Resumo de Catch 22

The plot structure of Catch-22 is unusual in several aspects, and requires careful attention from the reader. The timeline is quite disorienting and much of it entails reminiscences of the various characters. Figures that are alluded to by other characters are often not more fully developed and explored until their appropriate chapter. Hence, much of the description and anecdotes are quite incidental, and although, they do provide a more complete picture of the character, requires the reader to sift through the material and determine what is relevant to the main plot and what is not. Despite this confusion, the reader's interest is maintained by using the plot device of foreshadowing and . Seemingly arbitrary episodes and flashbacks, such as Yossarian's traumatic recollections of Snowden's death, will become a common device for the rest of the book. The importance of the flashback of Snowden's death cannot be understated.
The content of the plot touches on several crucial themes that form the groundwork for the maddening atmosphere of Pisona. First, Yossarian constantly reiterates his right to life and using whatever means to save himself from being killed. Survival, not winning the war, is what matters to him. Also being questioned are the morals of the country. Captain Black's episode with the Glorious Loyalty Crusade points out how patriotism can be abused for someone's personal ambition or agenda. Religion is also repeatedly questioned. The chaplain himself is thrown out from the officers' headquarters and happily lives in his own world. Even he has his own doubts about God and morality, and once, when he lies, he feels so wonderful about it.
The institutions that run the war and support the war, the military establishment, the government, big business, and the medical institution, are also severely satirized. Perhaps the most targeted institution is the military establishment. Throughout the book, it is criticized for its bureaucracy, its inner squabbling, the absurd tactics to move up the ranks, and its absurd obsessions. Generals Peckem and Dreedle continuously squabble Colonel Cathcart constantly increases the number of missions, in an attempt to be promoted to general. The big business, represented by Milo, comes to represent a parasite that profits off of the war. This financial obsession is so bad that even Milo is willing to destroy his own squadron simply to ensure a profit. Finally, the medical institution, throughout the entire book, the doctors are presented as ignorant and presumptuous, and treat their patients without compassion, and sometimes even lack humanity. This is particularly ironic, because the traditional view of doctors is that their interest is to preserve life and to heal the sick and wounded. The representative character from this establishment is Doc Daneeka. He never listens to anyone's troubles and refuses to ground any of the men, on the grounds of the catch-22 argument.
Lastly, and perhaps, most importantly, the viewpoint and logic of Ã¬catch-22Ã® expose the dangers of the war. Doc Daneeka points out that the men are trapped because those who are mad will fly the missions and if they deny madness, they will be forced to fly them because they are capable of doing so. Orr turns this logic against the military bureaucracy when he begins to hope for the improbable: that he can row to Switzerland in a boat, using only an oar the size of a Dixie-cup spoon. After all, which is more likely: that he will get to Switzerland before the war ends, or that Colonel Cathcart will allow the men to take leave and return home? While Ã¬catch-22Ã® is a method of rationalizing absurd ends, it lacks any common sense. Minor incidents such as the falsified theft of a plum tomato become the crucial points of evidence against the chaplain. Calamities such as the death of Nately are blown off as unimportant, because they do not serve as useful evidence in achieving the military's ends. This lackext for the events and disproportionate viewpoint of them only underscore the horrifying lesson of the war: that rationalization (not reason) can be used for the wrong purposes when the general population does not protest against such use or lack the sense to recognize the dangers of such a technique.

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