Joseph Heller, Catch 22 Modern/Postmodern Analysis - Essay Example

ty and the frustration of the people in the defense and have shown how insane are those people who are actually understood as sane. Joseph Heller has described the insanity and the cruelty of the ‘war’ in such a brilliant way that the reader feels that he is in the world of insane people. The theme of the novel is the fight of an individual to remain sane and safe from the selfish ambitions of the society. The conversations between the characters symbolizes the inhumanity and futility of the war.

Catch-22 is the novel that challenges the traditional belief that fighting in the war is an act of patriotism. It has successfully told the story of the suppression and the helplessness of the soldiers at the hands of their seniors. The novel Catch-22 is a successful work of modernist fiction. It has described the insanity of the war and people involved in the war in such a way that the reader feels the fragmentation of the soldier’s mind and how a normal and sane person can go mad when they are led by insane and maniacs like Colonel Catchcart, Colonel Korn and Lieutenant Scheisskopf.

Catch 22 is a situation created to discourage the soldiers from thinking of leaving the flying missions. Only those soldiers who are mentally insane have the chance of getting relieved from the duty of flying missions. However, there is a tricky and ruthless condition attached to it. The condition is that anyone who thinks he is crazy and so has to be relieved from the flying missions have to report his craziness himself. However, the catch is that anyone who is sane enough to understand that he has gone crazy cannot be termed as insane.

It is termed as the attempt by the soldier to avoid the