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Catch-22, a la Shmoop. WarÉ sucks. But unfortunately, sometimes

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itÕs necessary.

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If we'd let the Nazis steamroll their way across the planet during World War Two, Hitler's

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little mustache might still be a fashion trend and we'd all love Wagnerian opera instead

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of Twilight.

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More often, however, war just blows for pretty much everyone concerned.

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Some of the most famous books of the twentieth century, fiction and non-fiction, dealt with

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this topic, including Joseph Heller's satiric Catch-22.

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Captain John Yosarrian and the other airmen of the 256th squadron are stationed on a Mediterranean

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island during World War Two.

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Sounds awesome, right? Sunshine and seafood for all!

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But instead of spending their time on the beach, Yosarrian and friends are busy trying

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to stay sane and survive the war so they can get home.

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ThereÕs an attack on an undefended Italian mountain village, the despair felt by various

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soldiers, and the deaths of many of Yosarrian's friends.

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So, yeah, not a lot of positives here. But is Catch-22 really as cynical as it seems?

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Heller's characters certainly don't have a lot of control over their lives, and they

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often come to a sad end due to circumstances beyond their control.

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Nately, for example, dies during a pointless mission, when his plane crashes into another

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American plane.

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So much for his dreams of marrying his hooker girlfriend and sending her kid sister to an

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American college.

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The characters also tend to make choices and do things that negatively affect the people

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around them.

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While Aarfy is perfectly willing to protect well-connected women from the sexual advances

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of other menÉ

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Éhe ends up raping and murdering Michaela because he's never had to pay for sex and

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doesn't see why he should have to start.

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Some stellar logic right there. But maybe what Heller's trying to say is that,

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even when things are at their worst, even when men are stuck in a terrible war that

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they want no part of, there's hope to be found in humor.

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BecauseÉ there's a lot of absurdity in the 256th squadron.

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Colonel Cathcart is so determined to become a general that he keeps raising the number

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of missions his men have to fly, meaning that they can get really close to doing enough

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work to get them home, but they never quite make it.

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Milo Minderbender is so anxious to turn a profit that he starts contracting missions

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for the Germans, going so far as to fight on both sides in the same battle and bomb

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his own squadron.

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The world Heller describes in Catch-22 is sad but ridiculous, and it's the utter silliness

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of it all that allows Yosarrian to stay sane. Edwin Starr, the Temptations, and Bruce Springstein

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and the E Street Band have all told us that war is good for absolutely nothin'É

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Éand Catch-22 certainly seems to demonstrate the truth behind that extremely catchy song

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lyric.

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But is Heller's novel completely cynical in its take on warÉ

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Éor does he think itÕs bearable as long as youÉ send in the clowns?

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Shmoop amongst yourselves.

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