Features black humor, an unusual narrative structure, surrealism .
Yossarian is a not-so-heroic protagonist who struggles to deal with the insanity of war and concludes that the only sane response to it is not to participate in it.
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II. Author Information.
A. Joseph Heller.
1. may 1, 1923.
2. Brooklyn New York.
3. Died December 12, 1999 in east Hampton CT.
4. 1949- Oxford University.
5. 1949-1950 Military wartime service.
6. U.S. air force B-52 Bombardier.
7. Developed and later overcame the disease Guillain-Barre syndrome.
III. Historical Context.
A. WWII.
1. Came out in 1961.
2. Subjected to WWII to a satirical treatment.
3. Depicts Yossarian, a bombardier station on the island of Pianosa in WWII.
IV. Character Analysis.
A. Yossarian.
1. Bombardier.
2. Thinks everyone is out to kill him.
3. Thinks he is going insane but is actually very sane.
4. One of the only characters without a description of his past, or any outside context about him.
V. Style.
A. Setting.
1. Mediterranean island of Pianosa.
2. Timeline during WWII.
B. Tone.
1. Satirical.
C. Imagery.
1. Flashbacks.
2. Digressions.
3. Jumps back and forth between events.
4. Not told chronologically.
5. Revolves around episodes in Yossarian's life.
D. Vocabulary.
1. Unusual.
2. Expressive.
E. Themes.
1. Main theme was the craziness of war, and of those who submit to it.
2. Man's apathy towards his fellow man.
3. Very pointless and disorganized.
4. Appeared to be no overriding agenda, just personal agendas at work.
VI. Positive Reviews.
A. Organized a generation's consciousness.
B. Humorous.
C. Retains position as the most distinctive fiction of WWII.
D. Most wildly imaginative account of the ongoing battle between modern bureaucracy and the resisting individual.
VII. Negative Reviews.
A. "WWII wasn't like this".
B. Death haunted novel in which many characters die.
C. Anti-war sentiment seems a bit dated.
D. Doesn't speak to future generations.
