How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #21
[General Peckem:] "Just pass the work I assign you along to somebody else and trust to luck. We call that delegation of responsibility. Somewhere down near the lowest level of this coordinated organization I run are people who do get the work done when it reaches them, and everything manages to run along smoothly without too much effort on my part. I suppose that's because I am a good executive." (29.12)
This laziness of the top officials and the willingness to let work slide to the bottom rungs is a characteristic flaw of the bureaucracy that Heller mocks. Notice that Peckem is still using one of his beloved terms – "delegation of responsibility" (a.k.a. "laziness").
Quote #22
"We don't care about the roadblock," Colonel Korn informed him. "Colonel Cathcart wants to come out of this mission with a good clean aerial photograph he won't be ashamed to send through channels." (29.85)
The bureaucracy is willing to risk destroying innocent lives for the sake of making one man – who is important to the nation – look good. Bureaucracy is often criticized for concerning itself too much with propaganda.
Quote #23
[Nurse Duckett to Yossarian:] "I don't know. I couldn't see them. I just heard them say they were going to disappear Dunbar." (34.60)
The concept of getting rid of troublesome members is one of the most chilling aspects of a corrupt bureaucracy. An individual disappears without a trace, and the government covers the operation up. Panic spreads as people begin distrusting their administration, but are forced to cling ever tighter to it for fear of being next. Finally, the dissident ideas spread by the "disappeared" person begin to fade.
Quote #24
[Colonel Korn to the chaplain:] "You know damned well Dr. Stubbs has been telling the men in his squadron they didn't have to fly more than seventy missions." He laughed harshly. "Well, Padre, they do have to fly more than seventy missions, because we're transferring Dr. Stubbs to the Pacific." (36.163)
A corrupt bureaucracy is one who gets rid of those who have a sense of morality, and consequently refuse to cooperate with illogical instructions.
Quote #25
"Won't you fight for your country? Colonel Korn demanded, emulating Colonel Cathcart's harsh, self-righteous tone. "Won't you give up your life for Colonel Cathcart and me?"
Yossarian tensed with alert astonishment when he heard Colonel Korn's concluding words. "What's that?" he exclaimed. "What have you and Colonel Cathcart got to do with my country? You're not one and the same."
"How can you separate us?" Colonel Korn inquired with ironical tranquility. (40.33-35)
One fault of the average citizen is to is to confuse the bureaucratic officials with the nation itself. These identities can often merge in the public eye.
Quote #26
[Colonel Korn:] "Colonel Cathcart wants to be a general and I want to be a colonel, and that's why we have to send you home."
"Why does he want to be a general?"
"Why? For the same reason that I want to be a colonel. What else have we got? Everyone teaches us to aspire to higher things. A general is higher than a colonel, and a colonel is higher than a lieutenant colonel. So we're both aspiring." (40.61-63)
This shows institutional indoctrination. Everyone is taught to aspire to higher things without specifically being told why. It is just assumed that "higher" equals "better."