There was dead silence in his office, the kind of silence that should never be disturbed. The look of determination on his face was uncanny. Every single move he made was precise and delicate. Colonel Cathcart slowly rolled a few inches away from his desk in his chair, just enough so he could stand up. At a snail's pace, he stood up never taking his eyes off his masterpiece. Cathcart's hand was shaking immensely as he lifted the playing card up to complete his beloved tower. KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK' Cathcart's body jumped in surprise, causing his hand to jolt at the sound of the noise. The tower collapsed in seconds. All Cathcart had now was 51 cards scattered all over his desk, still gripping the final card in his hand.
"God damnit! Who the hell is it?!?" Cathcart roared while slamming his hands down on his desk.
"Oh don't get your panties in a bunch" Lieutenant Colonel Korn said as he opened the door and invited himself in. "Look, I got this letter, and it's bad news" Lieutenant Colonel Korn stated looking at Cathcart blankly.
"Bad news? Bad news! I'll tell you what bad news is you ungrateful son of a bitch, bad news is when you spend all day, all day! In your office trying to make a precious tower out of cards! And then when you finally accomplish it, it gets torn down all because you decided to bitch and moan about a little piece of paper that says we got problems?!" Cathcart takes a moment to catch his breath as Colonel Korn looks at him with a dumbfounded look on his face. Cathcart snatched the letter out of Korn's hand waving it back and forth.
"Say, how do you know its bad news anyway if you haven't opened it huh?"
Korn shook out of his trance "Well it does say urgent in big red letters on the front, and we only get those letters when there's trouble" .
Cathcart looked at the envelope and paused for a brief moment, and then flung it onto his desk without a care in the world. He then focused his attention back to the mess of cards on his desk, gathering the playing cards quickly so he can try again.
"Aren't you going to read the damn letter?" Korn said in impatience. Cathcart looked up at Colonel Korn with disgust on his face and replied "Aren't you going to help me with my damn cards?
At what point do the qualities of an antihero become heroic? Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 follows the experiences of protagonist and noted antihero Captain John Yossarian, a bombardier of the 256th Squadron of the Air Force stationed on the island of Pianosa during World War II. Frequently opposed by the immoralities and illogic of war and military bureaucracy and haunted by the deaths of men in his squadron, Yossarian is overcome by the paranoia that “they‘re trying to kill [him]” (26), and constantly avoids his militant duties in effort to stay alive. Due to his seemingly foremost concern of self-preservation, avoidance of responsibilities and cowardice, Yossarian is commonly perceived as an antihero. However, the goodness of his character is revealed through his moral consideration of others, the way his fellow men admire him, and his reactions to the corruption he discovers in the military system. Thus, although Yossarian does not possess the typical characteristics of a traditional hero, his inherent concern for the well-being of others and defiant acts ultimately prove his heroism.
Taking place during World War II, the novel “Catch-22” introduces Captain John Yossarian, who is in the United States Air Force, while in a hospital acquiring from an illness of his liver. He is constantly concerned that people are trying to kill him, proving in postponing his number of missions and going to extremities at times such as poisoning his own squadron and moving the bomb line during the Great Big Siege of Bologna. Yossarian’s character endeavors at all costs to stay in the hospital by reason of "There was a much lower death rate inside the hospital than outside the hospital, and a much healthier death rate. Few people died unnecessarily." (175). While he desperately refused to complete his never ending missions in the dilemma of Catch-22, author Joseph Heller classifies Yossarian as a hero because of his loyalty, his ability to remain sane throughout the war, and his heroic characteristics.
The play opens with a man, Tomsky, who ?just so happens? to be telling the story of his grandmother and how she ?fatefully? came upon the secret to wealth. First, looking at it from the chance perspective, had this not happened, life would have been altered for many people. Countess Anna Fedrova, Countess A-----, is the person who puts the order of chance happenings in motion. Had she not been born, had she been ?damaged? in some way earlier in life, had she not married the man she did, and many other ?what ifs" and ?if onlys" could have stopped the series of events from occurring. But, ?by chance?, all of these things did happen. ?By chance?, a man who would be interested in learning the secret of the three winning cards was listening to Tomsky. Again, had his life not gone the way it had, he might not have been around Tomsky in the first place. ?By chance?, he was. The pattern of ?by chance? is set up early in the story. The entire story was written ?by chance?, which makes an interesting parallel to real life. Had Pushkin not been born, we would not have the story, and so forth.
would have to - lay…her cards on the table" (P25). At the end of the
Poker is a card game that has been around for hundreds of years. Although the origin of the game and the name itself are debatable, the game of Poker is played more than any other card game in the world. The scenario I explained took place during a game of Five Card Draw. This is a very popular rendition of Poker. Poker has evolved over the years and hence has numerous types of games that still fall under the Poker category. My favorite games are Five Card Draw and Texas Hold ‘em. Both games are similar because they derive from the original game of Poker, involves betting, and using playing cards. They also differ because of the betting, the number of cards used and the way the cards are dealt.
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut and Catch-22 by Joseph Heller both have a striking resemblance in the themes of anti-war and of free will. Both don’t come into full force right in the beginning but eventually become more evident. Both novels focus on one character throughout the entire novel, and each protagonist is affected by all the events around them. It changes their perspective and how they view life as a whole. Both Billy in Slaughterhouse Five and Yossarian in Catch -22, dislike war and are known as anti-war heroes. They also believe in the idea that they have free will and that their actions can be controlled. What makes these two novels so different from other war novels is that both protagonists don’t die for their country, they live through the end to see the world around them change.
...room. Unconsciously, his hand retrieved his deck of cards from his pocket, and he began to shuffle it.
Max slowly slumps into his dining room chair as he lays his weekly roll of scratch off tickets onto the dining table. He reaches for the coin that always lays in the middle of the table, and begins to scratch away at the tickets. With each losing ticket, Max’s smile begins to drop and his legs start to bounce. The idea of losing, once again, angers him. In his head he vows to never buy anymore scratch off tickets, even though he knows he will go right back to the same gas station next Thursday to repeat the process of buying and losing all over again. Max slides one of the last tickets towards himself; slowly revealing each symbol. The coin slowly tumbles from his hand and rolls off the table as
“What have I told you time and time again? Please just call me Samuel. Mr. Krow makes me feel one step closer to a retirement home.” he chuckled. “Now, do you have the goods?” he asked with excitement. Glitch nodded and handed the package to him.
“Are you all crazy? What’s wrong with you? Are you making all this at this time of night because you have no manners, or because you’re just stupid? Are you trying to turn my mistress’s house into a noisy bar? Is that why you’re squealing out these ridiculous vulgar songs without lowering
In The right side of that room there was a small brown desk with a lot of papers and files that were arranged on it, so the monster could know what kind of torture he was going to do with me. With that small desk there was a small chair which could be moved easily, and that helped him do his game while he wa...
“What’s up Prissy?” hah, she hates it when I call her that. “I hate it when you call me that” ah oh, is that smirk on her face? Yep, definite smirk, I know I’ve filed that look away in the “up to no good” folder, warning, warning. “Could you fetch me some tomatoes and a head of lettuce for tonight’s supper. Get them out of the back garden if you could please, but no hurry”. Was that a glint of mischief or just the setting sun playing tricks on my eyes, and what is this no hurry stuff, it certainly seemed urgent just a minute ago?“Yah, yah, yah, sure. Hey, did you get your letter that came via vultureculture express, I left it on the table in the dining hall, figured you would see it” she seems a little fidgety, avoiding eye contact, hum, who was that letter from?
“Tell me when to stop...okay, good. Take the card without showing me. That will be your card. Put it back in the deck…”, I couldn't help myself, and began losing my cool—filling myself with a smile and voice of satisfaction and delight. After revealing the card at the end of the illusion, the boys began getting out of their seats and surrounded me with jubilance, asking me to show them another trick. They began making loud noise of excitement while I began performing my next trick, and soon their volume had attracted the curiosity of boys and girls from other tables. Soon at least twenty kids were surrounding me, watching me perform my card illusions.
"Because when you write this way- with this pomp and circumstance covering for any substantive thought- you aren't fooling me"...... CRASH. "OUCH! Old son- you seem to have just thrown me out a window!"