Catch-22 (1961) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit see section history

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Summary edit see section history

Characters/People edit see section history

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• Captain John Joseph Yossarian: The protagonist of Catch-22, he is a B-25 American bombardier of Assyrian heritage, stationed in Pianosa, Italy. Yossarian's self-proclaimed goal within the novel is to 'live forever', which he claims to be difficult since thousands of people he has never met are trying to kill him. With such a paranoia, Yossarian's sole goal is to get out of the war as quickly as possible. However, his greatest enemy is Colonel Cathcart, who continus to raise the number of missions the men must complete. Yossarian's emotions are heightened as a result of the war, and he has a bitter humor towards life, softened only by his frequent episodes of "falling in love". His allies and friends include the pilot McWatt, his roommate Orr, the Champlain, and Dunbar. Nately and Doc Daneeka could also be considered friends of Yossarian.
• Major Sanderson: Camp psychiatrist who is convinced that Yossarian is mentally unstable because he acts rationally.
• Dunbar: Stationed at the same base of Pianosa, but in a different squadron. He and Yossarian seem to be friends, and the main reason may be their similar view of the war and the world. They both have the same main objective during the war time: stay alive as long as possible. Dunbar tries to achieve it also by cultivating total boredom.
• Lieutenant Edward J. Nately III: A good-natured nineteen-year-old boy in Yossarian’s squadron. Nately, who comes from a wealthy home, falls in love with a whore in Rome and generally tries to keep Yossarian from getting into trouble.
• Milo Minderbinder: A fantastically powerful mess officer, Milo controls an international black-market syndicate and is revered in obscure corners all over the world. He ruthlessly chases after profit and bombs his own men as part of a contract with Germany. Milo insists that everyone in the squadron will benefit from being part of the syndicate and that “everyone has a share” even though his selfishness cost lives. He also takes his job as mess officer very, very seriously; as a result, the troops in Yossarian’s division eat better than any others.
• Doc Daneeka: The medical officer. Doc Daneeka feels very sorry for himself because the war has interrupted his lucrative private practice in the United States, and he refuses to listen to other people’s problems. Doc Daneeka is the first person to explain Catch-22 to Yossarian.
• Major Major Major Major: The supremely mediocre squadron commander. Born Major Major Major, he is promoted to major on his first day in the army by a mischievous computer, instantly losing him the friends he’d finally made. Major Major is painfully awkward and will see people in his office only when he is not there, and only has lunch alone. He accomplishes this by climbing in and out of his window instead of using the door. He will not eat with the officers because they don’t like him, and he will not see the enlisted men because they don’t like him either. His promotion to squadron commander distances him from the other soldiers, reducing him to loneliness.
• Captain Aardvark: Captain Aardvark (called Aarfy) is the navigator in Yossarian's B-25 bomber (but only when Yossarian is flying in the lead ship - hence Aarfy's sporadic appearances in the air in the novel). He is oblivious to incoming flak, repeatedly gets lost on missions, and always smokes a pipe. He befriends Nately in the hope of working for Nately's wealthy father after the war. Aarfy sees himself as moral and protects well-connected women from the sexual advances of other officers. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Aardvark (contains spoilers)
• Chaplain Tappman: Tappman is a naïve Anabaptist minister from Kenosha, Wisconsin, who is tormented throughout the novel by his atheist assistant, Corporal Whitcomb. He worries constantly about his wife and children back at home. He is very timid, taciturn and reticent. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaplain_A._T._Tappman (contains spoilers).
• Colonel Cathcart: A full colonel, Cathcart is a group commander at the U.S. Army Air Corps base in Pianosa and is obsessed with becoming a general. As such, he does whatever it takes to please his superiors— in particular, repeatedly raising the number of missions the men have to fly to complete a tour of duty, beyond that normally ordered by other outfits. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonel_Cathcart (contains spoilers)
• Lieutenant Scheisskopf: Scheisskopf (Shithead) is the training commander for Yossarian and Clevinger, and he takes a particular dislike to Clevinger. He loves marching. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scheisskopf (contains spoilers)
• Snowden: Snowden is a member of Yossarian's flight during a mission.
• Mr. Clevinger: Fellow Officer and foil of Yossarian who debates that fact that Yossarian claims everyone is trying to kill him and loses his temper madly.
• Havermeyer: Bombardier who lives in the tent next to Yossarian; considered by Colonel Cathcart to the the best bombardier in the squadron due to his fearless/reckless flying on missions. He shoots field mice in his tent at nice with a gun he took from the dead man in Yossarian’s tent.
• Chief White Halfoat: Native American officer, assistant to Captain Black. He scares the crap out of his roommate Flume so that he moves out into the forest. He drinks constantly, and grew up moving constantly because oil companies always found oil where his family lived.
• Hungry Joe: Pilot who repeatedly flies the required number of missions only to have the required number raised; obsessed with photographing women in the nude and having sex equally, so that he can do neither. He was a photographer from Life magazine as a civilian. When he doesn’t have missions to complete, he goes crazy and has nightmares, but when he does have more missions to complete, he sleeps peacefully. Huple’s cat sleeps on his face, and the two fight sometimes.
• McWatt: A pilot for Yossarian's plane. He lives in a tent with Nately next to Havermeyer. He likes to joke around by flying his plane way too low.
• C. Wintergreen: Ex-P.F.C; Wintergreen is repeatedly demoted and is as proud of his demotions as most would be of being promoted; Wintergreen ‘aspires’ to be an ex-general. He works as a desk clerk and is in charge of mail.
• Captain Black: The camp’s intelligence officer, Captain Black easily embraces the war since he is not involved in any combat. He makes fun of Nately by having sex with his whore, taking her money and making her wear his name. He has a black humour, hence his name.
• Major —— de Coverly: Major Major's executive officer, his only official duties are pitching horseshoes, renting two-room apartments for the soldiers on rest leave, and kidnapping Italian labourers. Because of his intimidating countenance, no one has the courage to ask him his first name.
• Kid Sampson: An underaged crew pilot on Yossarian's plane. He is a kid, hence the name.
• Pritchard and Wren: Always mentioned together, these two captains are in charge of the squadron missions.
• Luciana: A woman in Rome with whom Yossarian has a relationship.
• Corporal Whitcomb: Chaplain Tappman's Atheistic assistant who resents and harasses Tappman for standing in his way of advancing his career. He lives next door, and constantly invades his privacy with little consequence to himself and large consequence to the Chaplain.
• General Dreedle: The no-nonsense commander of the U.S. Army Air Corps base in Pianosa. He is blunt, harsh and annoyed enough to commit to killing a soldier that threatens to stand in his way.
• Nurse Duckett: A nurse in the hospital that Yossarian frequents
• Dobbs: Repeated combat missions have taken their toll on Dobbs’ nerves, and he has become one of the worst pilots in the corps.
• General Peckem: An exceedingly bureaucratic general with aspirations to replace General Dreedle as the commander of the forces at Pianosa. He works for the Special Forces and wants them to do combat missions so that he can earn prestige.
• Mrs Daneeka: Doc Daneeka's wife back in the States who watches the children.
• Nurse Cramer: Best friend of Nurse Duckett in the hospital that Yossarian frequents.
• Huple: A fifteen-year-old pilot who shares a tent with Hungry Joe. His cat sleeps on Hungry Joe’s face.
• Lieutenant Colonel Korn: Colonel Cathcart’s cynical assistant. Colonal Cathcart competes with him secretly, because he wants to look better.
• Colonel Moodus: General Dreedle's son-in-law, whom the general hates.
• Lieutenant Mudd: "The dead man in Yossarian's tent"
• Orr: A bomber pilot who is continually getting shot down; the only person considered to be crazier than his good friend Yossarian, with whom he shares a tent. He is always building a new luxury for the tent.
• Sergeant Towser: Major Major’s assistant and gate-keeper. Major Major orders him to deny anyone access to his office if he is pressent.
• Mrs Scheisskopf: Lietenant Scheisskopf’s neglected wife who sleeps with her husband’s cadets since he is focussed on parades and doesn’t want to spend time with her, specifically when she wants to have sex.
• Gus and Wes: Doc Daneeka’s two orderlies, whose main activity is to paint airmen’s gums and toes purple with gentian violet solution even though it almost never does any good or even has relevance to the problems people come in with.
• Corporal Snark: Corporal in WWII.
• Piltchard: General in WWII.
• Raskolnikov: Author of Crime and Punishment who was incorrectly referenced by Colonel Corn.
• Ewing: Add a description of this character.
• Dori Duz
• Colonel Cargill
• Michaela
• Kraft
• Engle
• Aarfy
• Major Metcalf
• Dr. Stubbs
• Major Danby
• Lumley
• A. T. Tappman
• Appleby
• Ferredge
• Corporal Kolodny
• Alvin Brown
• Luigi
• Wes
• Billy Petrolle
• Vittorio
• Major —— de Coverly
• A. Fortiori
• Nathaniel
• Filpo
• Major Duluth
• Washington Irving: A pseudonym used by Yossarian when he censors letters from the field hospital...also a historical author.
• George Mandel
• Norman Mailer
• Kurt Vonnegut: Author of Slaughterhous Five.
• Studs Terkel
• Saul Bellow
• Philip Toynbee
• Henry Simon
• Mr. Heller
• Vice-Shah
• Mike Nichols
• Tracy Daugherty
• Alfred A. Knopf
• Anthony Burgess
• Jonathan R. Eller
• Nelson Algren
• Herbert Hoover: President of the U.S. from 1929-1933.
• Mila
• Mr. Brustein
• Arabel Porter
• Sam Merrill
• Norman Podhoretz
• Richard Simon
• Peter Schwed
• James Webb
• John W. Aldridge
• R. O. Shipman
• Mr. Roth
• Jack Kerouac: Author of The Road.
• Alfred Kazin
• Richard Starnes
• Joe Heller
• Nabokov
• Bertrand Russell
• Robert Brustein
• Thomas Pynchon
• Christopher Hitchens
• Clevinger
• Leon Uris
• Bob Gottlieb
• Theodore Roosevelt: 26th president of the United States - president from 1901-1909.
• Evelyn Waugh
• Nina Bourne
• S. J. Perelman
• de Coverley
• Clevenger
• Gus

Quotes edit see section history

• “There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one’s own safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; but as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn’t, but if he was sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn’t have to; but if he didn’t want to he was sane and had to.”

• “What is a country? A country is a piece of land surrounded on all sides by boundaries, usually unnatural. Englishmen are dying for England, Americans are dying for America, Germans are dying for Germany, Russians are dying for Russia. There are now fifty or sixty countries fighting in this war. Surely so many countries can’t all be worth dying for.”

  The old Italian man at the whore house

• “But I’m afraid you have it backwards. It is better to live on one’s feet than die on one’s knees. That’s the way the saying goes.”

  The old Italian man at the whore house

• “'Catch-22 says you have always got to do what your commanding officer tells you to''But Twenty-seventh Air Force says I can go home with forty missions''But they don’t say you have to go home. And regulations do say you have to obey every order. That’s the catch. Even if the colonel was disobeying the Twenty-seventh Air Force order by making you fly more missions, you'd still have to fly them, or you’d be guilty of disobeying an order of his....’”

  Doc Daneeka

• “Where are the Snowdens of yesteryear?”

  Yossarian

• “Ou sont les Neigedens de l’antan?”

  Yossarian

• “You’re American officers. The officers of no other army in the world can make that statement. Think about it.”

  Colonel Cargill

• “He had lived for almost twenty years without trauma, tension, or neurosis, which was proof to Yossarian of just how crazy he really was.”

• “There were no miracles; prayers went unanswered, and misfortune tramped with equal brutality on the virtuous and the corrupt.”

• “Man was matter, that was Snowden’s secret. Drop him out a window and he’ll fall. Set fire to him and he’ll burn. Bury him and he’ll rot, like other kinds of garbage. The spirit gone, man is garbage. That was Snowden’s secret. Ripeness was all.”

  narrator

• “Then she smiled at him serenely, squeezed his hand and, with a whispered regretful "Addio," pressed herself against him for a moment and then straightened and walked away with unconcious dignitiy and grace. The minute she was gone, Yossarian tore the slip of paper up and walked away in the other direction, feeling very much like a big shot because a beautiful young girl like Luciana had slept with him and did not ask for money. He was pretty pleased with himself until he looked up in the dining room of the Red Cross building and found himself eating breakfast with dozens and dozens of other service men in all kinds of fantastic uniforms, and then all at once he was surrounded by images of Luciana getting out of her cloths and caressing and haranguing him temptuously in the pink chamise she wore in bed with him and would not take off. Yossarian choked on his toast and eggs at the enormity of his error in tearing her long, lithe, nude, young vibrant limbs into tiny pieces of paper so impudently and dumping her down so smugly into the gutter from the curb. He missed her terribly already.”

• “But that was war. Just about all he could find in its favor was that it paid well and liberated children from the pernicious influence of their parents.”

  Narrator (about Yossarian)

• “...and by the lifelong trust he had placed in the wisdom and justice of an immortal, omnipotent, omniscient, humane, universal, anthropomorphic, English-speaking, Anglo Saxon, pro-American God, which had begun to waiver.”

  The Chaplain

• “Moral was deteriorating and it was all Yossarian's fault. The country was in peril. He was jeopardizing his traditional rights of freedom and independence by daring to exercise them.”

Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Pianosa Island, Italy: The main island on which the story revolves around. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pianosa
• Bologna, Italy
• Rome. Italy
• Avignon
• Malta
• Sicily
• Pacific Ocean
• Orvieto
• Naples
• Cairo
• Italy

Organizations edit see section history

• USAAC: All the major characters are members of the United States Army Air Corps.

First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

Glossary edit see section history

• Catch-22: A situation in which a desired outcome or solution is impossible to attain because of a set of inherently illogical rules or conditions. Coined by Joseph Heller in this book. In the book, it is a proper noun.

Series & Lists edit see section history

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Joseph Heller (Author)

Other Contributors:

1. Robert Andrew Parker (Illustrator)
2. Eduardo Saló (Translator)
3. Gitica Jakopin (Translator)
4. Paul Bacon (Cover Artist)
5. Christopher Buckley (Introduction)

First Edition edit see section history

Awards edit see section history

• BBC's Big Read (April 2003, #11)
• National Book Award (Finalist, 1962: Fiction)

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: PS3558.E476 C3 2004
• Dewey: 813/.54 22

Notes for Parents edit see section history

This is a war novel and depicts violence. The book requires a higher reading level due to its often esoteric diction.

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Literature & Fiction › Classics
• Books › Literature & Fiction › World Literature › United States › 20th Century
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Literary
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Authors, A-Z › ( H ) › Heller, Joseph

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

• Wikipedia Page
• SparkNotes
• Book and Film Review

Movie Connections edit see section history

• Catch-22 (1970) (IMDb): Staring Alan Arkin, Martin Balsam, Richard Benjamin, Art Garfunkel, Bob Newhart, Anthony Perkins, Jon Voight, and Orson Welles

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Books with Additional Background Information edit see section history

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