This entire scene is excellent support for the theme of God and his existence. With a situation so horrible, one can’t blame Yossarian for question God’s existence.
“‘They certainly look beautiful now writhing in agony or stupefied with morphine, don’t they? What a colossal, immortal blunderer! When you consider the opportunity and power He had to really do a job, and then you look at the stupid, ugly little mess He made of it instead, His sheer incompetence is almost staggering. It’s obvious He never met a payroll. Why, no self-respecting businessman would hire a bungler like Him as even a shipping clerk.’” (189) I love this quote for the sheer reason that Yossarian is such a rambler when he gets on to a passionate subject. He is so descriptive in his disgust for God and the work He has done.
Chapter Nineteen
God plays a significant role in this novel. Heller portrays many characters with conflicting, or even altering beliefs about God throughout his novel. That is why the idea of God is so important and is one of the main themes of this novel. When Colonel Cathcart demands prayer from the chaplain before each mission, it is apparent that Cathcart is not a God-worshipping man by his motives behind the prayer. Cathcart only wishes to get his name in the Saturday Evening Post. But as soon as the chaplain mentions that God may punish him, his belief in God seems to change, and he does not want to be punished. I pose the question, how does one be punished by someone or something, that they appear not to believe in?
Chapter Twenty
Characters Introduced:
Corporal Whitcomb The Atheist assistant of the chaplain
In this chapter, Corporal Whitcomb accuses the chaplain of holding his career back. He also tells the chaplain that the CID man is after him for allegedly signing Washington Irving’s name to formal papers.
The idea of God is present in this chapter as the chaplain becomes upset because he can not help or improve any person’s situation. The chaplain, a religious man, begins to question the existence of God.
Chapter Twenty One
“Yossarian! The mere sound of that execrable, ugly name made his blood run cold and his breath come in labored gasps.” (219)
“The naked man in formation, he conceded cheerlessly, had been a real black eye for him.”
It appears that Yossarian is not getting on everyone’s good side. Colonel Cathcart, who once helped Yossarian in his problems, is now seeing him in a whole new light. Yossarian and his pranks have made their way to the Colonel and he is not very happy.
“The seven day delay in destroying the bridge at Ferrara.” (219) We also find out that the bridge destroying mission, in which Yossarian made a second pass and was award a medal was at Ferrara.
Chapter Twenty two
This is an integral chapter in understanding many different things in Catch-22. The first thing that arises in this chapter is Snowden’s death. All along we have heard that Snowden was dead and the Yossarian felt responsible, but this chapter describes how Snowden died.
“That was the mission on which Yossarian lost his nerve. Yossarian lost his nerve on the emission to Avignon because Snowden lost his guts, and Snowden lost his guts because their pilot that day was Huple, who was only fifteen years old, and their co-pilot was Dobbs,” (235)
“Yossarian knew, but he was only a kid, and Dobbs had no confidence in him, either.” (235)
These quotes are the first to introduce this mission. We find that Snowden was killed on this mission, and it cause Yossarian to lose his nerve.
The next half of the chapter is dedicated to Milo and his syndicate. It goes into deep description about the complexity of the black market. “‘In Malta,’ Yossarian corrected. ‘You buy your eggs in Malta, not Sicily.’ Milo chortled proudly. ‘I don’t buy eggs in Malta,’ he confessed, with an air of slight and clandestine amusement that was the only departure from industrious sobriety Yossarian had even seen him make. ‘I buy them in Sicily for one cent apiece and transfer them to Malta secretly at four and a half cents apiece in order to get the price of eggs up to seven cents apiece when people come to Malta looking for them.’
‘Why do people come to Malta for eggs when they’re so expensive there?’
‘Because they’ve always done it that way.’
‘Why don’t they look for eggs in Sicily?’
“Because they’ve never done it that way.’” (241)
This passage creates complete confusion in my mind about the black market. It is so odd how people don’t do things because they have never done them that way before. That sort of thing still holds true today. People do like tradition and do not favor change.
“Milo was Major Sir Milo Minderbinder in Malta…..Milo was Vice-Shah of Oran…but also the Caliph of Baghdad, the Imam of Damascus, and the Sheik of Araby.” (247)
This passage illustrates just how much power that Milo had acquired in many different places. He is seen as a god or a superior authority and is followed more than most of the political leaders in the given country. It satirizes how powerful the underground world can truly be if given the means.
Chapter Twenty Three
Natley’s whore is re-introduced into this chapter. Nately meets up with her again in Rome and attempts to persuade Yossarian and Aarfy to take her friends. Hungary Joe’s character is depicted here when he is encountered with a scene and is unsure of how to handle it.
Chapter Twenty Four
In this chapter Milo’s power is shown in full detail. This is also the chapter where Milo becomes hated. He makes contracts with both the Germans and the Americans to bomb each other. Milo’s syndicate, known now as M&M Enterprises is almost shut down, until Milo points out the profit that has been made.
Yossarian has an issue with nudity in this novel. He sits naked in the tree while he watches Snowden’s funeral from afar.
Chapter Twenty Five
The chaplain is shown very complex in this chapter. He is beginning to feel very low down and have very little self confidence in anything he once believed. He has a dream of his wife and kids being violently killed, and somehow this thought calms him down. The effects of a war on this man have been detrimental.
Chapter Twenty Six
This chapter somewhat introduces the character of A. Fortiori into the novel. Yossarian becomes injured and is admitted to the hospital with his friend Dunbar. The two men convince lower ranking officers to switch identities with them and Dunbar becomes a man named A Fortiori. The question is why do they need to switch identities with someone. They have been in the hospital before and it is not as though anything was seriously wrong with them. It is puzzling as to their motives. It is obvious that nothing critical was going to happen, otherwise, why would the tow lower men agree to switching identities, unless it was an order since they were lower ranking officers.
Chapter Twenty Eight
In this chapter the trust factor is a major issue. Yossarian finally gives Dobbs the go ahead to kill Colonel Cathcart. However, Dobbs no longer wants to kill Cathcart because he has attained his 60 required missions and is ready to be sent home. When Yossarian informs Dobbs that Colonel Cathcart will just raise the number again, Dobbs says “we’ll just wait and find out.” Why is Dobbs so trusting of Cathcart now and where did it come from?
Chapter Thirty
Yossarian’s insanity is once again apparent here. During a bombing run, he threatens to kill McWatt for no apparent reason. After the mission, McWatt is nothing but concerned for the well being of Yossarian. Nurse Duckett and Yossarian have become sexually involved and they enjoy making love on the beach.
Kid Sampson is killed in this chapter by McWatt who slices his body in half while buzzing the beach one day. I wonder if there is any significance to having a character die such a horrible death. I mean, Heller could have chosen anything, but to be sliced in half by an airplane propeller is very graphic.
After the tragedy McWatt keeps flying his plane and refuses to land, and winds up committing suicide by crashing his plane into a mountainside.
The number of missions is raised to 65.
Chapter Thirty One
The idea of soldiers losing their identity during wartime is very strongly expressed in this chapter. Doc Daneeka was scheduled to be in the plane with McWatt, but was not. The catch here is that because Doc was scheduled to be, it is assumed he was and now is presumed dead.
How can paperwork hold so much power over a person and their existence. Doc Daneeka was not killed in the plane crash, but it was written down that he was in that plane. As Doc attempts to do many things as a living person, such as write his wife a letter, he realizes that in a sense, he truly is dead, and his identity has been erased from mainstream society.
The theme of de-personalization is also present in the letter that Mrs. Daneeka receives informing her of Doc’s death. The letter is a generic letter that could be sent to anyone. It is as though the soldier never had his own personality and was just another number.
“Dear Mrs., Mr., Miss, or Mr. and Mrs. Daneeka
Words cannot express the deep personal grief I experienced when your husband, son, father, or brother was killed, wounded, or reported missing in action.” (355)
Chapter Thirty Eight
Nately was killed in an earlier mission and Yossarian feels it is his duty to inform Nately’s whore of his death. When he goes to Rome, Nately’s whore assumes that Yossarian is responsible for his death and tries to stab him. She will turn up throughout the rest of the novel and random places and attempt to stab him. She succeeds at one point and stabs him several times. It is right after Yossarian refuses to fly more combat missions. Although seemingly unrelated, a possible connection can be made at the end of the novel. Yossarian walks around backward so no one can sneak up on him Does he really think that is going to work?
Chapter Thirty Nine
This chapter is filled with irony. First off, Rome has been bombed and Nately’s whore is no where to be found. An old women informs Yossarian about another catch-22 and that is “They have the right to do anything we can’t stop them from doing.” Yossarian wanders around in the dark for quite some time. The darkness might be a symbol for the confusion felt and the ignorance of what course of action to take. When he returns to the apartment, Aarfy has raped and killed a maid. The police break in and arrest Yossarian for being in Rome without a pass.
I am not quite sure what that piece of irony was supposed to have meant. Obviously it is wrong what happened, but I have been unable to make the connection between what happened and any true significance to the novel.
Chapter Forty
This chapter holds sort of a pseudo ending to the novel. Colonels Korn and Cathcart offer Yossarian a deal which he accepts. One may think that this is how the novel is going to end (with Yossarian following through on his deal) but we are told otherwise in the climactic chapters ahead.
Chapter Forty One
“We’ve got your pal” This phrase is repeated several times while Yossarian is in the hospital. Yossarian is unable to discover who this pal is. While thinking of Snowden, Yossarian remembers a secret he discovered from Snowden. ” The spirit gone, man is garbage.” This quote means that it is both the spirit and the physical body that makes up a man. It is not one or the other. If the spirit is gone, than the body will decompose and doesn’t truly hold significance, just as garbage.
Chapter Forty Two
Yossarian decides that he can not go through with the deal set forth by his commanding officers. He concludes that by following through with his deal, he would be betraying his friends both alive and dead.
We find out that the “pal” mentioned in chapter forty one is Orr and that he has been found in Sweden. Yossarian decides that he is going to desert the army and track down Orr in Sweden.
Yossarian leaves the hospital, evading another murder attempt by Nately’s whore and runs off into the distance.
It was a particularly odd ending to the novel. Nately’s whore was a very persistent one in trying to kill Yossarian. The connection I made between the whore and Yossarian is that every time Yossarian disagreed with the military and his commanding officers, he could escape Nately’s whore unscathed. The one time he is stabbed, it is because he agreed to the deal with Cathcart and Korn. At the end, he escapes her once again, showing his disagreement with military regulations.