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Catch-22 11167 Views
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Description:
This video discusses the major ideas of the satirical American war novel Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. The horror of war meets…absurdity and humor? Is the novel completely cynical in its take on war?
Transcript
- 00:01
Catch-22, a la Shmoop. WarÉ sucks. But unfortunately, sometimes
- 00:01
itÕs necessary.
- 00:01
If we'd let the Nazis steamroll their way across the planet during World War Two, Hitler's
- 00:14
little mustache might still be a fashion trend and we'd all love Wagnerian opera instead
- 00:19
of Twilight.
Full Transcript
- 00:20
More often, however, war just blows for pretty much everyone concerned.
- 00:28
Some of the most famous books of the twentieth century, fiction and non-fiction, dealt with
- 00:31
this topic, including Joseph Heller's satiric Catch-22.
- 00:38
Captain John Yosarrian and the other airmen of the 256th squadron are stationed on a Mediterranean
- 00:45
island during World War Two.
- 00:46
Sounds awesome, right? Sunshine and seafood for all!
- 00:47
But instead of spending their time on the beach, Yosarrian and friends are busy trying
- 00:51
to stay sane and survive the war so they can get home.
- 00:54
ThereÕs an attack on an undefended Italian mountain village, the despair felt by various
- 00:56
soldiers, and the deaths of many of Yosarrian's friends.
- 00:56
So, yeah, not a lot of positives here. But is Catch-22 really as cynical as it seems?
- 01:06
Heller's characters certainly don't have a lot of control over their lives, and they
- 01:10
often come to a sad end due to circumstances beyond their control.
- 01:14
Nately, for example, dies during a pointless mission, when his plane crashes into another
- 01:19
American plane.
- 01:19
So much for his dreams of marrying his hooker girlfriend and sending her kid sister to an
- 01:23
American college.
- 01:23
The characters also tend to make choices and do things that negatively affect the people
- 01:27
around them.
- 01:28
While Aarfy is perfectly willing to protect well-connected women from the sexual advances
- 01:32
of other menÉ
- 01:33
Éhe ends up raping and murdering Michaela because he's never had to pay for sex and
- 01:38
doesn't see why he should have to start.
- 01:42
Some stellar logic right there. But maybe what Heller's trying to say is that,
- 01:46
even when things are at their worst, even when men are stuck in a terrible war that
- 01:50
they want no part of, there's hope to be found in humor.
- 01:54
BecauseÉ there's a lot of absurdity in the 256th squadron.
- 01:57
Colonel Cathcart is so determined to become a general that he keeps raising the number
- 01:57
of missions his men have to fly, meaning that they can get really close to doing enough
- 01:58
work to get them home, but they never quite make it.
- 01:58
Milo Minderbender is so anxious to turn a profit that he starts contracting missions
- 02:03
for the Germans, going so far as to fight on both sides in the same battle and bomb
- 02:09
his own squadron.
- 02:09
The world Heller describes in Catch-22 is sad but ridiculous, and it's the utter silliness
- 02:11
of it all that allows Yosarrian to stay sane. Edwin Starr, the Temptations, and Bruce Springstein
- 02:13
and the E Street Band have all told us that war is good for absolutely nothin'É
- 02:14
Éand Catch-22 certainly seems to demonstrate the truth behind that extremely catchy song
- 02:15
lyric.
- 02:15
But is Heller's novel completely cynical in its take on warÉ
- 02:18
Éor does he think itÕs bearable as long as youÉ send in the clowns?
- 02:26
Shmoop amongst yourselves.
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