~.+Mike+-+Catch+22+.~

[[image:heller.png width="247" height="352" align="left" caption="Joseph Heller, author of "Catch-22""]]Joseph Heller
Joseph Heller was born on May 1, 1923, in Coney Island, New York. His parents were poor and Jewish. They were from Russia, and Heller often wrote stories as a child, about situations and conflicts of Russia's past. Later on, when Heller was 19, he joined the Air Force and was sent to Corsica, and he flew on several missions in his plane. He eventually went on to get his Master's from Columbia University, and later on he attended and taught at many prestigious schools, such as Yale and Oxford. He started working on his most famous work, //Catch-22//, in the early '50's. He had originally planned to name the book //Catch-18//, but another author, Leon Uris, had just published a book called //Mila 18//. Heller wanted to avoid confusion so he changed the name to //Catch-22//. The book was slow to "catch" on, but it eventually gained praise from critics all over the world in 1962. The book has been seen by many as important and outrageous. It's success continues still today. Heller later went on to create screenplays for many major Hollywood films, such as //Casino Royale//, a James Bond movie.

Late in 1981, Heller was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome, and he became paralyzed for a short time. He eventually recovered and went on to write an autobiography called //No Laughing Matter//. This book also had some success, unfortunately Heller didn't have much time to enjoy it though. He died in 1999 from a heart attack. Many agree that Heller was an important author, and will forever be missed by his loving friends and fans.

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**Catch-22 Plot Synopsis**
Catch-22 is a book with many central messages and symbolism. The book's main idea is to try and bring in comedy and lightness into a very dark and serious event, war. This book deals with World War II, but it can apply to any war or conflict. We generally see WWII as a terrible and frightening chapter in history, but this book incorporates humor and irony by providing many funny and awkward situations. "Outside the hospital war was still going on. Men went mad and rewarded with medals" (Heller 25). This quote provides an excellent example of the humorous nature of the book. It shows that the less sane they were, the better the soldier was. Catch-22's main character, Yossarian, struggles that ideology several times throughout the book.

Captain John Joseph Yossarian, a bombardier in the US Army Air Forces, is the one of the many odd characters in the story. The book centers around him trying to survive the war, while at the same time trying to figure out numerous ways to get "grounded". All he wants is to leave, yet he encounters several problems along the way. Whether it be his superior, Colonel Cathcart, continuously raising the required number of missions; his friends that keep getting into terrible situations; or even his own mess officer ordering a bombing on their camp. He makes several hilarious attempts to assure his survival, like faking illnesses, claiming insanity,forging fake documents; all in order to stay out of combat. "'Who's they?' he wanted to know. 'Who specifically is trying to murder you?' 'Every one of them' Yossarian told him. 'Every one of whom?' 'Every one of whom do you think?' 'I haven't any idea.' 'Then how do you know they aren't?' 'Because...'" (Heller 26)

With characters like Milo, a mess officer in the airforce who is running a huge black market empire; a man like Hungry Joe, who is trying desperatley to take pictures of as many naked women as possible; Doc Daneeka, who constantly refuses to ground soldiers on the basis of //Catch-22//, a hilarious a fake loophole that superiors use as an excuse to make the soldiers follow their orders; or Nately, who falls in love with a whore that only falls in love with him after he lets her sleep; it's easy to see why this book is so cherished, as it brings out taboos like comedy and oddities into such an uptight subject as war.

The book isn't all comedy though. There's an underlying tone of seriousness and sadness mixed in as well. Yossarian's best friend, Snowden was killed earlier in the war and Yossarian can never let go of this fact; a religious man starts to lose faith in the cruel wartime surroundings; and many of the protagonists of the story, such as McWatt who kills by crashing a plane after he accidentally kills the young Kid Sampson with his planes moving propellers. In the end of the book, we find Yossarian being chased away after being stabbed by a vengeful whore.

**What Worked**
I think that mainly everything that was attempted by the author worked out wonderfully. The attempt to poke comedy into a non-comedic setting worked well, and the author is sure to get many laughs from the readers. Instances like Milo becoming the Baghdad caliph, or Hungry Joe running in to Yossarian's room to photograph his and his lover, were all great examples of the great sense of humor that this book brings. He also threw in some seriousness. This worked as well because he threw in many gruesome scenes, like the image of soldiers in convulsions, or little Kid Sampson being mutilated by propellors. The themes he was going for were all potrayed correctly and near perfectly.

**What Didn't Work**
There were very few things that I didn't care for. The main thing I didn't like was the constant flashbacks. While flashbacks are good, Heller often just went into them without warning or transition, making the book a little a little more complicated and confusing than it needed to be. Other than that, it's hard to find flaws within the book.

**Literary Information**
Catch-22 is a comedic satire, poking fun at the seriousness of World War II, and any war in general. It's set in Europe and North Africa, and deals with the American's taking back and occupying areas that were once controlled by the Axis. Most of the characters are members of the military. The only ones that aren't are family and the whores. While I would classify it as comedy, it has many serious and drama elements in it as well. Many people see it as one of the most important books of the 20th century.

**Works Cited**
Liukkonen, Petri. "Joseph Heller (1923-1999)." (2008) 1. 12 Mar 2009 .

Pedia, Wiki. "Joseph Heller." 10 March 2009 1. 12 Mar 2009 .

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