do anything we can 't stop them from doing."
. . . "Didn 't they show it to you?" Yossarian demanded, stamping about in anger and distress. "Didn 't you even make them read it?"
"They don 't have to show us Catch-22," the old woman answered. "The law says they don 't have to."
"What law says they don 't have to?"
"Catch-22" (Heller 407).
The old woman points out to Yossarian the reason why the Catch-22 is so effective at garnering results – the law itself (the Catch-22) states that those who use it have the right to do anything they cannot be stopped from doing, and that those who use it do not have to show it (Catch-22) to those who ask to see it. As it cannot be called into question, and cannot be stopped, it is the perfect mechanism for the military – or any other bureaucratic organization – to use to force human beings with free will into, essentially, mindless slavery. This inscrutable and incontestable paradox means that those in power are able to do anything they please, without having to worry about repercussions from the oppressed
Ms. Cannon
English III
22 September 2014
Catch-22
It is often said that absolute power corrupts absolutely. While this statement may be a little extreme, the basic concept that power corrupts those it is given to is shown and satirized in Joseph Heller’s Catch-22. Heller emphasizes the incompetence, pettiness, and corruption rampant within the ranks. The officers are often blindly selfish, heartless, and wildly ambitious. They would do anything to simply gain more power, and use their power to subjugate those beneath them. The titular Catch-22s in Joseph Heller’s novel Catch-22 are used as symbols of the power and oppression of bureaucratic authority.
Catch-22s appear throughout the novel, in different contexts and for different …show more content…
This is seen through Captain Black’s manipulation of others’ outward opinion of Major Major. Captain Black’s Glorious Loyalty Oath Crusade required men to sign loyalty oaths before they were to be given food to eat as proof of their loyalty and patriotism. Black uses this opportunity to take revenge against Major Major, by accusing him of Communism, refusing to allow Major Major to sign loyalty oaths on the grounds of this false accusation. He then imparts the reasoning upon others that Major Major’s refusal to sign loyalty oaths and pledge to the US was a consequence of his Communist political affiliations. When he was confronted about this, he brushed it aside, merely stating that it would defeat the whole purpose of the crusade – essentially an admission that he was merely using the loyalty oaths to ostracize and foster public outrage at Major …show more content…
When Yossarian finds the old woman sobbing in Rome, he once again encounters the use of Catch-22 as an excuse for the bureaucracy’s actions.
"Catch-22 says they have a right to do anything we can 't stop them from doing."
. . . "Didn 't they show it to you?" Yossarian demanded, stamping about in anger and distress. "Didn 't you even make them read it?"
"They don 't have to show us Catch-22," the old woman answered. "The law says they don 't have to."
"What law says they don 't have to?"
"Catch-22" (Heller 407).
The old woman points out to Yossarian the reason why the Catch-22 is so effective at garnering results – the law itself (the Catch-22) states that those who use it have the right to do anything they cannot be stopped from doing, and that those who use it do not have to show it (Catch-22) to those who ask to see it. As it cannot be called into question, and cannot be stopped, it is the perfect mechanism for the military – or any other bureaucratic organization – to use to force human beings with free will into, essentially, mindless slavery. This inscrutable and incontestable paradox means that those in power are able to do anything they please, without having to worry about repercussions from the oppressed