Catch-22 Mortality Quotes

How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #13

It was easy to read the message in his [Snowden's] entrails. 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. (41.130)

Yossarian concludes that death is inevitable and man is really just matter. He will die and rot away and leave nothing behind. The illusion of life is temporary.