In the decade of the sixties of 20th century, America took the international leadership in terms of global strategy and economic development for the West. It gradually entered into a postindustrial society. However, the American writers began to doubt the very reality of the modern life, particularly the reality of the political events they witnessed: the blunders of the Johnson Administration, the lies of the Nixon administration, the Vietnam War, etc. They thought the universe is absurd, the world is chaotic, and human existence is absurd and meaningless.

Among the writers of sixties, Joseph Heller(1923—) provided the readers with an excellent example of dealing with the absurdity themes in Catch-22(1961).This book exposes the absurdity of World War II and protests against the absurdity of modern America. The story takes place in a United States Air Force Base in Italy. Here the lives of the wretched bomber pilots are in the hand of a military hierarchy, which draws up a “rule” known as “Catch-22”. With this rule, those pilots, who fear flying and wish to be grounded and escape death, can never stop flying. One of them, Orr, is crazy and can be grounded . But as soon as he starts asking to be grounded, he is no longer considered crazy and thus must fly more bombing missions. This is the simple logic of Catch-22. Everybody knows that Catch-22 does not exist, but all think that it exist and obey its, absurd logic.

Joseph Heller depicted his characters in a different way from traditional sense. Yossarian, the hero of catch-22, is no longer a brave and respectable heroic character.
Afraid of death in the mission, he pretends to be ill and escapes into the hospital. Till then the traditional sense of glorious war disappears completely. Joseph Heller also uses an absurd linguistic surface to reflect the tragic content of modern life .He employs devices like “circular conversations”, comic, unexpected responses, the “wrenched cliche”, to convey the illogicality and the unpredictability of a crazy world. Another remarkable feature of this book is its “formlessness”. It means from a traditional point of view this book seems a structural failure. Because Heller writes it in a way which deliberately confounds the notion of coherent time and does not follow a chronological order of coherent time and does not follow a chronological other on longer on the events, Yet, to Heller, in a world where life is no longer rational and orderly and nothing like a chronological development is possible, this is just the way to expose the absurdity.
In brief, Heller’s narrative is fragmented, discontinuous, ironic and full of black humor. Black humor refers to the use of the morbid and the absurd for darkly comic purposes. It carries the tone of anger and bitterness in the grotesque situations of suffering, anxiety and death .It makes readers laugh at the dark of modern life.

II. Joseph Heller

Joseph Heller (1923-) is a famous contemporary American novelist, who was born in Brookline, New York. After graduation from high school, he joined American Air Force as a bomber. In 1948 he received MA degree in Columbia University and later he went to Oxford University to study English literature. In 1950s, he worked for New Times and some other magazine, writing advertisement.

In 1961, Heller published is major book Catch-22, which is usually regarded as one of the best postwar protest literal works. Through the description of a story taking place in a united states Air Force base, Heller exposes and criticizes the corruption of American bureaucracy as well as the inhumanity of the whole capitalist world, This novel was particularly popular with young people during Vietnam War, In 1974,Heller’s another book Something Happened came out, telling a story about family confects. Then in 1979 ,he produced Good as Gold,which is about a professor who hates power but desires to be secretary of state. In addition , Heller wrote some plays, such as we Bombed Ness Haven (1967)and Clevenger’s Trial(1974).

Selected Work

[Introduction]

Catch-22 tells a story which took place in a United States Air Force base in war-state Italy. The absurd relation between officers and common pilots reveals the tyranny and corruption of American military authority, and mirrors various absurd things in modern society.

The protagonist, pilot Yossarian, always feels his life is endangered, and the threat comes much more from the bureaucracy existing in American military and industry than from the mad war .In such a system,“reason”,“patriotism”and “justice” are all fake. They are only used as a tool with which to control people. According to the military rule, pilots have the right to get rewired and go back to America if they finish 25 flight missions. However, they can never do it, because colonel Cathcart and colonel Kern constantly raise the times of flying so that they can have the chance of promotion completely hopeless, Yossarian has to choose hospital as refuge and finally he runs to Sweden.

The world of Yossarian is an absurd one, where people still alive are declared dead and dead people are kept alive. One officer welcomes visitors in his office only when he is out. And in such a place only those who never ask questions are allowed to attend“educational sessions”,even worse, a traitor is set free because he has made money. All these absurd things are based on a “rule” known as “catch-22”, Although everybody knows that this “rule’’ does not exist, they all have to obey its absurd logic. Their life is in the grip of the power of absurdity. Which rules and ruins modern existence Joseph Heller makes his novel different from traditional ones in terms of theme, character and form, The novel is out written chronologically and plots are seemingly fragmented and unrelated, which reflects the chaos of modern world. Characters are anti-hero kind. They do not believe in the traditional notion of glorious war and doubt authority. So they are desperate and tragic. Heller deals with the tragic content in a comic way, black humor and critics see his catch-22as a milestone in the history of the American novel.

Catch-22

FORTY.
There was, of course, a catch.
  “catch-22”inquired Yossarian.
  “Of course,” Colonel Korn answered pleasantly, after he had chased the mighty guard of massive M.P.s out with an insouciant flick of his hand and a slightly contemptuous nod—most relaxed, as always, when he could be most cynical. His rimless square eyeglasses glinted with sly amusement as he gazed at Yossarian. “After all, we can’t simply send you home for refusing to fly more missions and keep the rest of the men here, can we? That would hardly be fair to hem.”
  “You’re goddam right!” Colonel Cathcart blurted out, lumbering back and forth gracelessly like a winded bull, puffing and pouting angrily. “I’d like to tie him up hand and foot and throw him aboard a plane on every mission. That’s what I’d like to do.”
  Colonel Korn motioned colonel Cathcart to be silent and smiled at Yossarian.“You know, you really have been making things terribly difficult for Clolnel Cathcart,” he observed with flip good humor,as though the fact did not displease him at all. “The men are unhappy and morale is beginning to deteriorate. And it’s all your fault.”
  “It’s your fault,” Yossarian argued, “for raising the number of missions.”
  “No, it’s your fault for refusing to fly them,” Colonel Korn retorted. “The men were perfectly content to fly as many mission as we asked as long as the thought they had no alternative. Now you’ve given them hope, and they’re unhappy. So the blame is all yours.”
   “Doesn’t he know there’s a war going on? Colonel Cathcart, still stamping back and forth, demanded morosely without looking at Yossarian. ”
   “I’m quite sure he does,” Colonel Korn answered, “That’s probably why he refuses to fly them.”
  “Doesn’t it make any difference to him?”
  “Will the knowledge that there’s a war going on weaken your decision to refuse to participate in it ?” Colonel korn inquired with sarcastic seriousness, mocking Colonel Cathcart.
  “No, sir,” Yossarian replied, almost returning Colonel Korn’s smile.
  “I was afraid of that,” Colonel Korn remarked with an elaborate sigh, locking his fingrs together comfortably on top of his smooth, bald, broad, shiny brown head. “You know, in all fairness, we really haven’t treated you too badly, have we? We’ve fed you and paid you on time. We gave you a medal and even made you a captain.”
  “I never should have made him a captain,” Colonel Cathcart exclaimed bitterly. “I should have given him a courtmartial after he loused up thatFerrara mission and went around twice.”
  “I told you not to promote him,” said Colonel Korn, “but you wouldn’t listen to me.”
  “No you didn’t. You bold me to promote him, didn’t you?”
  “I told you not to promote him. But you just wouldn’t listen.”
  “I should have listened.”
“You never listen to me, ” Colonel Korn persisted with relish. “That’s the reason we’re in this spot.”
“All right, gee whiz. Stop rubbing it i , will you?” colonel Cathcart burrowed his fists down deep inside his pockets and turned away in slouch. “Instead of picking on me, why don’t you figure our what we’re going to do about him?”
“We’re going to send him home, I ’m afraid.” Colonel Korn was chuckling triumphantly when he turned away from Colonel cathcart to face Yossarian. “Yossarian, the war is over for you. We’re going to send you home. You really don’t deserve it , you know, which is one if one of the reasons I don’t mind doing it. Skince there’s nothing else we can risk doing to you at this time, we’ve decided to return you to the States. We’ve worked out this little deal to —”
“What kind of deal?” Yossarian demanded with defiant mistrust.
Colonel Korn tossed his head back and laughed. “Oh, a thoroughly despicable deal, make no mistake about that. It’s absolutely revolting. But you’ll accept it quickly enough.”
“Don’t be too sure.
“I haven’t the slightest doubt you will, even though it stinks to high heaven. Oh, by the way. You haven’t told any of the men you’ve refused to fly more missions, have you ?”
“No, sir,” Yossarian answered promptly.
Colonel Korn nodded approvingly. “That’s good. I like the way you lie. You’ll go far in this world if you ever acquire some decent ambition.”
“Doesn’t he know there a war going on ?”Colonel Cathcart yelled out suddenly, and blew with vigorous disbelief into the open end of his cigarette holder.
“I’m quite sure he does,” Colonel Korn replied acidly, “since you brought that identical point to his attention just a moment ago.” Colonel Korn frowned wearily for Yossarian’s benefit, his eyes twinkling swarthily with sly and daring scorn. Gripping the edge of Colonel Cathcart’s desk with both hands, he lifted his flaccid haunches far back on the corner to sit with both short legs danling freely, His shoes kicked lightly against the yellow oak wood, his sludgebrown socks, garterless, collapsed in sagging circles below ankles that were surprisingly small and whit. “You know, Yossarian,” he mused affably in a manner of casual reflection that seemed both derisive and sincere, “I really do admire you a bit. You’re an intelligent person of great moral character who has taken a very courageous stand. I’m an intelligent person with no moral character at all, so I’m in an ideal position to appreciate it.”

Topic discussion: What are the features of writing of the novel?
Answer