William Shakespeare, the great playwright and dramatist, once wrote, “Though this be madness, yet there is method” (“Thinkexist.com”). A person may act crazy, say insane things, and commit mad acts, but the person themselves may not truly be derailed. Often, people’s seemingly irrational behaviors could be judged reasonable if put into the correct context. In Catch-22 nearly all the men act crazy, but are reasonably sane at the same time. Most of them believe that war is insane, and being involved in the war has made them all insane too. Chaos induces crazy behaviors in people that, in reality, may only be tactics used to stay alive, sane, and safe. Sometimes the chaos itself is not only the cause of insane actions, but an insane notion on its own, only be rationalized by those who truly believe in it.
Throughout the book, Yossarian’s sanity is constantly in question. One example of this is when he thinks everyone is out for him specifically. Although he is in a war that is enemy against enemy, both sides trying to exterminate every opponent possible, Yossarian thinks, “they’re trying to kill [him]” and wonders, “why…they are…shooting at [him]” (Heller 24). Yossarian seems paranoid in his thinking that no matter who he’s fighting for, or against, everyone is out to get him. This mad way of thinking can actually be rationalized as a sort of subconscious defense mechanism. This paranoia actually allows Yossarian to stay mindful of his surrounding affairs, helping him stay safe and alive. The other men continually question his sanity, but it seems that his delirious way of thinking actually serves a very reasonable purpose. Yossarian also uses conscious survival tactics that seem neither very safe nor sane until they are scrutinize...
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...at goal. Insanity shows its perverse face thourgh the mens actions and thoughts that are only inspired by the insanely inconsistant war.
In Catch-22 we witness war warping many mens perceptions on life. At first glance, these men say and o things we would never imagine saying or doing causing us to judge these actions as insane. Once we disect the actions and thought processes, we see that these people may seem insane, but are acctually doing everything they can to stay alive. A revaltion like that allows us to see them, once again, as normal sane people. A country goes to war in the hopes of protecting the freedoms of the common people. Often times, the war becomes a type of insane slavery of our own free and sane people. There is madness in war, causing madness in its participants. The participants of war may seem mad, but often there is method to their madness.
War is seen as a universal concept that often causes discomfort and conflict in relation to civilians. As they are a worrying universal event that has occurred for many decades now, they posed questions to society about human's nature and civilization. Questions such as is humanity sane or insane? and do humans have an obsession with destruction vs creation. These questions are posed from the two anti-war texts; Dr Strangelove by Stanley Kubrick and Slaughterhouse Five written by Kurt Vonnegut.
These men are transformed into guilt-laden soldiers in less than a day, as they all grapple for a way to come to terms with the pain of losing a comrade. In an isolated situation, removed from the stressors, anxieties, and uncertainties of war, perhaps they may have come to a more rational conclusion as to who is deserving of blame. But tragically, they cannot come to forgive themselves for something for which they are not even guilty. As Norman Bowker so insightfully put it prior to his unfortunate demise, war is “Nobody’s fault, everybody’s” (197).
According to the Indian Times, madness is the rule in warfare (Hebert). The madness causes a person to struggle with experiences while in the war. In “How to Tell a True War Story”, the madness of the war caused the soldiers to react to certain situations within the environment differently. Tim O’Brien’s goal with the story “How to Tell a True War Story” is to shed light on the madness the soldiers face while in the war. Tim O’Brien tells the true story of Rat experiences of the war changing his life.
There is a fine line between sanity and insanity, a line that can be crossed or purposefully avoided. The books The Things They Carried and Slaughterhouse-Five both explore the space around this line as their characters confront war. While O’Brien and Vonnegut both use repetition to emphasize acceptance of fate, their characters’ psychological and internal responses to war differ significantly. In The Things They Carried, the narrator and Norman Bowker carry guilt as evidence of sanity. In Slaughterhouse-Five, Billy Pilgrim and the innkeepers carry on with life in order to perpetuate sanity. Both authors develop a distinct theme of responding in the face of the insanity of war.
Joseph Heller uses a blend of dark humor, blatant irony, and dialogue that disassembles the common perspective of war. Through his charming and quirky ensemble of characters, he explores many themes of somber reality, in the end, impacting readers in a way that they do not even realize. Catch-22 delves deeply into the truths of the war with a mixture of literary techniques, though through them, Heller delivers a masterful story that is hilarious, captivating, and serious, all at
When defining madness, people often point to the words “crazy” or “delusional,” but when I think of the defining madness, I think of a state of chaos and disorganization. To many characters in the book Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, chaos is just another part of life in their post-apocalyptic world. Characters in the book see this chaos as normal because they have lived in such a chaotic world for years and have become immune to thinking about morals and their previous ways of life. This chaos is heightened though after a man called “The Prophet” is introduced into their lives.
For example, there is a story of why a character named Appleby would put apples in his cheeks so he could look like had “apple cheeks”. While Appleby believes that putting apples in his cheeks is completely logical, to the his squadron as well as the audience, it’s seen as insane and hilarious. Heller blurs the line between sanity and insanity in this novel. These types of illogical actions portrayed in the novel are really parallel to the lack of logic in the military. All of the members of the squadron struggle with the fact that the number of completed missions required is constantly raised in order to trap them in this war. The actions of the military are satirized by Heller through comparison showing that they are no better than the silly actions of characters like Appleby. Heller’s point is that the military is an overbearing bureaucracy that does not act on intelligence but rather illogical force. However, it is a system so powerful that few of the characters in the novel could escape
War has always been an essential ingredient in the development of the human race. As a result of the battles fought in ancient times, up until modern warfare, millions of innocent lives have ended as a result of war crimes committed. In the article, “The My Lai Massacre: A Military Crime of Obedience,” Herbert C. Kelman and V.Lee Hamilton shows examples of moral decisions taken by people involved with war-related murders. This article details one of the worse atrocities committed during the Vietnam War in 1968 by the U.S. military: the My Lai Massacre. Through this incident, the question that really calls for psychological analysis is why so many people are willing to formulate , participate in, and condone policies that call for the mass killings of defenseless civilians such as the atrocities committed during the My Lai massacre. What influences these soldiers by applying different psychological theories that have been developed on human behavior.
“Catch-22 is probably best discussed in terms of its language. The prose style Heller employs is original and distinctive, appropriate and well implemented (Pearson 277).” One application of that prose style is dialogue; Heller uses dialogue to manifest the themes of the novel. Some of the themes best shown in the dialogue of the characters are Heller's hatred of war, and his perceived idiocy in military and in bureaucracy. Scattered throughout the book are several dialogues which share numerous characteristics. Some particular conversations are especially demonstrative of these elements. Heller uses these dialogues to communicate his ideas to the reader. In chapter XXXVI, several military police officers pick up the camp's Chaplain, take him to The Cellar, and interrogate him. The dialogue between the three MPs and the Chaplain is typical of dialogues throughout the book in many ways and the conversation reflects numerous themes central toCatch-22. The interrogation scene offers many insights into the meaning of Catch-22and the dialogue therein is especially important. The camp Heller describes is bureaucratic in the worst possible way and the conversation exhibits those characteristics of bureaucracy that Heller most loathes: illogical operation, inability to take action, lateral actions (in which no real gain is made), and a maelstrom of regulations which work against each other.
Columbia, University Press. “Insanity” Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th edition (2013): 1. History Reference Center. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.
Both legal and mental health professionals have long struggled to establish a clear and acceptable definition of insanity. Insanity is a legal term, not a psychological or medical one. The Sarasons prefer to use the term “maladaptive behavior” instead of insane or insanity. Maladaptive behavior is, “behavior that deals inadequately with a situation, especially one that is stressful” (5). Adaptation is the way people balance what they do and want to do, and what the environment/community requires of them. Successful adaptation depends on a person’s stress (situations that impose demands on him or her), vulnerability (likelihood of a maladaptive response), and coping skills (techniques that help him or her deal with difficulties/stress) (5). Consider the recent school shootings as an
One who is righteous, pure, and ethical obtains a solid moral compass. A lack of morality in an individual results in insanity. This is shown in Timothy Findley’s The Wars; the war corrupts individual’s integrity which ultimately leads to their insanity. Robert Ross and Rodwell depict lunacy as war demoralizes them. As individuals receive commands that violate their virtues, as a repercussion a person will become irrational.
The sickness of insanity stems from external forces and stimuli, ever-present in our world, weighing heavily on the psychological, neurological, and cognitive parts of our mind. It can drive one to madness through its relentless, biased, and poisoned view of the world, creating a dichotomy between what is real and imagined. It is a defense mechanism that allows one to suffer the harms of injustice, prejudice, and discrimination, all at the expense of one’s physical and mental faculties.
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
impossible to tell the sane from the insane, the ability to reason ultimately becomes the