Catch-22 What's Up With the Title?
By Joseph Heller
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What's Up With the Title?
The book follows a form of logic called "Catch-22." It's a paradoxical law that means you're circumstantially screwed – no matter what choice you make. Since the publication of the novel, the term "Catch-22" has been used to describe any unsolvable logical dilemma or deadlock. The protagonist of the novel, Yossarian, often finds himself stymied by his own Catch-22: he's caught up in situations that prove life-threatening, but he can't legally escape them.
The novel was originally titled Catch-18 but changed when another WWII novel with the number eighteen was published around the same time. So Heller decided on 22 because the repeated numbers parallel some repeating events in the book and describe the déjà vu type occurrences (source). So he killed two birds with one stone. Clever guy.
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- Introduction
-
Summary
- Chapter 1
- Chapter 2
- Chapter 3
- Chapter 4
- Chapter 5
- Chapter 6
- Chapter 7
- Chapter 8
- Chapter 9
- Chapter 10
- Chapter 11
- Chapter 12
- Chapter 13
- Chapter 14
- Chapter 15
- Chapter 16
- Chapter 17
- Chapter 18
- Chapter 19
- Chapter 20
- Chapter 21
- Chapter 22
- Chapter 23
- Chapter 24
- Chapter 25
- Chapter 26
- Chapter 27
- Chapter 28
- Chapter 29
- Chapter 30
- Chapter 31
- Chapter 32
- Chapter 33
- Chapter 34
- Chapter 35
- Chapter 36
- Chapter 37
- Chapter 38
- Chapter 39
- Chapter 40
- Chapter 41
- Chapter 42
- Themes
- Characters
- Analysis
- Quotes
- Premium