Catch 22 By Colonel Cathcart

2520 Words6 Pages
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Recommended: Now and then character analysis

Plot Summary (1 – 224)
• Catch-22: A circumstance in which there is no escape due to conflicting conditions
• Captain John Yossarian, the protagonist of the story, is the captain of the 256th squadron who serves the United States Army Air Forces during World War II
• His squadron is station in Pianosa, an island located off the coast of Italy
• Yossarian is first illustrated as a coward and an outcast in society as he hides in the hospital by pretending to have a liver condition
• Everyone in the squadron thinks Yossarian is crazy because he is the only one who is afraid of the war and believes everyone around him is trying to kill him
• It is now established that Yossarian is the central character and that most of the events told in the story are told in a third person narration from his view
• Colonel Cathcart is seen as one of the major antagonists because he continually raises the required amount of missions
 When Yossarian flies 45, the standard raises to 50 and then quickly to 55, etc.
• Yossarian seems to be haunted by his dead roommate Mudd and by Snowden’s death
• Milo Minderbinder, the mess officer, is introduced as a character that flies around the world trading for goods and makes profits selling 7-cents eggs for 5-cents
• More conflict arises as Yossarian and his friends are set to fly a mission to Bologna, a mission set by Captain Black for their doom
 The mission is delayed due to rain but when it stops, Yossarian moves up the bomb line in his attempt to trick his superiors that they had already captured Bologna
 When the men finally get the go-ahead, it ends up being a milk run
• After this conflict, we learn of Catch-22’s motif, sex
• Yossarian, along with his fellow men, seem to hook up with random prostitute...

... middle of paper ...

...are rather somber in tone and make at least some passing reference to God.”
“Then let’s get some new ones.” (Heller 192)
• This is a conversation between Colonel Cathcart and the chaplain.
• Colonel Cathcart wants to start saying prayers to get him into the Saturday Evening Post
 He is doing this solely as a tool for success and does not actually believe in god and wants to disregard religion in prayers
• This is important because it starts the chaplains loss of faith as people around him do not understand faith or religion and are using it for the wrong reasons
• Colonel Cathcart clearly does not know anything about religion because he states that Atheism is against the law and they should not receive special accommodations
 This is ironic because Colonel Cathcart is pretty much an Atheist as he wants prayers but wants to disregard God and any religion associated

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