Violence In Joseph Heller's 'Catch-22'

Catch-22 Revised Essay
In Catch-22, Joseph Heller uses scenes of violence, such as Snowden and Michaela’s deaths, to emphasize how easily war makes people trivialize the worth of human life. In doing so, Heller argues that war is a tragedy rather than a patriotic or celebratory cause. A key, recurring moment of violence is Snowden’s death over Avignon, which makes Yossarian realize how futile fighting in the war is. After enemy fire hits Snowden, spilling his viscera on the floor of the plane, Yossarian is permanently traumatized. He sees how easily the war’s violence has reduced Snowden to a pile of meat - simply organs and bones in a sack of skin, rather than a human being with thoughts and dreams. To Yossarian, Snowden’s grisly death reveals the grim reality of
Although Michaela is a well-meaning, kind servant girl, the soldiers on rest leave in Rome demean and insult her for no other reason than because they can. Through Michaela’s treatment, Heller argues that war brings out the worst in people and this is unacceptable. This is shown through the progression of Michaela’s abuse through the story. In the beginning of the war, the soldiers merely tease her. However, this escalates, as near the end of the war (and the novel), Aarfy brutally kidnaps, rapes, and murders her by throwing her out of a window. Aarfy does not feel remorse for his actions; More than that, he fails to even comprehend Yossarian’s furious reaction. In essence, Aarfy becomes an animal, a wild beast, unable to control his primal lust. The war has normalized violence and cruelty to Aarfy, which Heller shows through Aarfy’s transformation from a rude, but harmless fraternity boy to a cold-blooded murderer. Heller uses Michaela’s violent death to claim that people become beasts and a blight on humanity when constantly surrounded by the violence and bloodshed of