CATCH-22

CATCH-22Book Review

GROUP 10

CONTEXT SETTING: WHAT’S THE CATCH?THE BOOK: MAKING OF A CLASSICTHE GAMECHANGER: KNOW THE AUTHORSNEAK PEEK: PLOT – CHARACTERS – STYLEFROM THE CRITIC’S LENS: OUR EVALUATIONCONCLUSION: CONNECTING SOME DOTS!

AGENDA

THERE’S ONLY ONE CATCH, AND THAT’S CATCH-22

There’s something about this book…

• Sold over 10 million copies• 11 editions published over last 50 years• Coined a new phrase in the English language• Adaptations: Movie, theatre, TV comedy series

But, that wasn’t all…• Changed the paradigm of war writings: Powerful anti-

war message• Challenged the foundations of patriotism and obedience• Reflected the irrationality/insanity of absolute

bureaucracy• Represented the new generation losing respect for

illogical authority – refusing to take anything at face value

DOES THAT RING A BELL??NATIONALIS

MWARS

CORRUPTIONNEPOTISM

FAVOURITISM

MANIPULATIVE BUREAUCRATIC CONTRADICTIO

NS

Half century later… Yossarian Lives!

THE BOOKMAKING OF A CLASSIC

Full title · Catch-22Author · Joseph HellerType of work · NovelGenre · War novel; satire; Black humour, absurdist fiction, satire, war fiction, historical fictionLanguage · EnglishTime and place written · 1955–1961, New YorkDate of first publication · 1961Publisher · Simon & Schuster, Inc.

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCEIMPACT OF THE “ANTI-HERO”

1961 was the year when…• Berlin Wall was built• U.S. ends diplomatic relations with Cuba• WWII, Cold War, and Vietnam War still on everybody’s minds

How it became one of the most influential book in modern literature…

• Huge impact on popular culture and literary circles• Introduced the post-war world to the concept of ‘Black Humor’ • Gave the world its first true ‘anti-hero’• Popularity with a strong cult following

THE GAMECHANGERKNOW THE AUTHOR

• Was in the U.S. Air Force during World War II• Was a fighter pilot• Won an Air Medal and a

Presidential Unit Citation• Left military in 1945

• Received his English degree from Columbia University. Then he went to Oxford

• Later he became an English Professor at Pennsylvania State University

• Worked for magazines such as Time, Look, and McCall’s

• Died of a heart attackJOSEPH HELLER

(1923-1999)

SNEAK PEEKTHE PLOT AND STYLE

PLOT• War novel, reflecting the absolute

but illogical power of bureaucracy• Set up in an imaginary island,

Pianosa• Our protagonist – Captain Yossarian• Conflict – Catch-22• Takeaway – “No one can get off the

ride”

STYLE• Jumbled chronology • Episodes of memories, flashbacks

and character descriptions• Point of view - focusing mostly on

what Yossarian does and what Yossarian thinks and feels

• Tone – Flatly satirical tone• More than 50 characters over 500

pages

SNEAK PEEKCHARACTERS

YOSSARIAN DOC DANEEKA MILO MINDERBINDER

CHAPLAIN SNOWDEN

“Rome was destroyed, Greece was destroyed, Persia was destroyed, Spain was destroyed. Why not yours? How much longer. Do you really think your own

country will last? Forever? Keep in mind that the earth itself is destined to be destroyed by the sun in the twenty million years or so.”

FROM THE CRITIC’S LENSOUR EVALUATION

"All over the world, boys on every side of the bomb line were laying down their lives for what they had been told was their country, and no one seemed to mind, least of all the boys who were laying down their young lives. There was no end in sight.”

• Grand irony played out in hundred ways• A hilarious start turns into a very emotional and thought provoking tale• A story filled with paradoxes and dark humour• Criticism on bureaucracy• The disenchanting Catch-22!

“Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn't, but if he was sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn't have to; but if he didn't want to he was sane and had to.”“ ’’

CONCLUSIONCONNECTING SOME DOTS

As long as there are borders and nation-states, Yossarian lives!

The book delivers to us a cry of rebellion – a war against the war.

THANK YOU