Heller's Use of Satire Within the Characters of Catch-22

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Recommended: Satire and humour in catch 22

It is frequently said that the novel Catch – 22 by Joseph Heller is about Heller’s opinion on war and lack of patriotism. Although it is understandable how one could grasp those concepts from the novel the main crux of the novel is for the reader to have noticed Heller’s use of satire within the characters. Also to be effected by Yosarrian’s evolution. Heller uses satire to portray his outlook on war but also other aspects in society. The other aspects are value of life, misuse of power, women and the inhuman bureaucracy of the military structure as a whole.

Heller first does this by satirizing religion when colonel Cathcart wants to become a general and uses his religion as more of a social status than a belief in a higher power. Cathcart does this to increase his chances at becoming a general. Heller satirizes the military’s bureaucracy repeatedly throughout the novel by making majority of the missions fail showing lack of expertise in the colonel’s and lieutenants. Milo is a prime example power and greed can be used in negative ways. “What’s good for the syndicate is good for the country,” he would say proudly as his own squadron is being bombed and innocent men are dying. Milo then justifies his actions by saying although it did kill people “ it made a huge profit.”

Is it possible to get away with rape and murder, of the first degree with witnesses? Well according to Catch-22 it is possible. Which shows a woman’s worth and how they viewed in the world. Although the women that is raped is a prostitute she still has rights and Heller made that apparent through his use of satire in the scene at the whorehouse. In the scene Yosarrian reaches Aarfy after he has just committed the crime and then the police arrive Yosarrian i...

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...ectly sane. Therefore displaying his gradual evolution from being a malcontent, not questioning the military or it’s rules to finally abandon the military and its’ arbitrary methods. Catch-22 is essentially about so many different factors of life that it is difficult to narrow it down to only one satirical view from Heller. Another valuable thing that Heller wanted the reader to capture was that Catch-22 is not about the American vs. German war but more about how the American military bureaucracy is fighting amongst themselves and the men that are under their control. It also shows the chaos and illogic of life itself in a military base as well as the outside world. This novel makes you reconsider conforming to authority because it magnifies how our bureaucratic organizations such as law, business and medicine determine our happiness and can destroy the individual.

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