Heller's Catch-22 Theme?

Question

Can anyone help me figure out what the theme(s) of Catch-22 by Joseph Heller is? I know one revolves around the government's power and how much it has.....

Answer 1

I've given a thumbs up to Pers, mostly for the nice description of the catch 22 catch.

The theme though... This novel really was the first/best satire on the Second World War written by an American. It was picked up in the late 1960's by folk inspired by the Civil Right movement and the various counter-culture groups. Essentially the novel challenged the idea of authority and all of the mechanisms of authority, by challenging the readers understanding of what is going on and what will happen next in a normally predictable war story about a normally predictable organization (the US Air Force). Yossarian (and the reader) are taken through a twisted path filled with encounters with erratic behavior by individuals and organizations, until at the close of the novel, he (and the reader) understand that the only way of 'living in the world' is to assert your own version of it, rather than accepting (and trying to make sense of) someone else's version of it.

So my sense of it is that it is more about individuals coping in a crazy world and how despite all of the impediments in our way, finding a way to express their own humanity.

Answer 2

The theme is about the government and how much power it wields - Heller satirizes this power through his "Catch 22" rule - Yosarrian wants to get out of the Air Force on the grounds of insanity. However, WANTING to get out of the Air Force proves you are sane because nobody wants to be in the Air Force because its dangerous. Hence the catch. There IS no way out. It is an exercise in pure logic. BTW - the movie with Alan Arkin is a classic. Pax - C.