Life is a chance, and the novel CATCH-22 by Joseph Heller shows over and over again just how much of a dice roll it is. "The world has no meaning but is simply there; man is a creature who seeks meaning. The relationship between man and his world is therefore absurd; human action having no intrinsic value is ultimately futile,"" states literary critic Kennard. The novel is full of bizarre relationships, hidden meanings, and no-win situations which Heller sets up to illustrate the absolute pointlessness in the way most of the characters are living their lives. This is a story about chaos and all the difficult predicaments and outcomes that life presents. It makes the reader question his/her own life situations and dramatically brings readers to their own self questioning about - "why am I doing this and for whom?- The tale awakens something in the reader, it is as simple as that. Through Heller's zany characters and their own peculiar situations and journeys, the reader has no choice be to rethink their own ideas about life in general. Most importantly, the novel illustrates how little control a person has over his/her own life and that both those who take control and those that don't eventually wind up with what they want only some of the time. .
The cliché "catch-22- itself is derived from the book. The story begins with a solider who wants to get out of the military but can leave if, and only if, he is considered crazy and asks to leave. (This is the rule of the military.) However, there is a catch, a "catch-22,"" which is that any man who asks to leave is clearly not crazy. Ironic situations such as this fill the novel, bringing it to surreal levels of comedy - but not a heart warming "ha-ha."" Indeed, the novel makes the reader think about what is scary and terrible, while at the same time, it makes them laugh. This goes to show just how strange the novel can be.
The characters placed in some very unusual predicaments even better .
