America has been involved in the cold war for years. The fear of communism is ruining lives. The country moves closer and closer to the Korean war. Joseph Heller's Catch 22 is published. 1963- College students are seen wearing army fatigues with "Yossarian" name tags. Reports are being made about a "Heller Cult". Bumper stickers are manufactured which read, "Better Yossarian then Rotarian". The phrase "Catch 22" has surfaced meaning a "no win situation" it is now an excepted word in the English dictionary. Such a dramatic change in opinion from the earlier, Pro-war society, it is obvious that Catch 22 had some impact on the anti-war movement of the 1960's-1970's. Not to say the book was the one reason the movement started, It was certainly a catalyst. A protest novel, Heller's story portrays the absurdity of bureaucracy, the stupidity of war, and the power they both have to crush the human spirit. Heller uses a war zone setting, to satirise society at large. He compares the commanding officers to Incompetent businessmen. "Don't mumble, and mumble "sir" when you do, and don't interrupt, and say "sir" when you do." Desiring promotion over every thing else, Colonel Cathcart keeps raising the number of missions the men of his squadron must fly. Even though the army says they need fly only forty, a bureaucratic trap called "Catch 22" says they can't go home at forty because they must obey their commanding officers. Much like the work place, the men are forced to go through endless amounts of red tape, which hardly gets them anywhere. Yossarian tries to pretend he is crazy to get out of fighting. He signs "Washington Irving" on letters he censors, and walks around naked for a couple of days. If someone is crazy he needs only ask and he can be dismissed from duty. Yet, one would be crazy to fly, and only a sane person would ask to stop, Yossarian is therefore not crazy and is ordered to continue flying his missions.
The book describes primarily the relationship between Jake and Brett . Jake Barnes, the main character is a about 30 years old. He works as a journalist in Paris. He was a soldier in the first world war, and became impotent by a wound. Brett, Lady Ashley, is an English friend of Jake, she is 34. ...
The Comparison of Anton Chekhov's Work "In stature and significance Chekhov is the most prominent Russian author of the literary generation succeeding Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky" (Anton 144). In many stories Anton Chekhov has written his work so that the readers can make an ideal mental picture in their head about what is happening in the story. Chekhov wrote, "Dreams," "Anna on the Neck" and "Anyuta;" all being short stories. Through thorough examinations of these stories one has to believe that they have three assets that link them together, they are: self-actualization, deal with ...
In 1961, Joseph Heller published Catch-22, his first novel. Based on his own war experiences, the novel wickedly satirized bureaucracy, patriotism, and all manner of traditional American ideals. This was reflective of the increasing disdain for traditional viewpoints that was growing in America at that time. (Potts, p. 13) The book soon became championed as another voice in the antiwar movement of the 1960's. However, Heller himself claimed that his novel was less about World War II, or war at all, than it was an allegory for the Cold War and the materialistic "Establishment- attitudes ...
