Chapter 1: The Texan

Captain Joseph Yossarian, a World War II bombardier, feigns a pain in the liver so that he can remain in the ward and not have to fight more combat missions. The doctors, extremely frustrated by a liver that is "short of being jaundiced," patiently give him pills everyday, hoping that either he will be cured or his liver will become jaundiced so they will know how to cure him. In the meantime, Yossarian maintains a daily fever of 101 and is very happy having all his meals served in bed. He plans to remain sick until the end of the war. Yossarian writes everyone he knows, saying that he is going on a dangerous mission and will write back when he returns. His only work is to censor the letters of the other patients. This quickly bores him, and he makes it a game, crossing out all modifiers one day, leaving just articles the next. Eventually he marks out the addresses on the envelopes and signs himself as "Washington Irving" and then "Irving Washington." The authorities send a C.I.D. man to investigate but have no luck in finding anyone called "Irving" or "Washington."

Others in the hospital are feigning illness as well. The artillery captain Dunbar falls on his face everyday to have his meals served in bed. The Texan is obnoxiously gregarious and zealously patriotic. A strange soldier in white gauze was smuggled into the hospital at night; a bottle with liquid drains into his mouth, and another bottle is connected to his kidneys with rubber tubing to collect the waste. When the bottle connecting his mouth is empty and the other bottle full, the bottles are switched. No one knows the colonel’s illness. One day the nurse realizes that the soldier encased in white is dead, and Yossarian and Dunbar throw accusations without evidence.

Yossarian tries to earn the chaplain's sympathy by describing his feigned illness. The chaplain is nervous and shy and promises to return.

Suddenly, without any explanation, the Texan leaves the ward and Yossarian, Dunbar, and the others follow him in a hectic exodus. Everyone except the C.I.D. man with pneumonia return to the front because of the Texan.

Chapter 2: Clevinger

Back on the front, the war is going on. Yossarian resents the Texan for having sent them back and is miserable. In the officers' club, Yossarian claims that everyone is trying to kill him, but Clevinger and the others merely dismiss Yossarian as being crazy. Clevinger passionately argues that everyone is trying to kill everyone else, so there is nothing particularly important about Yossarian being killed.

The camp is also filled with other crazy people. Orr, Yossarian's roommate, has decorated their tent extensively; Havermeyer next door eats peanut butter brittle and shoots field mice. McWatt enjoys flying his plane just right above Yossarian’s tent to drive him crazy. McWatt’s roommate, Nately, has fallen in love with a whore in Rome, and is lavishly wasting his money on her.

The officers sit around making fun of Yossarian for being crazy. Yossarian adamantly claims that they are poisoning his food and claims various random identities, which annoys Clevinger and leads to an argument. Yossarian helps himself to a delicious and large dinner until he remembers that they are trying to kill him. He runs to Daneeka to get off combat duty, and Daneeka tells him that Colonel Cathcart wants fifty missions, but Yossarian has flown only forty-four.

Chapter 3: Havermeyer

Yossarian is frustrated with his two roommates. One just hangs around because he is dead, and Yossarian has reported this corpse to Sergeant Towser and Major Major, but they refuse to acknowledge the dead man's existence or to do anything. Orr has strange obsessions and activities and talks about putting crab apples rather than horse chestnuts in his cheeks.

There are plenty of other troublesome people in the camp as well. Hungry Joe keeps on having nightmares and screams every night, although when he wakes up the next morning, he denies anything has happened. He also enjoys fist-fighting Huple's cat and taking pictures of the large-breasted women at U.S.O. shows. General P. P. Peckem and General Dreedle squabble for power, and Peckem always loses because his verbosity annoys ex-P.F.C. Wintergreen, who throws away General Peckem's correspondence. Peckem retaliates by sending more U.S.O. troupes. In Yossarian's squadron, men pester Towser about whether their orders to leave are in yet. Colonel Cargill, a failed marketing executive, orders his troops to attend the U.S.O. shows.

These constant troubles drive Yossarian back to Doc Daneeka, who belittles Yossarian's troubles and bemoans his own. He advises Yossarian to be more like Havermeyer, the other lead bombardier. Yossarian turns sick at the idea. Havermeyer is the darling of Colonel Cathcart and is hated by the other men because he refuses to take evasive action. He never misses his target, unlike Yossarian, who is trying to stay alive no matter whether he hits his target. Yossarian is loved by his men and relies on Havermeyer to hit the targets he has missed. Havermeyer himself is strange; he baits and kills field mice. One night he frightens Hungry Joe so much that Joe begins to scream all night, and Havermeyer proudly announces that Hungry Joe is crazy.

Chapter 4: Doc Daneeka

Yossarian knows Hungry Joe is crazy, but ironically, Hungry Joe thinks Yossarian is crazy. Doc Daneeka snickers at Yossarian for this and begins to complain about his troubles as a doctor in the army. Doc Daneeka believes that he himself is sick and tries to have his temperature taken every day. He has two very efficient enlisted assistants, Gus and Wes. They send all the men with temperatures over 102 to the hospitals. Those who have a temperature below 102 have their gums and toes painted, are given a laxative, and sent to the bushes. Those with temperatures of 102 have to return in an hour to have their temperatures rechecked.

The bored Doc Daneeka sits around and watches Major -- de Coverley, who wears a transparent eye patch, pitch horseshoes. Daneeka also worries about his health, the flight time, and the Pacific Ocean. He hates airplanes and refuses to perform any favors for Yossarian. Essentially, Doc Daneeka sits around and feels sorry for himself. He always asks, “Why me?” This reminds Yossarian of when he and Clevinger would ask Corporal Black nonsensical questions during the education sessions. This questioning had alarmed the Group Headquarters, so Colonel Korn had passed a rule saying the only people who can ask questions are those who never do.

Cathcart and Lieutenant Colonel Korn both live in the Group Headquarters, where there is a modern skeet-shooting range. Yossarian always misses skeet and also fails to make money off of gambling. Dunbar wastes his life, arguing that an hour shooting with Havermeyer and Appleby is worth years. This initiates yet another argument with Yossarian, Orr, and Dunbar, and ends on a very confusing note about whether a long, boring, meaningless life is worth living.

Chapter 5: Chief White Halfoat

Daneeka tells Yossarian about his days as a doctor before the war. Initially, his practice had been a failure, but when the other doctors started leaving for the war, his practice flourished. Once a couple who had difficulty having a child came to see him. Although they claimed to have sex every day, Daneeka discovered that the beautiful, impressionable young wife was still a virgin. He showed the couple, using plastic models, how to have sex correctly. A few days later, the husband returned and punched Daneeka in the face.

Upon the arrival of Daneeka's roommate, Chief White Halfoat, Daneeka leaves. Halfoat claims that wherever he or his family go, the people strike oil. He rattles on about discrimination against Indians and his unsettled childhood. Yossarian knows he is lying but keeps his mouth shut. Finally, Halfoat resents that after his tribe went to Canada, they were not allowed to return because they were not American citizens.

After one more mission, Yossarian again asks Daneeka to ground him because he is crazy. This time, Daneeka claims that Catch-22 prevents him from doing so. If the men are really crazy, then they will want to fly the missions, regardless of whether or not they want to be killed. If they do not want to fly the missions, then they are sane and must fly them. To Yossarian, the same logic applies to Orr's claim that Appleby has flies in his eyes. While Appleby cannot see the flies, Yossarian claims he cannot see them because they are in his eyes.

While the squadron is preparing for another mission, Yossarian has a flashback about Snowden's death. Suddenly the bombs at Avignon started flying everywhere, and as they were taking evasive action, he heard Dobbs crying to help the bombardier. Actually, Yossarian the bombardier was fine, but Snowden was on his back dying.

Chapter 6: Hungry Joe

Hungry Joe ignores Daneeka's snide comments and instead picks on Huple. Joe is skimpy and sweaty and overeats. He enjoys taking pictures of nude women and is very good at persuading them to pose for him. His pictures never turn out because he always forgets to put in the film, turn on the lights, or remove the lens cover.

Joe is the most avid flyer, having more missions than any other person in the squadron. Each time he meets Colonel Cathcart's quota and is removed from combat status, he waits fruitlessly for the orders to go home. As they never come, he gradually begins to blame Sergeant Towser. Joe also begins to have shrieking nightmares, and the other men, including Dobbs and Sergeant Flume, imitate him. Consequently, Colonel Korn has Joe fly the carrier ship, so he will be gone four nights per week. Ironically, each time Cathcart increases the number of missions and places Joe on combat duty again, Joe stops having the nightmares.

Yossarian advises Hungry Joe to see Doc Daneeka about his nightmares. Joe points out that daily nightmares are perfectly normal. Meanwhile, Yossarian keeps on missing the bombing target, so the men must keep returning. The problem is that Colonel Cathcart enjoys volunteering his men for the most dangerous missions as some kind of game.

Meanwhile, Chief Halfoat has frightened Captain flume into thinking that he will slit his roommate's throat when the latter is asleep. As a result, Captain Flume stays awake or has dreams that he is awake when he is actually asleep. Halfoat also enjoys hitting Colonel Moodus in the nose to amuse General Dreedle. Despite this, Halfoat is still an outcast like Major Major, who was arbitrarily promoted by Colonel Cathcart while playing basketball.

Yossarian again asks Daneeka to ground him, saying that Cathcart is disobeying the rules by demanding more than the required number of missions. Daneeka again argues that Catch-22 requires that Yossarian must obey his superior, even if his superior is disobeying Group Headquarters. To his shock, Yossarian discovers just before his departure that Cathcart has again increased the number of missions, this time to fifty-five.

Chapter 7: McWatt

McWatt, Yossarian's pilot, is considered the craziest man. He annoys Hungry Joe by snapping cards during games. He is impressed with Milo. Corporal Snark comes in and tells Milo that Yossarian is entitled to all the fruit and fruit juices. Yossarian asks who Milo is and is told that Milo is the new mess officer. McWatt comes out with half a bedsheet, and Milo laughs that McWatt did not even know that his bedsheet was stolen. Yossarian explains to Milo that he does not actually have a liver condition but has Garnett-Fleischaker syndrome. Yossarian says he does not eat the fruit because it is good for his liver, and he does not want to lose this special syndrome. Instead, he gives most of the fruit to Dunbar as well as Aarfy and Nately.

Milo asks Yossarian to join him as a partner in his firm. Yossarian refuses but Milo trusts him with almost all his confidential secrets. He tells Milo about his first chef, Corporal Snark, who views all the men as Philistines and poisons the squadron by mashing cakes of GI soap into the sweet potatoes. The men love the stuff although it makes them sick.

A C.I.D. man passes by, and although Yossarian reassures Milo that the officer is only looking for “Washington Irving.” Milo says that it is a trick to make him confess about his black market operations. Yossarian infuriatingly declares that he will not fly the 55 missions and will go see Major Major. Milo replies that doing so is futile, so Yossarian says he will return to the hospital. Milo then asks Yossarian to give him one package of pitted dates; in return, he gives Yossarian a quarter of McWatt’s yellow bedsheet.

McWatt arrives, flustered and confused about what to do with his bedsheet. When Milo suggests that McWatt form a syndicate, Yossarian becomes confused as well. Later, Milo admits to Yossarian he is frustrated with McWatt because the pilot failed to recognize that he had traded a quarter of his bedsheet for the dates.

Analysis

The first chapter is freewheeling and almost random, setting the satirical tone for the rest of the novel. Heller's cynicism about the war and the government is clear. An entire ward is pretending to be ill and is waiting for the war to end. Oddly, no one realizes what a widespread tactic this has become. Even worse, the men manage to avoid the front by the most ludicrous tactics, such as Dunbar's literal falling on his face. Meanwhile, Yossarian is forced into performing the menial governmental duty of censoring. As he quickly discovers, the letters are quite boring and there is very little to censor. Consequently, Yossarian begins to censor everything that should not be censored. His games fail to attract any notice, though, until he actually begins to mark the envelopes themselves. The C.I.D. man fails to find out who this nonexistent "Irving Washington" is and apparently does not realize that this is a fake name. The C.I.D. comes to symbolize the obtuseness of the government.

The medical establishment is also severely ridiculed. Ironically, the men are seeking to avoid actual injury or death by pretending to be ill. Dunbar claims he can lengthen his lifespan by lying in a deathlike state for hours on end. Somehow the doctors are all deceived into believing that the entire ward is ill while the nurses have come to realize that the soldiers are simply pretending. Despite their extensive medical testing and knowledge, the doctors fail to realize that the men are faking their illnesses. They have been trained such that they can only recognize certain types of diseases, such as jaundice, and the fake illnesses that do not fit a known category bewilder them. Moreover, their methods of treatment are absurd. They keep on giving Yossarian a daily pill, hoping he will either get well or become jaundiced. The encased man is fed his own urine. All of this symbolizes the futility of life. At last, the stupidity of the doctors is exposed when the ill-educated, bigoted Texan proves that everyone in the ward except the C.I.D. man is a hypochondriac and sends them back to the front.

Heller also cleverly uses irony for more humorous purposes, especially in character development. The Texan talks about being American as apple pie and the Brooklyn Dodgers and decries the lack of patriotism among his comrades, yet he turns out to a hypochondriac avoiding the war just as much as everyone else in the ward. Yossarian, the pathetic censor, claims to be the famous literary figure Washington Irving. The man who is encased in white bandages turns out to be a cleverly concealed black man.

Perhaps the nicest example of Heller’s ability to pile up one ironic incident after another is the interaction between Yossarian and the chaplain. One time when Yossarian is censoring the letters, he deletes the entire letter except for the salutation and then writes an absurd sentence in which the group’s chaplain is pining away for love for her. Then when the chaplain does arrive, Yossarian is censoring romantic passages from the letters. Yossarian himself suddenly falls in love with the chaplain, who for his part is so shy and lacks confidence that he is worried that Yossarian does not even like him. Such cleverly placed layers of irony within this chapter foretell this technique’s extensive use for the rest of the novel.

Finally, the common feature in the first chapter is the constant presence of suspense and foreshadowing. Heller cleverly uses the technique of writing a cliffhanger and then going off on a tangent until much later in the chapter. The result is a strange discontinuity and constant switching between descriptions of the characters and recollection of the events. Chapter One begins with, "It was love at first sight. The first time Yossarian saw the chaplain he fell madly in love with him." But the subject is then abruptly changed to Yossarian’s rather irrelevant background. It is not until the end of the chapter that the chaplain reappears in a rather casual interaction. Another suspenseful scene, in which the Texan is accused of murdering the encased black man, is never explained. Then suddenly at the very end of the chapter, everyone abruptly departs. The only tantalizing clue is that "the Texan drove everybody in the ward back to duty." Whether or not this is connected to the alleged murder will remain an issue for future chapters. Clearly, the discontinuity of this chapter leaves much room for plot development and explication for the rest of the novel.

Chapter 2 introduces Clevinger, a foil to Yossarian. Clevinger comes to represent the defender of the ideas of social and political institutions and a person indoctrinated to believe that their impersonality is part of life. He argues that war is impersonal and everyone has to become used to it. Yossarian, on the other hand, represents the individual who protests against such mass destruction, even if that destruction is not intentionally targeted against him in particular. Under normal conditions, Yossarian would be considered paranoid, claiming that everyone wants to kill him. However, under the circumstances of war, his declarations are strikingly accurate.

Yossarian's loud declarations of being various personas will become particularly important later, when a psychiatrist diagnoses him as having split personalities. In the second case, though, Yossarian is simply being misinterpreted. What is amazing, at first, is the fairly dismissive reaction Yossarian receives. In a camp where each person has his own madness, Yossarian fits nicely into this atmosphere of madness. Presently, what seems to be a person's eccentricity will change Yossarian and the other men's lives.

Nately's whore will try to kill Yossarian, McWatt's habit of flying a few inches from the surface will result in Kid Sampson's death--in the end, it will be not the seemingly major but hollow decisions that will affect the men, but the unimportant details and a few superficially unimportant incidents that have the most impact. First, Yossarian's “inane” declarations that the cooks are poisoning the food will be justified. Indeed, Corporal Snark is putting cakes of GI soap into the mashed potatoes, and most of the men do not even notice the difference in taste and clamor for more--despite the diarrhea. Second, Yossarian's gorging on what seems to be luxurious food points to an important development in the plot: M&M Enterprises. Finally we keep hearing that Colonel Cathcart has increased the number of missions required to go home, a recurring theme in the novel.

Chapter 3 discusses in greater detail the characters who were only briefly mentioned before, including Orr and Havermeyer. The incidents with which they are introduced become their trademarks. Orr, Yossarian's roommate, is engaged in peculiar activities, such as putting together a faucet with almost invisible pieces, putting apples in his cheeks, and being beaten by a whore. For now, these incidents will remain obscure; only after Orr's disappearance will Yossarian realize what the motive is behind such strange behavior. Whether Orr's madness actually lets him see the light or whether Orr is a brilliant man who can pretend to be mad is never clearly determined.

Two other episodes form the terrible web of events for the book. First, the strange infighting between Generals Peckem and Dreedle is mentioned. Their attempts to outwit each other will result in strange incidents such as the eventual promotion of Lieutenant Scheisskopf. Second, Doc Daneeka's refusal to help Yossarian (and later the other men) to be grounded because of illness or insanity becomes a way for Colonel Cathcart to trap his men into flying an unacceptable number of missions.

Colonel Cargill, General Peckem's colonel, represents certain losers who enter the military ranks. To prove his obtuseness, he orders his men to enjoy themselves at the U.S.O. shows, as if he controls their emotions. His attempts to sound patriotic prove his stupidity. He is so dull that he does not even recognize that his own men make fun of him. Such idiocy makes the reader wonder how he came to be in charge of the enlisted forces.

Havermeyer, the title character, is a brainless man who has been converted into a war machine. Unlike Yossarian, who is sensitive about the possibility of dying and insists upon retaining his independent thinking, Havermeyer cares nothing about his own life or his men and readily accedes to all the demands made by his superiors. Havermeyer is not brainless in the way that Aarfy is, though. He has a cruel, destructive streak. War has become a game in Havermeyer's mind. He takes a disgusting pleasure in shooting field mice with a 0.45. This inhumane, bloody act only demonstrates how war and death can destroy people's sensitivity and caring.

In chapter 4, several important institutions are satirized: the medical establishment, the military bureaucracy, and the officers. Doc Daneeka comes to represent the ineffective doctor whose only interests are improving his financial and personal situation rather than caring for his patients. The doctor himself is a hypochondriac and is too concerned with all his own potential illnesses to care about the diseases of others. He is not only useless as a healthcare provider; he also fails to provide his patients with the emotional empathy and compassion they need. Despite Yossarian's pleas for help, Daneeka ignores him or coldly blows him off with the strange “Catch-22” argument. It seems as if his soul and heart have died.

The military bureaucracy is not only cumbersome but also stifling. It prefers to remain on the safe path and seeks to stop people such as Yossarian who ask disturbing questions, such as the location of Snowden, the man who died on the Avignon mission. Instead, they prefer to keep the men's brains happy and dull by preoccupying them with activities such as skeet-shooting.

The skeet-shooting range symbolizes the place where the men internally rot into the soldier in white, empty shells. As the men learn to tolerate boredom and discomfort, they lose their sense of pleasure and love for life. These characteristics make them apathetic and more willing to fly missions. Eventually, these feelings reach such a point that officers such as General Dreedle and Colonel Cathcart have completely lost their sexual appetites. But men such as Yossarian, who retain their feelings and realize the danger of flying these missions, refuse to give up their lives for worthless causes.

As in the previous chapters, Chapter 5 continues to introduce the characters as well as open up new motifs that will figure in the rest of the book. The use of foreshadowing and episodic narration is still pervasive, but Chapter 5 includes several particularly important episodes that will drive the book and resurface continuously. Perhaps the most critical plot development is Yossarian's seemingly tangential but emotionally intense flashback of Snowden's death. Amazingly, this memory is triggered entirely by Yossarian's entrance into the bomber. While this flashback is not clearly explained, it will reappear and unfold again throughout the book in bits and pieces, particularly in the episodes involving death or destruction. The importance of the memory of Snowden's death cannot be understated. It symbolizes Yossarian's fears of the casualties and the frailty of human life.

Doc Daneeka proposes the notion of a “Catch-22” as a means of justifying the never-ending process of the men having to fly missions. While irrational behavior and peculiar rationalizations have been pervasive, it has not been labeled until now, and, as will be seen later, such craziness is the prevailing philosophy in the war.

Another character from the camp is also introduced in greater detail. Chief White Halfoat provides another opportunity to expose a terrible facet of military life and American culture. While racism was hinted at in the first chapter when the Texan was accused of murdering the soldier in white because he was black, racial discrimination is more directly addressed here. Chief White Halfoat cleverly points out the irony that Native Americans are in a sense the original Americans. Despite his exaggerations, the mood and essential complaints of Chief White Halfoat are not unprecedented. The style in which racial discrimination is described prevents the reader from being offended and lessens the blow with hyperbolic humor. Yossarian claims quite correctly that most of Halfoat's anecdotes are inaccurate or simply made up. Yet this story-telling is funny and even forgivable. Halfoat is not seeking to lecture but is drawing on the ancient oral tradition of his ancestors. As Yossarian remarks, Halfoat is simply retelling what was told him by his family and parents, and he simply does not know the truth.

Chapter 6 touches on a central theme: the war is a nightmare. This point will reappear at the end of the book when Yossarian is running madly about the ruins of Rome, looking for the kid sister. Hungry Joe's nightmares come to symbolize the men's fear of being killed. Just as Joe denies that he has had nightmares when he wakes up, similarly the other men, except for Yossarian, deny that they are humans and admit their fear of being killed in the fighting.

The inability to reject authority and to stand up for themselves is exemplified in both Doc Daneeka and ex-P.F.C. Wintergreen, who create the fallacious Catch-22 argument. Much of Colonel Cathcart's success in having the men fly so many missions comes from the military bureaucracy that lets all kinds of crazy injustices slip through the cracks.

Two incidents that will be explained later are worth noting here. First, Halfoat has managed to make Captain Flume's life into a living nightmare by threatening to kill him. Halfoat takes pleasure in this metamorphosis of Captain Flume from a happy and nice man to a disturbed and agonizing one. This episode presents a particularly nice parallel to Hungry Joe's ongoing nightmares. Second, the random mention of Colonel Cathcart telling Major Major that he is the new squadron commander will have important implications in future chapters, because this too will transform him from a happy, accepted man into a paranoid outcast.

Although Chapter 7 is entitled "McWatt," it recalls the origins of what will eventually become M&M Enterprises. The new mess officer, Milo, is inspired when he discovers that Yossarian's friends are selling fruit on the black market. Like most good businessmen, he recognizes opportunity when he sees it. His initial transaction with McWatt indicates the nature of what sort of business Milo will run. McWatt is utterly unaware that any transaction has ever gone on. Instead, he is left clueless and bewildered. Likewise, Yossarian is given a totally useless product from the exchange, a quarter of a bedsheet. This unequal, manipulative trading will become the standard of Milo's business.

Milo is the star character in this chapter while McWatt represents the first of what will be a series of people Milo dupes and leaves clueless. Milo has a quick mind and is ruthlessly practical. He soon recognizes McWatt is the sort who can be dealt with unevenly, without the victim even realizing what is going on. This attitude differs from that of Yossarian, who generously gives away all of his fruit. These two different kinds of deals will reappear when Milo bombs his own outfit for “business” reasons, but Yossarian reacts with honor.

In sum, Yossarian should not be dismissed as a clueless jerk like McWatt. He is quite capable of deception himself. He confides to Milo that he actually does not eat any of the liver because he wants to remain “sick enough.” When Milo inquires about his condition, Yossarian answers Milo as enigmatically as Milo does when McWatt enters with the torn bedsheet. However, there is a subtle but important distinction between Yossarian's and Milo's deceptions. Yossarian's motive is to protect himself from danger while Milo's is to capitalize on others. As the plot moves forward, Yossarian, for all his flaws, will be developed as a man who respects human life and will, at any cost, protect it, whereas Milo will be willing to pursue the money trail at any cost.

Chapter 8: Lieutenant Scheisskopf

Clevinger, a brilliant Harvard graduate who has intelligence but not brains, cannot understand how Milo can run his syndicate profitably. He sides with both left wingers and right wingers and thus is hated by both sides. He talks too much about Aristotle and is a dope with women. He fails to note the dangers of correcting Lieutenant Scheisskopf despite Yossarian’s warnings.

Lieutenant Scheisskopf is an R.O.T.C. graduate with poor eyesight. His wife and her friend Doris Duz make themselves as available to the men as much as possible. Yossarian enjoys sleeping with Scheisskopf's wife. Meanwhile, Scheisskopf is too obsessed with trying to win the weekly parade to pay much attention to his wife's amorous advances. In his spare time, he also recruits cadets to give false testimony against the brilliant Clevinger. Despite the huge amounts of testimony against him, Clevinger still has not been charged with anything.

Strangely, Clevinger also takes the parades as seriously as Scheisskopf does, though the other troops hate the parades. The men groan and collapse in the intense heat as a bloated colonel judges them. Pennants are given as prizes, but Yossarian sees these cumbersome objects as useless. Despite his efforts, Scheisskopf’s squadron is ranked last three weeks in a row. Scheisskopf then listens to Clevinger's advice and allows the cadets to elect their own commanding officers, and the squadron wins the yellow pennant. After he discovers that the men should not swing their arms more than three inches from their bodies, they win the red pennant twice in a row. This historical event puts an end to the parades.

Meanwhile, Clevinger is being grilled by the board for his nonexistent crimes, and Yossarian's name comes up. The inquiry itself is quite pointless. The colonel continuously accuses Clevinger of various crimes, only for Clevinger to deny that he committed them. When Clevinger asks about justice, the colonel sneers and sentences him to walk fifty-seven punishment walks. The other officials presiding in the trial are punished as well, and more severely than Clevinger.

Chapter 9: Major Major Major Major

Major Major had been born too early. His mother was very ill on her deathbed during his birth, and his father lied to her, saying he named the boy Caleb. Essentially, Major Major had been born into mediocrity, suffers in mediocrity, and then had mediocrity thrust upon him. He also has a strong resemblance to Henry Fonda.

His father, on the other hand, is a liar who hides Major Major's real name until Major Major enrolls in kindergarten. His mother dies as a consequence, and Major becomes a shy, awkward, submissive boy. Major performs well in school but is viewed with suspicion as a Communist and homosexual. The FBI sends five men and a Scotch terrier to spy on him and then place him in the army, where he is promoted to Major.

When he reports barefooted to Lieutenant Scheisskopf, he is sent to the hospital until his shoes and uniform arrive. He goes to Pianosa, where he is treated equally and rapturously plays basketball with the other men. Then, after Major Duluth's death, Colonel Cathcart makes him the squadron commander. Immediately, everyone begins to adulate and defer to him. When Major Major asks why he is treated so specially, Milo admits it is because people think he is Henry Fonda.

The bored Major is clueless about his new job and signs his name as Washington Irving on his documents. When he gets bored, he switches the names and signs them “Irving Washington.” This puts an end to the useless paper flow to his desk. Two C.I.D. men are sent to investigate, and Major sets each one on the other's trail. The second C.I.D. man suspects that somehow the chaplain, A. T. Tappman, is involved.

To avoid suspicion, Major switches his pseudonym to John Milton and wears dark glasses and a false mustache. He orders Sergeant Towser not to let anyone to see him in his office and tells Milo that he will eat all his meals in the trailer and not the mess hall. Despite these attempts to cut himself off, Yossarian manages to gain access to him by bringing down Major in a flying tackle. Eventually, Major gives in and Yossarian tells him that he will not fly any more missions. The befuddled Major does not know what to tell Yossarian and apologizes but insists he must follow Colonel Cathcart's orders.

Chapter 10: Wintergreen

Without warning, Clevinger does not return from the weekly milk run and is presumed dead. Yossarian is so astounded by this disappearance that he tells ex-P.F.C. Wintergreen, who responds with utter apathy. Wintergreen is a loser who is forced to dig holes six feet wide every time he goes AWOL. Nevertheless, he takes his punishment very seriously and does such a good job that he is recommended for the Good Conduct Medal. One day while he is digging for water, he strikes oil. Chief White Halfoat is kicked off the base and sent to Pianosa.

About ten days later, Appleby goes to see Major Major to report Yossarian’s refusal to take his Atabrine tablet. Sergeant Towser informs him, however, that no one sees Major Major in his office when Major Major is in his office. The humiliated Appleby departs, leaving a note about Yossarian.

When Colonel Cathcart raises the number of missions to fifty-five, Sergeant Towser becomes convinced that all uniformed men are insane. He also begins to think what a waste it was to fly Mudd over, since he died so soon afterwards and now is in Yossarian’s tent, completely worthless. Yossarian barely had known Mudd, the unknown soldier, who had died only two hours after his arrival at the siege of Bologna.

In a closing scene with Dr. Stubbs, Doc Daneeka's replacement, Dr. Stubbs snickers that Yossarian is crazy because he may be the only sane person left.

Chapter 11: Captain Black

Corporal Kolodny is shocked to find out about the missions to Bologna and passes the news to Captain Black, a skimpy, lethargic man who enjoys sneering at his men's fate. He becomes ecstatic when he is expected to succeed Major Duluth after the latter's death at Bologna, but Colonel Cathcart chooses Major Major instead.

In revenge, Captain Black begins the Glorious Loyalty Oath Crusade. Each time someone wants intelligence information from him, he has to sign a loyalty oath. Gradually, Captain Black ups the requirements so that the other officers cannot compete with him. If anyone complains, he points out that those who are moral and loyal to their country will want to sign the Loyalty Oath and sign “The Star-Spangled Banner.” He refuses to let Major Major sign the oath and then accuses him of being a Communist.

Milo will not participate in the Crusade. He refuses to stop giving food to Major Major just because he is a reported Communist. Doc Daneeka also refuses to cooperate with Captain Black but gives in after the threat that he will be sent to the Pacific.

Meanwhile, Colonels Cathcart and Korn argue about Captain Black's new patriotic binge and who is responsible for Major Major's promotion. Black appeals for support from his idol, Major -- de Coverley. When de Coverley arrives, though, he angrily pushes away the Glorious Loyalty Oath and demands “eats.” At this point, Milo starts to give out food rather than the oaths. The Glorious Loyalty Oath Crusade comes to an end, much to Captain Black's concealed disappointment.

Chapter 12: Bologna

The men keep hoping that the rain will prevent the siege at Bologna, but it finally stops and the mission must proceed. Gradually, they begin to resent the scarlet line on the map that demarcates the bomb line. That night, Yossarian moves the line on the map over Bologna. Captain Black informs Colonels Cathcart and Korn, and the mission is cancelled. Since no one has captured the city and deserves the medal, General Peckem asks to have it for himself.

Meanwhile, Yossarian tells Wintergreen that Milo is infuriated because Wintergreen is competing in the black market against him. Wintergreen replies to Yossarian that he should do his own job, which is to bomb Bologna. Wintergreen and Clevinger then accuse Yossarian of moving the bomb line. Yossarian argues that he is justified in saving his own life.

That night, the drunk men, led by Chief White Halfoat, steal Captain Black's car. They end up in the mud and run into Clevinger, who harshly rebukes them. The drunkards all laugh back until someone points out that the rain has stopped and they will have to fly the mission to Bologna. Amidst all the hubbub, Hungry Joe has a nightmare and screams loudly in the car. He believes that Huple's cat is on his face, suffocating him. Actually the cat is on his face, and Hungry Joe panics. Yossarian tries to officiate a fight between the cat and Hungry Joe, but the cat chickens out and Hungry Joe is declared the winner.

Chapter 13: Major -- de Coverley

Since Yossarian has moved the line, Major -- de Coverley not believes that his troops have captured not only Bologna but also Florence. He is enigmatic to both the Americans and Germans, and his eclectic hobbies include pitching horseshoes and renting apartments for troops to use on their leaves. In fact, de Coverley has rented numerous spacious apartments in Rome, which are owned by a beautiful countess and her daughter-in-law. Yossarian dreams of sleeping with them, but they will only offer themselves to Nately and Aarfy, who refuse to do so. There are plenty of other women around, and Yossarian is particularly fond of the maid in the lime-colored panties who lies for all men.

De Coverley wears an eye patch due to an injury caused by a malicious old man during a parade in Rome. Nevertheless to remain binocular, he insists the patch be transparent. His colossal stature also earns the fear of all the men, and only Milo Minderbinder has the courage to address him, ingratiating himself by offering him a hard-boiled egg from Malta. Taking hints from Milo, de Coverley promises to give Milo plans to make weekly runs to Malta for eggs and to Sicily for butter. This initiates a fresh-egg orgy, and gradually all the officers turn over their mess halls to Milo. His popularity spreads as he opens up other supply lines to include other specialties from lamb chops to artichokes to strawberries.

Meanwhile, Colonel Cathcart is in trouble for failing to destroy the bridge at Ferrara for an entire week. He blames Yossarian, who took evasive action on the first round, although the others missed the target on the first round and it was Yossarian who hit the bridge on the second try. Yossarian suggests that Cathcart cover up this humiliation by giving Yossarian a medal for going around twice and promoting him to captain. Colonels Cathcart and Korn agree this is a good cover-up and promise to do so.

Chapter 14: Kid Sampson

Gradually, Yossarian loses his courage to fly the mission even once. At Bologna, he pretends to have intercom troubles and orders Admiral Kid Sampson to turn the plane back. The men all return jubilantly, but when they land, all they see is Chief White Halfoat forging signatures to obtain more alcohol. Nately and Kid Sampson wander off, and Yossarian returns to his tent.

Yossarian feels good and goes to the beach, where he enjoys the quiet and isolation. The peace of the beach is completely opposite to the unnerving chaos inside the bomber. Yossarian strips and falls asleep. Suddenly, though, the sound of planes from above arouses him from slumber.

In shock, Yossarian watches the formation of the planes and realizes that only his plane is missing. He looks about anxiously but does not see any distress signals, assumes that the clouds have covered the target, and decides that Bologna has not been bombed yet. Actually, Yossarian is wrong. Bologna has been bombed and has been labeled a milk run.

Analysis

Chapter 8 introduces one of the most important figures in the book, Lieutenant Scheisskopf. As the book progresses, he comes to represent the despicable, military type: the brainless commander who gives orders to his men, is concerned with fanfare and bravado but not meaningful military action, and is the stupid person who somehow manages to be promoted. His name in German literally means "shithead."

Scheisskopf's strange obsession with parades will reappear each time he is promoted. His fascination with superficial grandeur points to a hollow mind. It is sadly funny that Scheisskopf is so busy trying to plan his parades that he ignores the amorous advances of his wife on others. His apathy towards sexual pleasure is also present in other officers such as Colonel Cathcart and General Dreedle. Such behavior is an effect of war: an inability to have pleasure, a desensitization to life. When Scheisskopf accedes to his wife's innuendoes, his whipping of her demonstrates a destructive, cruel streak in what should be a pleasurable, relaxing activity.

The other major event in this chapter is the inquisition of Clevinger. Rather than having the trials based on justice, Scheisskopf uses the Action Board inquiry for his personal vendetta against Clevinger. Due process is violated: rather than Clevinger being charged with a crime and then having evidence presented against him, Scheisskopf decides to create false testimony in an attempt to make up a crime so Clevinger can be punished. This vindictive, unjust pattern will be used again in the inquisition of the chaplain.

The evolution of Major Major from what should have been a normal, mediocre child to a paranoid, insane officer points to an underlying trend among all the soldiers. Basically Major Major finds himself trapped by circumstances. His father tricks him into thinking that he is a normal child until it is too late. People think that he looks like Henry Fonda, his one advantage. In soon finds himself appointed to a position he does not even aspire to at all, one that forces him to ostracize himself and deal with paperwork. Worst of all, he is victimized by the infuriated Captain Black.

The father of Major Major is another person who professes American values but, like the Texan and Colonel Cathcart, is quite despicable. In this case, the father represents the rural farmer who upholds traditional values. Underneath such trappings, though, he is just as deceptive and cruel as Colonels Cathcart and Korn or General Peckem. The values he pretends to aspire to--small government, support for small farmers, and hardcore religious beliefs--are in conflict with what he actually practices. This hypocrisy will be emphasized at the end of the book, when Colonel Cathcart admits he has only flown four missions but has coerced his men to fly eighty so he could be promoted to general.

Major Major's new position exemplifies the faults in the military bureaucracy. First his work is quite unclear, and later General Peckem confides to Colonel Cathcart that “delegation of responsibility” means that the work is just passed on to someone lower. Thus Major Major ends up with loads of meaningless paperwork. This paperwork can only stop when the military bureaucracy accomplishes its purpose or Major Major rejects his identity. Thus, Major Major wears disguises and refuses to see anyone because he no longer exists. At last, Colonel Cathcart has accomplished his purpose: to completely obliterate the existence of a person and leave behind a malleable, unidentified soul.

Chapter 10 is one of the more amusing chapters. It provides further explanations, or contradictions, for incidents previously discussed. The briefly mentioned dead man in Yossarian's tent is now given a name, Mudd. But the refusal to recognize him as a person symbolizes the military institution's denial of the meaning of human life of those who die. This deprivation of identity will be seen again in other characters, including the soldier in white and Major Major. In fact, this action points to the underlying, erroneous belief of the military bureaucracy that since their soldiers are no longer self-actualized human beings with lives of their own, they are just another expendable resource like oil or food.

The role of ex-P.F.C. Wintergreen is explained more fully here. We see that he is a “snide little punk” who enjoys going AWOL and who has misdirected pride in fulfilling his punishment. The action of digging holes comes to symbolize Wintergreen's slow descent into the inferno and the sadistic pleasure he receives out of stirring up even more trouble with the military correspondence each time he returns. Wintergreen will come to play a subtle but critical role in the following events, as he prevents Colonel Cathcart from becoming a general and thus causing indirectly the increase in the required number of missions, as well as the displacement of General Peckem by the newly promoted General Scheisskopf.

Being personally vindictive can also take other forms besides Lieutenant Scheisskopf's method of persecution in the courts. In this chapter, Captain Black takes advantage of the ongoing war to drive his Glorious Loyalty Oath Campaign. He uses patriotism as an excuse to force his will upon the men. Gradually, like Lieutenant Scheisskopf's infatuation with parades, Captain Black's obsession with the Glorious Loyalty Oath consumes not only his own life but even that of others. He wrongfully imposes his views upon the other men, and those who oppose him, such as Milo and Doc Daneeka, are quickly forced into submission. Justice and innocence of the victim are completely ignored in Captain Black's mad pursuit for revenge. His supervisors, Colonels Cathcart and Korn, refuse to take responsibility, so the unfortunate Major Major is left to fend for himself once again. Major’s paranoia is now justified in the perspective of Captain Black's terrible actions against him.

The end of the Oath Campaign is particularly ironic. Denying food coercively unless people sign the oath makes no sense to Major -- de Coverley. Ironically, Captain Black brings upon his own plan’s destruction when he invites de Coverley. Strangely, the Major is described as a god with a white hair and Jehovan bearing, and figuratively, he does act as a god when he saves the entire squadron from the dangerous clutches of Captain Black.

Chapter 12 exposes the weaknesses of the military bureaucracy: the poor communication within the military, the severe lack of common sense, and worst of all, the greed to get medals and promotions. This initial conversation among the officers points to their apathy. In fact, Colonel Cathcart is extremely relieved because he only wants the honor of having accomplished the mission. Whether any effective military action is taken does not matter as long as Colonel Cathcart earns the honor. Medals are not determined by merit but by politics. Amazingly enough, no one inquires about what seems to be a very unusual action. For some reason, the people in charge of the land operations are not in close communication with their airpower.

More importantly, though, Yossarian for the first time takes direct action against the military to stop flying missions. This step foreshadows his future open refusal to stop flying missions. Yossarian refuses to conform to the institution’s patterns. Instead Yossarian sees everything from the viewpoint of an individual whose main interest is to survive. Just as General Peckem sees General Dreedle as his enemy, Yossarian sees anyone who tries to kill him as his enemy. In Yossarian’s conversation with Clevinger, Clevinger plays Devil's advocate and takes on the institutional viewpoint that people give up their identity and their duty to their own survival when they becomes soldiers. Colonel Cargill's and General Peckem's evasive answers about why they themselves are not fighting, however--they are better administrators--ring a bit hollow. It seems reasonable, under these circumstances, for Yossarian to protect himself because it seems reasonable to suspect that the officers are essentially trying to kill him to meet their own goals.

Chapter 13 provides two major incidents for the plot. The first is Major -- de Coverley's peculiar habit of renting apartments with lots of beautiful women for the enlisted men and the officers. Ironically, this eccentricity will end up haunting Yossarian when Nately meets the whore who later tries to kill Yossarian to avenge Nately's death. More importantly (for now), Colonels Cathcart and Korn also try to cover up Yossarian's evasive action by promoting him to captain and giving him a medal. While these two incidents do not seem to bear any relation to each other, this strange habit and Yossarian's accolades will be intimately tied together at the end of the book when the officers threaten to use the whore incident to deprive Yossarian of his awards.

A strange logic pervades the book here. Rather than sensibly punishing Yossarian for his evasive actions, Colonels Cathcart and Korn decide to award him a medal. Thus, none of them will be caught--unless this plan itself fails.

The apartments are a minor paradise for the men, a haven from the insanity and meaninglessness of the war. This contrasts very heavily with the Eden, later described in Chapters 20 and 25, that the chaplain enjoys. Whereas the chaplain elevates his wife to a Beatrice figure, Yossarian treasures very highly the maid in the lime-colored panties who lies for all the men without any discrimination.

In Chapter 14, Yossarian continues to aggressively fight against flying more missions. This time he tears apart the intercom. Admiral Kid Sampson, the innocent victim of this plot, is only too eager to comply and turn back. The conversation between Yossarian and Kid Sampson is especially telling about Sampson. Although everything is going quite well, Yossarian quickly dupes him into thinking that something is wrong. Underneath his cheerful, happy-go-lucky veneer, Sampson is revealed to be just like Yossarian, eager to go home for any petty reason. As will be shown later, the entire squadron secretly are all Yossarians inside but lack the courage to openly express their self-protective cowardice.

The beach is yet another superficial paradise in the book, much like the hospital and the apartments. There is a false sense of peace at the beach. Although it appears to be a haven, it turns out to be the sight of a disturbing scene for Yossarian, the presence of the bomb squad. Yossarian incorrectly assumes that death is awaiting him already. Actually, his timing is off since the mission is only a milk run. Still, his terrible premonition about death will come when he least expects it, when McWatt accidentally slices Kid Sampson in half with his airplane. In peacetime, a beach is a place of paradise, but not in wartime.

Chapter 15: Piltchard and Wren

Captains Piltchard and Wren are two quiet, nice men who are in charge of the squadron operations. Piltchard gently asks his men not to turn back for unimportant reasons like having a defective intercom. To show that they do not resent Yossarian, they assign him to lead the first formation with McWatt and order them to bomb the ammunition dumps in Bologna. As commanded, Yossarian goes directly for the target like Havermeyer and suddenly discovers that he is surrounded by flak. As he cries inside, the bombs are dropped. He screams at McWatt to have the plane climb up as quickly as possible. In the din and chaos, Yossarian orders Aarfy out of the nose and suddenly realizes that the other planes in their formation are gone. As Yossarian panics, Aarfy good-humoredly babbles that he cannot hear Yossarian and does not even respond to Yossarian’s punching.

Suddenly, Yossarian realizes that Orr is no longer there. He curses Aarfy furiously and returns to the briefing room. After much anxious waiting, Orr arrives with one broken engine. He crash-lands, as usual, and Yossarian breathes a sigh of relief. Immediately after this, though, he takes emergency leave and heads off to Rome to find Luciana.

Chapter 16: Luciana

Yossarian finds Luciana alone. She convinces him to dance with her and to pay for her dinner, although she claims she will not sleep with him. Yossarian protests but gives in. Eventually, she agrees to let him sleep with her, but not this evening, since she must return home. Luciana abruptly leaves him behind, and Yossarian is left with the yearning that she would have been the ideal woman to fulfill his sexual fantasies. Her interest in Yossarian is minimal, but she is infatuated with Aarfy, excited about Hungry Joe, and obsessed with fornication.

When Yossarian arrives at Luciana's place, he finds that she is gone and envies Aarfy. Aarfy is worshipped by two beautiful aristocratic women, mother and daughter, who simply ignore Yossarian. It turns out, though, that Aarfy is at his apartment rather than with Luciana. Apparently, Aarfy refused to sleep with her because he considers her to be a “nice girl.” Instead, he persuaded her to be “good” and not sleep around. Consequently, Yossarian loses his temper and Hungry Joe starts to beat up Aarfy.

Yossarian goes to sleep, and when he wakes up, Luciana appears. They kid around about marriage and are passionately kissing when Hungry Joe tries to break in and take pictures of them. Yossarian, in a panic, orders Luciana to dress and sneaks her out. On the way, they meet Nately, who is grieved because he no longer has enough money to see his beloved whore.

The irony is that despite Nately's infatuation, his whore finds Nately uninteresting and is upset about his constant jealousy. In fact, Captain Black sleeps with her whenever possible just to annoy Nately. Before Luciana leaves, she gives Yossarian her name and address. After she leaves, Yossarian tears it up but regrets it immediately. By this time, though, all of the pieces have been blown away by the wind. The next day, he searches for her but to no avail. He begins to have flashbacks about Snowden. After sleeping with an anonymous whore, he meets Hungry Joe, who announces that Colonel Cathcart has raised the number of missions to forty--and Yossarian has only thirty-two.

Chapter 17: The Soldier in White

Yossarian runs to the hospital, determined never to fly another mission. He can safely hide in the hospital because of his liver condition but is well enough not to catch pneumonia or malaria. He likes the hospital much better than the bomb fields. The people are much healthier here than on the battlefield, and the death rate is much lower. Death behaves here, and the people die peacefully rather than being arbitrarily blown up. The only problems are the management, which is troublesome, and the company, which is not always the best quality.

One day, a soldier encased in gauze arrives. He has a thermometer as an adornment. Thinking back, Yossarian begins to wonder whether Nurse Cramer, rather than the Texan, is guilty of the soldier's death. Although the Texan chats with him very cheerfully, the soldier remains as quiet as ever.

Nurses Duckett and Cramer diligently clean him and his jars very often. Yossarian is infuriated at Nurse Cramer for her sympathy to the soldier. They argue vehemently about how anyone could know who is in there, and Dunbar even suggests it is empty. The nurses send off the soldiers and switch the soldier's jars.

The fighter captain, Dunbar, the warrant officer with malaria, and Yossarian each bemoan their ill fates. Yossarian claims he is the worst off because everyone is trying to kill him. He even goes so far as to list in his mind all the people and diseases that might kill him. Hungry Joe is even more obsessed than Yossarian; he makes an alphabetical list of them and constantly consults Doc Daneeka. In turn, Daneeka asks Yossarian for help.

Yossarian knows so much about fatal disease that he begins to wonder whether he can recognize the symptoms of his own fatal illness and if the doctors in the hospital can save him. Daneeka refuses to sympathize with Yossarian and to give orders for Yossarian to be grounded. At first, he denies that he even has the power to do this, but when Yossarian says that Major Major confessed this in a ditch to him, Daneeka points out the futility of performing his action--Catch-22.

Daneeka then resumes his pathetic posturing and tells Yossarian to at least finish five missions first before asking for help. As Yossarian leaves, he tells the sick Daneeka that he has Ewing's tumor and continues to worry when he will fly his final, fatal mission.

Chapter 18: The Soldier Who Saw Everything Twice

Yossarian tries to avoid the war by claiming he has abdominal problems. An arrogant English intern informs him that this condition can be easily cured; on the other hand, if Yossarian has a liver condition, he can fool the doctors for weeks, since the liver is a great mystery. Despite Yossarian’s claim that he has liver pain, the other doctors say he is well and must return to the front.

Fortunately, Yossarian is saved when a soldier creates havoc by declaring he sees everything twice. At last, after much squabbling, the doctors diagnose him with meningitis, although they admit they really do not know what is wrong with him. At the hospital, Yossarian has the most rational, pleasant Thanksgiving dinner he has ever had. (Later, Yossarian remembers this Thanksgiving, when the following year he spends it with the eccentric Lieutenant Scheisskopf's wife. They bicker about the pain in life and about why God created pain. Yossarian becomes short-tempered and begins to blaspheme against God, and the wife beats him in anger.)

After the fourteen-day quarantine, just as Yossarian is being sent home, he also begins to yell that he too sees everything twice. The same pandemonium ensues, and Yossarian cleverly begins to copy the other man until the latter dies. At that point, Yossarian says he can see everything once, whether it be one finger or ten. The doctors are relieved that Yossarian is better, although they have not really done anything.

The relatives of the dead man, Giuseppe, have arrived to see their dying child. He orders Yossarian to pretend to be Giuseppe to pacify the grieving family. When Yossarian protests against being an impostor, the doctor threatens to expose Yossarian for pretending to have a liver condition. The relatives come in, impoverished and anguished. They are surprised to discover that their son is named Yossarian but depart with hope that he will end up well in heaven.

Chapter 19: Colonel Cathcart

Colonel Cathcart is a paradoxical man whose goal in life is to become a general. He measures his progress relative to others and consequently has mixed feelings about being a colonel at age 36. He does not trust anyone but sees Colonel Korn as his closest ally. Nevertheless, he bemoans the fact that someone as intelligent as himself should have to depend on a state university graduate for assistance.

Eventually, Colonel Cathcart becomes so desperate to be a general that he decides to utilize religious practices to fulfill his goal. He invites the chaplain to his offices and hands him a copy of The Saturday Evening Post showing an American squadron praying before each mission. The chaplain is relieved that Colonel Cathcart is not going to yell at him again.

The colonel asks the chaplain if he thinks, as shown in the photo, whether praying before each mission will help the squadron and himself. The chaplain says they might, and the Colonel imagines that he too might appear in The Post. He offers the chaplain a red plum tomato but is turned down. The Colonel returns to the subject of prayers and says they will start praying this afternoon. But he warns the chaplain against any really hardcore preaching--or passages involving religion. Finally, Cathcart asks for a prayer for a tighter bomb pattern to please General Peckem.

An argument arises when the chaplain asks for the atheists to be excused and to include the enlisted men with the officers. Colonel Cathcart becomes infuriated and begins to think that the chaplain is plotting against him and about the treachery of enlisted men. At last, when the chaplain points out the exclusion of the enlisted men might result in a looser bomb formation, the colonel gives up. Before he leaves, the chaplain mentions to Cathcart the wrongful increase of the number of missions to sixty--and Yossarian's bad health condition.

Chapter 20: Corporal Whitcomb

Doc Daneeka becomes extremely upset and runs outside rather than for cover. As he tends the men, Yossarian comes out with the dead bodies of Snowden and the young tail gunner. Snowden is dying. Daneeka finds Yossarian naked, wraps him up, and gives him shots and pills to put him to sleep. When Yossarian wakes up, he refuses to wear his uniform and walks around naked. Finally Yossarian climbs a tree, and Milo follows him. At the top, Milo offers Yossarian chocolate-covered Egyptian cotton. Yossarian says it is disgusting, but Milo decides he will feed it to the other men anyway.

The two sit up in the tree and talk. Yossarian tells him they are burying Snowden, who was killed at Avignon, and that Milo is responsible for the tail gunner's death. Milo argues that it is not his fault that the opportunity to corner the Egyptian cotton market came up and bemoans his poor investment. Meanwhile, they watch Snowden's burial. Milo tries again to make Milo eat the cotton. Yossarian becomes upset and suggests that Milo bribe the government to buy the cotton. Milo hesitates at first but convinces himself it is for the good of America. He leaves and asks the still naked Yossarian to put on his uniform.

Chapter 21: General Dreedle

Colonel Cathcart becomes upset at just seeing the name Yossarian. He begins to think it reminds him of communists and fascists, how un-American it is. His mind digresses about the illicit trade of plum tomatoes and his home in the hills. Eventually, though, it returns to Yossarian and makes a list of all the incidents in which the name “Yossarian” appears. Cathcart's main ambition is to be promoted to general, and he wonders whether he has made the required number of missions high enough to attract attention. His chances of promotion are extremely slim, because Wintergreen destroys any correspondence of his that would give Cathcart a chance to be promoted.

General Dreedle, the wing commander, is a mean, torturous man. He hates his son-in-law, Colonel Moodus, because he hates marriages. General Dreedle specifically hires a beautiful nurse just to torment Colonel Moodus, who has not had sex since the war began. He takes pride in his unpretentious style and believes that all young men should listen to his superiors. He also hates General Peckem. When he awards Yossarian the Distinguished Flying Cross, he demands to know why Yossarian is naked. Colonel Cathcart becomes upset, but General Dreedle declares that he approves of it simply because General Peckem wants everyone to wear their uniforms--so they look good when they are killed. As he leaves with his nurse, the soldiers catch sight of her. Yossarian and Dunbar began to ooh, and Nately rebukes them. Finally, General Dreedle tells them to shut up, but Major Danby is too busy synchronizing the watches. Infuriated, General Dreedle orders Major Danby to be shot, but Colonel Moodus meekly tells him he does not have this power. Colonel Korn then orders the men to synchronize the watches; he feels in the limelight. Much to his shock, though, Colonel Cathcart tells him that General Dreedle thinks he is an idiot.

Analysis

As elsewhere in the book, these chapters feature numerous digressions and fragments of plot, taken apart and put back together. The digression of the plot in mood and content is particularly noticeable in Chapter 15. It begins with the mellow, cheerful speech made by Piltchard and Wren, then reaches an abrupt, horrifying climax with Yossarian and his crew in the cockpit. Then, without warning, the drama completely collapses when the men return safely and silly Orr safely putts back into the field.

The pair featured in the this chapter, Piltchard and Wren, represent do-gooders who obediently and blissfully follow the institution's orders. They never question the commands of the institution, and their constant association with each other throughout the book indicates their lack of individuality, as compared with the very independent-thinking Yossarian. Aarfy figures prominently as the dope who fails to recognize the danger his life is in, and he is just as oblivious as Piltchard and Wren. His lack of sensitivity is demonstrated when Yossarian punches him and he does not respond.

Chapter 15 starts with the satirical tone typically used throughout the book. But the extensive scene of Yossarian flying in combat dramatically alters its viewpoint from the macroscopic view to the microscopic one of what exactly is going on in Yossarian's mind. For once the reader fully appreciates that Yossarian's arguments with Clevinger--that everyone is trying to kill him--are in earnest and not just Yossarian’s way of getting out of the war.

In Chapter 16, Yossarian engages in a search for pleasure, which is figured in Luciana. She is a curious person who lives on the periphery of temptation and fulfillment. She talks dirty with various men but not with Yossarian, whom she persuades to dance with her and buy her dinner. At last, when Yossarian thinks that the game is up and has won her over, she unexpectedly departs. The evening continues to be filled with twists. Once again, what appear to be mere eccentricities turn out to affect the plot in crucial ways. First, Aarfy refuses to sleep with “nice girls” and will not pay for sex. His consequent dissuasion of Luciana from sleeping around creates much suspense, for the reader wonders whether she will return to Yossarian or not. When she does, another strange habit--this time Hungry Joe's insane desire to photograph naked women having sex--interferes with what should be a normal evening of lovemaking. This strange parade of seemingly unimportant details becoming turning points in the plot will grow even more important as a theme as the book progresses.

The strange logic of Catch-22 pervades Yossarian's and Luciana's frivolous idea about getting married--a mix of infatuation and absurd rationalization. Luciana insists that Yossarian is crazy to want to marry her, and he laughs back that she is crazy not to marry him. Later, his mad, futile search parallels his claustrophobia in the plane and fear of death when flying his missions. Just as Yossarian punches Aarfy in the plane out of confusion and frustration, Yossarian likewise madly throws himself onto the maid in lime-colored panties. This desperation for pleasure, no matter who the woman may be, points to Yossarian's need for enjoyment and sensation in these times of cruelty and destruction.

Just as Luciana stands for the unattainable woman who leaves Yossarian behind, almost as if she were just a dream, the maid provides a source of pleasure for the entire squadron, for she will sleep with anyone. Ironically, though, just as she is the symbol of sensuality, she is also tied to death. Yossarian notices Snowden's bag just outside the door; Snowden had also seen her before his death. Later, in a reverse situation, Aarfy rapes and kills the maid, just because he does not want to pay for sex. This future incident contrasts sharply with Aarfy's pressure on Luciana not to sleep around—he sees two kinds of women, the nice ones and the whores.

The hospital could be a haven away from the dangers and senselessness of the war, yet this appearance of rationality turns out to be only a façade. The nurses waste their time diligently attending to the soldier in white, who turns out to be empty. Daneeka’s mission is not to save lives but to save himself from being sent to the Pacific. The lack of emotional support for the men and the feeling that they are being protected from death create a delusional obsession with disease and illness in Yossarian and Hungry Joe. What starts off as a natural concern for one's life and health turns out into a crazed mission to protect oneself from death. The war has suddenly made them realize how fragile life is and how close people always are to the brink of death. The inability to accept that sickness and death from disease is a natural process of life results in people’s insane behavior. Doctors are not immune from such fears either, for Daneeka is very susceptible to Yossarian's sarcastic suggestion that he has Ewing's tumor. Ironically, these men are quite physically healthy but have made themselves mentally sick through their paranoid fears.

The question of justice comes up repeatedly in Chapter 17. As the men in the hospital talk about illness, they come to realize that disease and death randomly choose their victims, without any regard for moral justice. The same lack of fair treatment arises when Yossarian approaches Doc Daneeka and demands to be grounded. Daneeka unjustly prefers to save himself rather than fulfill the traditional role of a doctor devoted to the lives of wounded men.

The soldier in white is a curious character in the plot. Having been briefly alluded to in Chapter One, he is explained somewhat more clearly in this chapter. It is still unclear what exactly his role is. For the first time, the idea that no one is inside the shell--the case is just a deception--comes up and makes sense. Yossarian's suggestion that it could be Mudd, the dead man inside his tent, points to a terrible possibility. Perhaps this man all bandaged up is simply a rendition of a mummy. Another hypothesis is that the soldier in white is the fate of whichever soldier is so unfortunate to get caught in the middle of all the fire. As the artillery captain appropriately points out, this figure is simply a “middleman” and should just be eliminated. Essentially, the soldier in white comes to represent the former civilian who is tossed into the war and, in the process, is deprived of his spirit and identity and transformed into a hollow, dead soldier.

In Chapter 18, the medical institution becomes the primary target of the satire. The doctors are unable to diagnose the strange disease of Giuseppe. Despite this, they decide to declare a diagnosis anyway. This ignorance and absurd panic that result from this unknown disease only prove that the doctors' role is superficial and useless. The doctors' inability to give any worthwhile treatment is actually quite fortunate because most of the men are feigning illness and do not need assistance anyway.

Moreover, the doctors' medical ignorance and unjustified arrogance assist Yossarian as he devises plans to remain in the hospital. The English doctor is the one who tells Yossarian that a liver condition is incurable. Similarly, when Yossarian decides to copy the man who feigns a strange illness, the doctors are so afraid of having him die and being exposed that they keep him in the ward. But when one of the doctors threatens to expose Yossarian's liver condition as fake, he decides to take part in the doctor's scheme.

The scene with Giuseppe's family only proves the lack of scruples and consideration of the doctors. Rather than breaking the truth to them, he takes pleasure in deceiving the family and receiving credit. The grief of the family is somewhat lightened with the humorous confusion of their son's own name. Instead of realizing that they have been deceived, the family members simply make sincere but inapplicable comments. It is especially ironic to be confused with a religious Italian because Yossarian is an Assyrian who does not believe in God.

The Saturday Evening Post incident mocks the use of religion during war. Colonel Cathcart points out that preaching is fairly useless in these times of mass destruction, and what are necessary are economical, practical prayers. In times of war, religion does not provide ideals but instead, for the ever-opportunistic Colonel Cathcart, a chance to gain publicity and fame. Much to his shock, he discovers from those who are devout, such as the chaplain, that religion is not a means which can be bent to his convenience. But the chaplain also seems to be swayed by ambition rather than spirituality alone.

While Colonel Cathcart's offering of a plum tomato to the chaplain seems fairly unimportant at this moment, this episode will play a crucial role when Colonel Cathcart later accuses the chaplain of stealing a plum tomato. This petty occurrence will be twisted into a melodramatic theft when the officers want to victimize the chaplain. Likewise, the other slight comment that the chaplain makes about atheism not being against the law will also be turned against him.

Colonel Cathcart forms a paradoxical image of an officer who has no values or independent judgment and can only evaluate himself based on others. He has a very limited view of life, priding himself on foolish, petty things. Like Yossarian, he suffers from paranoia, but instead of being afraid of being killed, he fears people endangering his position and his attempts to be promoted. He lacks any kindness or compassion as he mercilessly increases the number of required missions in a mad effort to become a general. Later, the colonel's distortion of the minor episodes of the plum tomato and atheism will reveal that he is also a destructive, cruel man who is trying to avenge the chaplain's indirect refusal to assist his mission to gain more power.

Finally, Colonel Cathcart and the chaplain serve as foils to each other. The chaplain is the one who expresses tolerance for everyone despite his religious beliefs or military background. The Colonel's conception of religion is based on the military bureaucracy. He sees the enlisted men as almost separate species who need to be kept separate from the officers. This exclusivity and lack of respect is diametrically opposite to the egalitarian and accommodating attitude of the chaplain.

Chapter 20 introduces material which will figure in the later trial of the chaplain. Seemingly unimportant episodes, such as the plum tomato episode, the Washington Irving signature on the letters, and Major Major's correspondence, will become critical when the chaplain is grilled by Colonels Cathcart and Korn. The other important element here is the character of Corporal Whitcomb, another foil to the chaplain. Corporal Whitcomb, like the officers, seeks to win the good graces of his superiors by falsifying evidence against his hated superior, the chaplain. Whereas the chaplain quietly pities Corporal Whitcomb, Corporal Whitcomb openly usurps the chaplain's power and seeks to earn the gratitude of his superiors to receive promotions.

The description of the chaplain's home uncannily resembles Eden with its flowers, beauty, and serenity. Like Eve and the Serpent, the chaplain fails to recognize the dangers of the diabolical Corporal Whitcomb, or at least is ineffective in fighting him off. Whitcomb tells the chaplain of all the wrongful charges against the latter but then denies having any hand in it and even claims that he is the chaplain's best friend. Such hypocritical behavior confuses the chaplain. Gradually, Whitcomb plants doubts in the innocent chaplain about God and his religion. Eventually the chaplain will discover a new kind of sin and will enjoy it without realizing the evil cause of the whole process.

Chapter 21 focuses upon two major themes: the occasional overzealousness of the pro-American spirit, and the eccentricity and cruelty of the military bureaucracy. Colonel Cathcart's initial, angry reaction at seeing Yossarian's name reflects the prevalent mood among other officers. Cathcart lets himself think that because Yossarian has a foreign-sounding name, he could be a traitor. Like Captain Black, Colonel Cathcart has no justification for such a belief. This prejudice, along with his paranoia and his pro-Americanism, drives injustices such as the anti-communist witch hunts after World War II. The agenda of political vindication, such as that of Colonel Cathcart, can trump the truth. His paranoia also differs greatly from that of Yossarian's or even Major Major's. Cathcart's fears are not based on any actual events. While Yossarian may be taking an extreme view of the war when he declares that everyone is trying to kill him, one can understand how the human instinct to survive has overwhelmed him.

Cathcart, though, suffers from an egotistical need to become a general. He cannot trust anyone above him because those who are more successful than he is are depriving him of his status. Anyone who is equal to him is his competitor, and anyone below him is trying to subvert him. His inability to trust anyone results in a strange mania in which he seeks to attract attention by increasing the number of missions to an absurd amount. Cathcart is not the only one suffering from such an egotistical mania. Colonel Korn's moment of self-importance, when performing the insignificant activity of synchronizing the watches, parallels Cathcart arrogant notion that he should increase the number of missions to a thousand.

Finally, the title character, General Dreedle, represents the boorishness and cruel, autocratic nature of much of the military in the novel. He ignores Yossarian's utterly absurd behavior in receiving his medal naked, yet Dreedle arbitrarily orders Major Danby to be put to death immediately while he is performing the routine of synchronizing the watches. The timid Colonel Moodus is one of the few people who have the audacity to speak up. Much to his shock, General Dreedle realizes that he is not the dictator he imagined himself to be. Dreedle, like the dictators the Allies are fighting, feels the all-too-human desire to gain and use power arbitrarily over others.

Chapter 22: Milo the Mayor

Yossarian lost his nerve on a mission once because everyone on his plane, including Snowden, Huple, and Dobbs, did as well. Yossarian remembers crying “Oh God!” as the plane fell. Dobbs cried for help, and when Yossarian went to the bay, he saw Snowden dying. One day, Dobbs approaches Yossarian and asks him for his support to murder Colonel Cathcart. Yossarian agrees in principle, but as Dobbs decides to initiate a bloodbath, Yossarian changes his mind.

Dobbs's flying ability is just as bad as Orr's. Milo once sends Yossarian on a mission with Orr to distract Orr from observing where he picks up the eggs. Yossarian feels that such business is stupid and fails to understand how Milo buys eggs from Malta at seven cents and sells them at a profit for five cents. Milo responds with a complex argument about how everyone owns the syndicate and how he profits as the middleman. He finally orders Yossarian to go with Orr to meet two women waiting at the airport. Yossarian curses the mission but goes anyway.

When Orr and Yossarian arrive at the hotel, there are no rooms available. Moreover, people are crowding the streets to see Milo because he is their mayor. Apparently, he has manipulated the market so Palermo is now the world's third-largest Scotch exporter. In turn, the grateful masses now worship him and have voted for him to rule their city.

Milo talks briefly to his assistant deputy, although Yossarian is severely exhausted and only wants to sleep. Orr starts putting horse chestnuts in his cheeks and tells Yossarian the story of the whore who beat him. The men begin to travel to various places where Milo holds positions of power, including Malta and Oran, but cannot find any vacant rooms. Finally, they arrive at a hotel in Cairo where Milo purchases an entire crop of Egyptian cotton. Milo then forces Yossarian to eat some green red bananas and orders him to load the entire crop of bananas before it spoils. On the way, Milo engages in various other transactions on behalf of his syndicate and consequently gives away the bananas.

Chapter 23: Nately's Old Man

Nately comes back with his whore and two of her girlfriends. He tries to pass off the other two to Aarfy and Yossarian. Aarfy offers to throw them out, but Hungry Joe comes in, and they all go away to one of the apartments where there are lots of beautiful women. Unfortunately, Nately meets an old man who declares that America will be defeated and Italy will triumph. Nately is even more shocked when he discovers that this old man shot Major -- de Coverley in the eye. Oddly, though, this old man reminds him of his dad, although they are nothing alike. Suddenly, while they are arguing, Nately realizes that Yossarian and Dunbar have disappeared. He looks around forlornly for the woman he loves. Unfortunately, she has disappeared.

Nately is from an old-money family and has been raised in a happy, sheltered environment. He has never known the evils or hatred of the world. His father is an ebullient sage who decided to send his son to the Air Corps to avoid the casualty-heavy parts of the war. Instead, Nately finds himself with intolerable companions and in love with a whore.

Nately tries to sleep with the whore, but this time she is too bored. By the time he gets into bed with her, her younger sister follows them and tries to imitate her. Nately feels embarrassed as the kid sister follows her older sister, taking off her clothes and not being frightened by her sister's constant jealousy. Eventually, the whore grows bored and wanders off with two of her friends. Nately tags behind with the sister until he returns to the place where Yossarian, Dunbar, and Hungry Joe are sitting around with the nasty old man.

Chapter 24: Milo

Milo busily peddles his business to various officers in the squadron. He tempts them with the offer of delicious food from lamb chops to tangerines, with only a small down payment and a promise of a pilot and plane to pick up the materials. His M&M Enterprises quickly flourishes. Countries from both sides rush to do business with this syndicate. Milo's slogan is, “Everybody has a share in the syndicate.” Milo also begins to make unscrupulous deals in which he is contracted by both sides to fight the other. He is paid commissions by each to maintain the operation.

Since Milo's planes have freedom of passage, Milo lets his planes sneak attack without alerting the German antiaircraft gunners until the planes are in range. Consequently, Mudd is killed, and Yossarian blames Milo. Milo argues that as a businessman, he has the right to profit from the mission, and since M&M belongs to everyone, he has an obligation to defend the interests of both sides.

Meanwhile, other troubles have arisen. Milo's purchase of Egyptian cotton is causing M&M to go bankrupt because there is no market for it. Milo decides to resolve the issue by having his planes bomb his own outfit and destroy the cotton. This creates a fury among all women, children, and decent people, but Milo calms them down by pointing out that he can reimburse the government for the damage, and furthermore, since the government belongs to the people in a democracy, they should just eliminate the middleman and give the money straight to the people.

The men watch Snowden's burial. Afterwards, Milo tries to persuade Yossarian to put his clothes on. After being rebuffed, Milo continues to bemoan the losses due to the cotton. Yossarian tells him to bribe the government into buying it. After initially hesitating, Milo gradually warms to the idea.

Chapter 25: The Chaplain

The chaplain begins to wonder whether there is a God and becomes afraid of people with loud voices. He feels that he is awkward and ugly, although he is actually quite handsome. He also thinks about whether he has had a memory lapse and could be Washington Irving. Questions about death and the creation gnaw at him.

The chaplain ponders his conversation with Yossarian about his first memory and deja vu, recalling that he had no friends before he met Yossarian and Dunbar. He feels unappreciated as a human being by the others in his squadron except Sergeant Whitcomb, who abuses the chaplain's feelings. The only source of happiness in his life is his wife and children. The chaplain adores his wife and yearns to be with her.

He lacks any spine to stand up for himself. After being humiliated by Colonels Cathcart and Korn and Corporal Whitcomb, the chaplain goes to see Major Major. There, Sergeant Towser asks to see Major Major in his office. After a while, he realizes that he is the victim of a practical joke. He returns only to discover from the cruel Sergeant Whitcomb that Major Major came and left the chaplain a message. Whitcomb says that he has torn up the message and says it is related to Yossarian's appeal to Major Major about Colonel Cathcart's increase of the number of missions.

The frustrated chaplain goes outside where he finds a mysterious stranger begging the chaplain not to kill him. It turns out to be Captain Flume, who is terrified that Chief White Halfoat will slice his throat. Captain Flume tells the chaplain that he has been living in the forest, suffering from starvation and cold.

The chaplain returns and finds that Corporal Whitcomb has been promoted to Sergeant by Colonel Cathcart. He says that Cathcart wants to speak to the chaplain about forbidding Whitcomb from sending out the letters of condolence. In fact, Cathcart believes that this brilliant idea will get him into The Saturday Evening Post. The Colonel even begins to criticize the chaplain for his stupidity, inability to delegate any of his powers, lack of initiative, failure to listen but instead finding fault, and being dour. As the chaplain leaves, Colonel Cathcart suddenly becomes inspired to volunteer his squadron for Avignon again since will be casualties and he could get into the Post.

When the chaplain goes to the officers' club on Colonel Cathcart's recommendation, General Dreedle criticizes him.

Chapter 26: Aarfy

Actually, Yossarian is to blame for causing Nately to fall in love with the whore. After the mission to Bologna is cancelled, Nately goes to the apartments rented by de Coverley, where he meets and falls in love with the whore. Aarfy makes fun of him, and Yossarian pities him. Nevertheless, Nately declares that he will marry her, whatever his parents may say.

Aarfy is the amiable lead navigator who tends to get lost. Aarfy also tries to ingratiate himself to Nately's father, who is very wealthy, by befriending Nately. Despite his materialistic eye, he is stupidly oblivious to the dangers of war. When Yossarian is wounded in the thigh, Aarfy keeps asking what is going on.

Eventually, McWatt assists Yossarian and gives him morphine injections to reduce the pain. When Yossarian wakes up in the ward, he does not see Dunbar but instead Second Lieutenant Anthony T. Fortiori. Dunbar arrives and chases out the intruder. He invites Yossarian to sleep in Warrant Officer Lumley's bed, but Yossarian becomes sick. When he attempts to leave, Nurse Cramer orders him to go back at once. She says his body belongs to the government. Yossarian protests, but Nurse Duckett drags him back by the ear.

Chapter 27: Nurse Duckett

Nurse Duckett is a New England, levelheaded, independent girl whom Yossarian finds attractive. One day, he puts his hand underneath her dress and she screams. Then, Dunbar comes from behind and grabs her bosom. She flees, and in the chase, Dunbar falls over and is knocked unconscious. When he wakes up, Colonel Ferredge is hollering at him and Yossarian. Dunbar tries to excuse Yossarian by saying he has dreams about fish. The disgusted colonel leaves and sends the staff psychiatrist, Major Sanderson. They discuss the details of Yossarian's fish dream, in which hand he holds the fish, his feelings toward the fish, and sex dreams. Finally, Yossarian explains that these dreams originated with Dunbar, and Major Sanderson snarls at him and leaves.

Yossarian asks others to generate dreams for Major Sanderson. The chaplain describes one about his wife dying and his children being murdered. When Yossarian tells this to Major Sanderson, he becomes extremely disgusted at Yossarian. Moreover, Major Sanderson continues to insist that Yossarian is Fortiori with a stone in his salivary gland.

Meanwhile, Dobbs insists that Colonel Cathcart must be killed immediately. He describes the plan in detail and quite loudly, despite Yossarian's begging that he speak more quietly. Dobbs confides into Yossarian that the chaplain said Cathcart had volunteered them for the Avignon mission again. Yossarian says he will wait and see what he can do, although nothing can be done.

Sanderson returns and decides that Yossarian has various mental illnesses, including a multiple personality, an aversion to dying, misery, persecution, greed, and maniac depression--and is basically crazy. He agrees to send Yossarian home, but instead sends the actual Fortiori home. The infuriated Yossarian goes to Doc Daneeka and explains the situation. Doc Daneeka admits that he does not care and says that if the crazy people do not fly the missions, who will?

Chapter 28: Dobbs

Yossarian tells Dobbs that he wants to kill Colonel Cathcart, but Dobbs now refuses because he has enough missions to go home. Yossarian points out the futility of the situation, but Dobbs still refuses. Meanwhile, Orr's plane has gone down, but the life jackets do not work because Milo removed the carbon dioxide cylinders to make strawberry and pineapple shakes. Sergeant Knight recounts when Orr discovered all the goods that were available in the life raft. Finally, Orr takes out a blue oar as small as a Dixie spoon and begins to row away.

When Orr returns, he is again working on the faucet and promises that Yossarian will have a nice warm stove. Yossarian asks Orr why he keeps on flying if he crashes each time. Instead, Orr replies that it might come in handy and later on asks Yossarian to join him. They also talk about the whore hitting Orr on the head, but Orr still refuses to explain what was really going on.

Yossarian feels sorry for the small, ugly Orr. He wonders how Orr will fend for himself. Yossarian's mind wanders back to the upcoming Bologna mission while Orr patiently fixes the faucet. Suddenly Orr asks Yossarian if his leg still hurts. Orr offers to tell him why the whore was hitting him but ends up teasing Yossarian by asking him whether he has slept with Nately's whore and his whore. Shortly afterwards, Orr crashes his plane on the next mission. However, much to everyone’s shock and Yossarian's fears, Orr does not ever return.

Analysis

Chapter 22 begins with another flashback by Yossarian of Snowden's death and includes a description of Milo and his ever-expanding syndicate. At the end of this chapter, Milo purchases the Egyptian cotton. The connection among the various plot elements remains unclear. When Milo creates havoc by bombing his own side to be rid of the unprofitable crop of Egyptian cotton, Yossarian reacts to the death of the innocent people as he does to Snowden's death, with fear and indignation. This is how, in Yossarian’s mind, the events are linked. Milo denies any responsibility and claims that it is good for the syndicate. Colonel Cathcart will reason to himself that someone will die in the mission, so it might as well be his men, for he still cares only for earning enough glory to become a general.

Another peculiar paradox of this chapter is that despite his great political power, Milo seems to be unable to obtain a room. The reader has to wonder whether this is a subterfuge by Milo to coerce Yossarian and Orr to fly everywhere for his business interactions. What is amazing, though, is that just through his business transactions, Milo has converted economic power into political power. The seemingly unprofitable transactions for the syndicate turn out to be personally profitable for Milo as he slowly gains control of a city and, by controlling trade, starts to control the world. Ironically, while both sides in the war are engaged in pointless military engagements and inner squabbling for medals, Milo is effectively taking over the world without anyone noticing.

The setting for the strange incidents that take place in Chapter 23 are the apartments, which are labeled a “paradise.” The description of this place will heavily contrast with that in Chapter 39 when Yossarian returns and finds the apartments and city destroyed. Another parallel situation of beauty and horror arises in comparing Nately's old man and Nately's father. This opposition hints at the abrupt switch Nately will undergo after he wins over the whore. He transforms from a nice, affable person like his dad to a dominating, nasty man who tries to control the whore.

The conversation itself provides much food for thought. The old man questions all of the beliefs that Nately has been taught to believe from his youth. He points out the wasted expenditure of wars and argues that losing wars is actually more profitable in the long run. He also questions the point of having ideals and practically switches sides each time to stay alive. The old man correctly sees de Coverley for what he is, a useless, stupid beggar. These practical notions and his refusal to conform to institutional thinking bear a remarkable similarity to Yossarian's strange arguments, such as the claim that everyone who is trying to kill him is the enemy. In fact, the arguments between Yossarian and Clevinger nicely parallel those of Nately and the old man. In each case, the outcast is dismissed by most people as crazy, and his beliefs as absurd, whereas the man who dresses well speaks the thoughts of the institution. Nevertheless, while the declarations of the former seem subversive and radical, they turn out to be true in the strange world where Catch-22 operates.

Nately's character and background are explained quite well at the end of the chapter. While he has the veneer of sophistication, his isolated, elitist childhood caused him to experience no hardships and to be unable to recognize evil. At first, Nately and Clevinger have similar behavior patterns, but their backgrounds and reasoning lead to different fates. Both have remarkable faith in their superiors and believe every word they say. Nately is very upset when he discovers it is the old man who injures Major -- de Coverley and defends him passionately against the old man's criticism. Likewise, despite Yossarian's contradictions, Clevinger wholeheartedly believes Lieutenant Scheisskopf when the latter says he does not mind being corrected. However, while Clevinger may lack common sense and suffer from intellectual isolation, he is naïve and gullible like Nately. Nately, without much intellectual development, cannot think for himself.

The rapid growth of Milo’s fame and his syndicate are further documented in Chapter 24. As Milo expands and slowly takes over the world, clearly his success depends upon the greed of the officers, who are more interested in eating delicious food than winning the war. This abuse of power, along with other previous examples, highlights ways that the officers are selfish and are using the name of the country and patriotism to coerce their subordinates into furthering their own interests. If nothing else, Milo's success on both sides proves that greed is universal and that free trade knows no boundaries. The wiping out of the slogans written on the airplanes—“Courage” and “Truth”--to be replaced by the label “M&M Enterprises,” proves that money, not ideals, runs the war. Milo’s planes have save passage. If there is a profit to be made, then the transaction is justified. For Milo, every military operation is a financial endeavor in which someone can profit, and it might as well be he.

The Egyptian cotton fiasco and Milo's subsequent self-bombing mission underscore how most people are willing to overlook atrocities conducted on even themselves, if the price is high enough. Yossarian, though, recognizes Milo's false justification for the bombing and continues to protest the death of Mudd. Appropriately, the two men witness the burial of Snowden, who died because Colonel Cathcart had volunteered his men for the dangerous missions just to win accolades for himself.

The seemingly disparate episodes in Chapter 22 of Yossarian's flashback and then his insane trek with Milo are now even better tied together. Milo in many ways resembles Colonel Cathcart, especially in their attitudes' towards men's lives. Lives are expendable when it comes to achieving whatever goals they wish. This point of view will be underscored when, at the end of the book, Milo and the Colonel unite together to run the syndicate.

Unlike many of the other chapters, much of Chapter 25 actually does center around the character named in the title. Its mood and content are also much more introspective than the more descriptive and arbitrary narration generally used throughout the book. The pace of the plot slows down considerably, relatively speaking, since much of it is concerned with troubling issues such as the existence and omnipotence of God, the worth of a man's life, and the power of memory. The last two themes, in particular, are the driving forces behind Yossarian's refusal to fly more missions and his nightmares of Snowden's death. The conversation between the chaplain and Yossarian is particularly interesting. It touches on the confusion of the timeline created by the war. The chaplain has lost a sense of when certain events occurred. This confusion is reflected in large measure in the disjunction of the retelling of the incidents throughout the entire book. It also is telling that the slower, more contemplative pace of this chapter is so rare, as one might expect for such characters during wartime.

The chaplain represents the loss of conformity to traditional social values in light of the war. He longs for his wife and does not sleep with the various prostitutes to satiate his physical desire. That much is fine, but he feels displaced in this insane, cruel world of war and cherishes his Eden away from this mess. Unfortunately, Corporal Whitcomb seeks to subvert the authority of the kind, good chaplain. Rather than serving the holy chaplain, Corporal Whitcomb goes to the diabolical Colonel Cathcart. In return for his betrayal, Cathcart gives him a promotion to Sergeant.

Captain Flume’s experience suggests the downfall of a man who has committed a sin. Like Adam and Eve, who suffer after being banished from Paradise, Captain Flume is in fear of life, cold and starving. While he lives in the woods, he is suffering from malnutrition and is freezing. But has he really sinned? The problem seems to be Chief White Halfoat, who has threatened him. Flume cannot wait for winter in the hope that Halfoat will die of pneumonia and he can return to camp.

As for the chaplain, he wonders about the existence of God and whether he is even a good chaplain. He questions why the Bible is a special book unlike other literature, such as British or American books from the nineteenth century. The choices of books he considers are particularly interesting because they focus upon characters, such as Ethan Frome, who are trapped in life-threatening or personally agonizing situations because of ill luck or social and historical circumstances.

Chapter 26 is another digression. Aarfy is paradoxical. He has enough sense to pursue a rich girl and mocks Nately for his stupidity for falling in love with the whore; he can plan for the long term with hopes to profit from his friendship with Nately. Yet, Aarfy seems to lack common sense and ability to recognize the obvious. He constantly gets lost, in the air during a battle and on the streets of Rome. It is fair to wonder whether he is a dullard after he cannot recognize when Yossarian has been shot in the groin, though he could be feigning stupidity just to see Yossarian in pain.

The bed switching in the hospital is especially amusing. First, there is complete disregard for individuality and military rank. Dunbar pulls rank just to get a desirable bed. Despite his spite for military rank, Yossarian uses rank to scare off an inferior warrant officer. When Yossarian tries to resume his former identity, he is denied this right by Nurse Cramer. This loss of self-identity is underscored when she tells Yossarian that he does not own his body--it is the property of the U.S. government. This denial of basic human rights nicely summarizes the basis for the coercive power of the military bureaucracy and is especially hypocritical, because the basis of World War II was to restore basic human rights of the oppressed. Military life is not supposed to be like the civilian life the military men are fighting for, but the contrast is there, all the same.

When Major Sanderson, the psychiatrist, comes to investigate him, Yossarian engages in another subterfuge to try to get out of flying missions. He succeeds in convincing the doctor that he is crazy. Ironically, while Dunbar creates the havoc that attracts so much attention to Yossarian in the first place, Dunbar's earlier bed switching creates so much confusion that A. Fortiori (a strange play on the philosophical term a fortiori or roughly “in light of the evidence”) is dismissed rather than Yossarian in a case of mistaken identity.

Major Sanderson, the war psychiatrist, provides even more rationale to satirize the medical institution. Like the other doctors, he is incompetent in his field and lacks common sense to figure out the obvious, such as that Yossarian is not A. Fortiori or that Dunbar is the man next to Yossarian and not a persona of Yossarian. As a psychiatrist, Major Sanderson is also more amusing than the other doctors. He interprets all of Yossarian's actions as signs of various mental illnesses. Simple, meaningless actions such as Yossarian rejecting a cigar are blown up into being symptoms of insanity and are analyzed in immense detail. As a follower of Freud, Major Sanderson tries to diagnose in terms of sexual repression. His ignorance, though, results in absurdly false diagnoses, such as Yossarian being impotent, which underscores the incompetence and untrustworthiness of the medical institution. Gradually, Yossarian begins to realize Major Sanderson's incompetence and decides to play a game with him so Yossarian can be grounded. The deception succeeds, but Yossarian's game fails, ironically, because of the mistaken identity, and he foiled again by the Catch-22.

This chapter is particularly interesting in that it parallels the initial encounter between Yossarian and Orr. The two men are again talking about the same odd subjects: the whore and Orr's constant crashes whenever he flies. Curiously, Orr is also engaged in the seemingly fruitless activity of repairing the stove with its ever invisible parts. However, a crucial event has occurred since the initial conversation in the book: Orr has picked up on the very absurd notion of rowing to Switzerland in a boat, using an oar that is as small as a Dixie spoon. Of course, this idea makes no sense whatsoever and appears to be a joke. But Orr's subsequent disappearance forces the reader to seriously consider if what is impossible has indeed happened and Orr has escaped in such an odd fashion.

The most important scene, though, is when Orr magically discovers all the wonderful goods that are available in the lifeboat. While the other men merely dismiss Orr as a loon, Orr retains his composure. He may be acting or even be mad, but there is a method to his madness. Strangely, Orr cleverly uses the logic of Catch-22 to his advantage. Just as Colonel Cathcart indefinitely raises the number of missions each time but leaves an improbable hope for his men that they still might leave, Orr decides that against the odds, he also can hope that he too will escape under insane conditions.

Dobbs, the title character, plays a very minor role in this chapter. His main function is as the narrator of the episode in which Orr discovers the food supplies in the lifeboat. Dobbs's attitude towards Orr is that of the normal person. He derides Orr as being a loon and merely laughs at the entire situation as being absurd. These comments reflect what would be “normal” under general conditions, but Orr is the one who triumphs in the end, successfully escaping from the clutches of Colonel Cathcart. This crazy result shows the crazy illogic of the war.

Chapter 29: Peckem

Orr does not return the next day, and Sergeant Whitcomb prepares to send a letter to his kin indicating that Orr has died. Meanwhile, Colonel Scheisskopf's announcement about not having a parade this Sunday creates a fury, for there are no parades on Sunday. General Peckem is delighted now to have two full colonels. Peckem is a handsome man of 53 who suffers from verbosity and overuse of bureaucratic language.

Scheisskopf and Peckem do not get along. Scheisskopf does not respond to his jokes and fails to grasp Peckem's concept of delegation of responsibility. Instead, Scheisskopf is still obsessed about parades and whether his wife can see him. Peckem cuts out the sentimental business and proceeds to explain to Scheisskopf the war against General Dreedle. Scheisskopf is still upset about the parades, and Peckem compromises, agreeing to let Scheisskopf postpone the nonexistent parades. Colonel Cargill is upset, but General Peckem delegates to him the power to put off the U.S.O. shows. General Peckem then sets both of them against each other for his own amusement.

Peckem then begins to discuss with Scheisskopf the issue of bomb patterns and Dreedle's pointless mission in bombing a mountain town so small that it cannot be seen on the map. In the briefing room, McWatt discovers that the people have not been warned and will be killed. Dunbar points out that any roadblock they make will be cleared within two hours. Havermeyer exposes Major Danby by saying the men do want to bomb the village. Yossarian accuses Colonel Korn of cruelty, but Colonel Korn only sneers back that war is cruel and orders the mission to proceed.

Colonel Korn kicks Major Danby out when Danby argues that a looser bomb pattern would be more effective. When Cathcart arrives, he takes over the meeting and imitates Dreedle in an attempt to ingratiate himself to General Peckem. Only too late does he remember that both generals hate each other. Colonel Cathcart panics for a second as he thinks of Scheisskopf's rivalry, but at the last minute he exhorts his men to dedicate their mission to General Peckem.

Chapter 30: Dunbar

The fall in the hospital has scrambled Dunbar's brains. He drops the bombs far away from the target and wastes away into a snarling nasty creature. The chaplain worries about Dunbar and Yossarian, especially since the latter has rejected his roommates and lives alone. Yossarian is glad to have McWatt as his new pilot but still becomes frustrated at him, especially when McWatt flies only inches from the ground. Once McWatt is singing so buoyantly that he cannot hear Yossarian over the intercom. Yossarian enters into a deadly rage and looks around for any weapon with which he can kill McWatt. He stands behind McWatt's seat and threatens to choke him to death if McWatt does not move the plane up. McWatt immediately obeys Yossarian and takes the episode with humor. After Yossarian has calmed down, McWatt tells Yossarian that he is really losing it. Yossarian admits that he is but that there is nothing he can do about it.

The men go to the beach quite often. The men generally are nude but wear trunks out of regard for Nurses Duckett and Cramer. Nurse Duckett enjoys flirting with Hungry Joe and lying on the sand as the men play cards and lounge. Nurse Cramer sits ten yards away, in silence and disapproval of her friend's fling with Yossarian. Still, she comes because Nurse Duckett is her best friend. Yossarian grows fond of Nurse Duckett's body and takes her out to the beach at night to make love to her. Nurse Duckett also becomes fond of Yossarian and tries to shape him as a person.

One day when Yossarian is staring over the skyline and wondering where Clevinger and Orr are, McWatt suddenly skims over the surface of the water and slices Kid Sampson in half with his propeller. Chaos ensues at the grotesque sight. Yossarian yells futilely at McWatt to come down. His cries are useless as McWatt flies higher and higher and then flies into a mountain. In response to these deaths, Colonel Cathcart increases the number of missions to sixty-five.

Chapter 31: Mrs. Daneeka

When Colonel Cathcart finds out that Doc Daneeka is dead, he increases the number of missions to seventy. Sergeant Towser is the first one to realize Doc Daneeka is dead. He tells Gus and Wes, and when they take Doc Daneeka’s temperature, it is half a degree lower that the usual 96.8 degrees--when Doc Daneeka, who is actually still alive, complains about being cold, they point out that he has been dead all this time, but never realized it until now. Doc Daneeka screams with anger when they say they will tell his wife that he is dead. At first, Mrs. Daneeka is very upset when she finds out. She then receives conflicting letters from her husband and from the War Department regarding the life of her husband. But as Mrs. Daneeka begins to receive widow pensions and other monetary benefits, she appreciates her new measure of wealth.

Meanwhile, Doc Daneeka is considered dead by the squadron, and he has to depend on Milo and Sergeant Towser for food. He is ostracized by everyone and almost starves to death. He writes a final intense appeal to his wife, but she moves away with the children when she receives the generic official notification from the army of his death.

Chapter 32: Yo-Yo's Roomies

No one has the courage to bury the sliced Kid Sampson. Yossarian thinks of Kid Sampson's rotting body, which reminds him of Snowden's death and continues to lead him to ponder about death. The cold weather is alleviated by Orr's finally warm stove, and everything is perfect except for Yossarian’s memories of Orr and the new roommates who have replaced Kid Sampson and McWatt.

The new guys are intolerable. They are empty-headed, noisy, overconfident, and self-centered. Yossarian argues to Sergeant Towser that he is already living with the dead Mudd. The exasperated Towser refuses to listen, and the new roommates move in. They drink too much, pester him, admire both of the Colonels, and call Yossarian “Yo-Yo.” Even worse, their visiting friends are equally as terrible and come in droves. Yossarian is especially angry because he can no longer sleep with Nurse Duckett in the tent, and the weather is too bad to sleep outside.

Yossarian tries to get Chief White Halfoat to come to scare off his roommates with his disgusting habits, but Halfoat is dying of pneumonia. Meanwhile, Doc Daneeka has been forbidden to practice, and Halfoat laughs at him for dying of greed. Daneeka blames Cathcart and Korn. Yossarian once again asks Halfoat to help him kick out his roommates. The chief suggests that he get Captain Black to help him instead. Upon remembering the bullying Captain Black, Yossarian rushes back in pity for his roommates, only to discover that they have set Orr's birch logs on fire and have thrown out the dead man. This frightens Yossarian, and he rushes off with Hungry Joe to Rome.

Chapter 33: Nately's Whore

Yossarian misses Nurse Duckett and begins to look for Luciana. Instead, he finds Aarfy, who did not go with the others to rescue Nately's whore. She is being held captive by some military men who want her to say uncle, but she does not understand what the word "uncle" means or why she has to say it, so the men are infuriated and think they are being mocked.

Suddenly, Dunbar, Dobbs, and Hungry Joe break in. They accuse the naked American colonel of being a German spy, threaten to take him to the station house, and throw away his room key. The other captors, Ned and Lou, are amused that all of their uniforms have also been thrown out. At last, they agree to let the girl go. Meanwhile, the whore has fallen asleep; Nately takes her home to take care of her.

Problems quickly arise because the whore refuses to put on her clothes and give up hustling. She obstinately mocks Nately, and her little sister imitates her. When Nately leaves, she misses him and becomes extremely upset at Yossarian for hitting Nately in the nose.

Chapter 34: Thanksgiving

At Thanksgiving dinner, the men act recklessly, shooting themselves and knifing others. Yossarian goes to bed early to avoid the trouble, but he wakes up when he realizes that someone is shooting at him with a machine gun. In fear, he falls to the floor and becomes determined to kill whoever has played such a terrible joke on him. As he runs outside with his loaded 0.45, Nately tries to stop him. However, Yossarian breaks free and badly injures Nately in the process.

Dunbar has also come out infuriated. He recognizes one of the men as Sergeant Knight. By this time, Yossarian has calmed down and searches for Nately. He finds Nately in the hospital the next morning, his nose bandaged and his two eyes blackened. He also discovers that Nurse Duckett is no longer interested in him because she wants to marry a doctor now.

Suddenly, a terrible commotion sets in when the men realize that the soldier in white is back. Dunbar screams aloud that the case is empty--that he was stolen. At first, the nurses dismiss this as nonsense, but Hungry Joe agrees. Suddenly, doctors break in with guns and guards. Nurse Duckett anxiously grabs Yossarian, crying to him that Dunbar is going to be “disappeared.” Yossarian demands to know what she means, but she replies that she does not know. Yossarian goes off to find Dunbar, but he is already gone.

Chapter 35: Milo the Militant

Yossarian prays for Nately to fly no more missions, but Nately insists he must if he wishes to stay and see his whore. Yossarian goes to ask Milo for help. Milo has earned the respect and admiration for his enterprise; he even coerces the officers to pay exorbitant prices for his food. One day, though, he approaches Colonel Cathcart and requests that he fly more missions to meet the required number of missions. Colonel Cathcart admits that even he has flown only four missions. Nevertheless, Milo insists upon flying the missions.

Cathcart offers to take the syndicate, but upon hearing Milo's complex directions, tells Milo he is indispensable. He then offers to get someone else to fly his missions for him. Milo enthusiastically volunteers Nately, and Colonel Cathcart also decides to send Yossarian back to combat. Milo tries to defend Yossarian, saying that he is greatly in debt to Yossarian. But Cathcart says that everyone must be treated fairly. Milo gives in.

Cathcart decides to increase the number of missions to eighty. Without any warning, he announces this and then immediately packs off his squadron to prevent them from running off. They are sent to bomb a disabled Italian cruiser. Unfortunately, for once the intelligence reports against the mission are quite accurate, and the flak is quite bad. Even Havermeyer freaks out and takes wild evasive action. It is too late, and Nately is killed.

Analysis

Chapter 29 dwells not only on the ineffectiveness of the military bureaucracy but also on the abuse of power by its officers, who seek only to glorify themselves at the expense of others' lives. Two figures appropriately represent these problems in the military bureaucracy: General Peckem and Colonel Korn. Peckem's verbosity suggests the bombastic language of a general who is in the military for the wrong reasons. As the general himself admits, he really has no skills and is utterly incompetent. Rather, he attempts to cover up his lack of skills by “delegating responsibilities,” handing the work off and hoping that someone else can do it. His conversation with Lieutenant Scheisskopf demonstrates the enormous contrast between the two characters. Peckem tries to show off his brilliance through absurd, incomprehensible statements and superficially ingenious literary allusions. Scheisskopf, for his part, is unbelievably practical and concerned only with parades. His defiant attitude and unhealthy obsession is the opposite of Colonel Cathcart's subservient adulation. Ironically, the promotion to general will not be determined by any merit or pleasing General Peckem. Instead, it will depend upon some seemingly unimportant paperwork.

Colonel Korn's speech at the end of the chapter shows an attitude remarkably similar to Colonel Cathcart's continuous increase of the mission quota. Just as Korn feels that the enemy brought their misery upon themselves and thus the troops should not feel guilty about bombing them, Cathcart feels that the troops have brought their misery upon themselves and must fly whatever number of missions he requires. The planned mission to bomb a small, almost invisible Italian mountain village highlights the seeming emptiness of some military operations. Moreover, the officers have no consideration for the lives of the innocent civilians or military strategy. Dunbar's and McWatt's practical advice is completely ignored, and Cathc