Discussion 2 of 5
Within these chapters the reader learns of the absurdity that is the United States military. A few examples of the illogical actions of the military include: the accidental yet comical promotion of Major Major Major and the anger it arouses in officers who have to train a superior officer; the fact that Yossarian cannot get grounded from flying bombing missions unless he claims to be crazy, in which case he cannot be crazy and therefore will never be grounded; Yossarian’s obvious statements that people are trying to kill him; and the Glorious Loyalty Oath Crusades enacted by Captain Black in order to make Major Major appear disloyal.
What is your opinion of the way Joseph Heller depicts the United States military? What effect do you think Heller was hoping to achieve through all of the absurd examples within these chapters?
Your responses should
be approximately 50-words in length. Be sure to use textual evidence when
appropriate. Going over the suggested word count or under that word count is acceptable
as long as your response is detailed and direct. Be sure to read the “Scoring
Rubric” before posting your response. Also, review your responses for
correctness before posting.
Respond often and in a
timely manner. It is okay to post a response and then check back days later to
see if anyone has responded to you or asked you a question. You will be able to
(and expected to) respond to this post throughout the course of the summer.
Simply click on
"Comments" below to post your comment. Be sure to type your full name
by clicking on the "Name/URL" option or login to your Google account
and post your comment.
I think Heller is purposely trying to depict the United States military as a joke. This entire book has been a mockery of the military. He depicts the top officers as people who do nothing all day, for example, Major --- de Coverley he is the squadron executive officer who does nothing but pitch horseshoes and rent apartments for the officers. I think Heller was trying to make a negative situation and make light of it, or make fun of the entire system.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Heller is making fun of the United States military and portraying them as a joke. However, I think he does this to strengthen his argument that war is pointless. After all, the military would not have the opportunity to do all the ridiculous things they're doing if they were not on active duty. I think he is trying to achieve through all of the absurd examples is that these men are not necessarily cut out for war, or that nobody really is. They are all worried about their own things and aren't fighting for their country or because they have a choice, but fighting to complete the number of missions it will take to get them home.
ReplyDeleteBecause Catch-22 is an anti-war book, I think Heller did a great job depicting the military.
ReplyDeleteAs for the effect Heller was hoping to achieve through his absurd examples, I agree with both Hayley and Hannah. I think Heller is trying to portray the U.S. military as a joke, and I think it's definitely to strengthen his anti-war argument. Heller kind of dismisses the idea that the U.S. military is full of brave men and women who would die for their country and implies that soldiers are worried about bed sheets, fruit juice, and just want to go home.
Heller is most definitely portraying the United States military as a joke throughout this novel. I agree with everyone so far and how they state that Heller did this to strengthen his argument that war is pointless. It also adds a lot of comedy to the novel, making it the classic it is. What Heller does is unique, due to the way he describes the soldiers. Most would view soldiers as strong, brave, and disciplined. In Catch-22 It seems as if these soldiers are the exact opposite. They lack discipline to act properly and are not as brave as they should be. An example could be shown through Yossarian's attitude towards combat. He keeps trying to find any way to avoid war and leave. Shouldn't a soldier have the bravery to stay? It's scary to be in dangerous situations, but the military's purpose is to protect and keep peace. That obviously isn't on any of these soldier's minds.
ReplyDeleteWhat I found to be absolutely hilarious in this novel was the Glorious Loyalty Oath Crusades when all the soldiers were constantly pledging their loyalty to America. For example, saying the Pledge of Allegiance before being able to receive dinner. This furthers the argument that Heller was depicting the military as unserious and in a comical way. Captain Black was only doing this to make Major Major seem unloyal because he was promoted to squadron commander and not him. It's kind of ridiculous to do this at out of vengeance. It's almost similar to the type of drama you'd find in middle school where you try to single out someone for revenge. Totally not something you'd want to find in a squadron.
The sad part about Helper's representation of war is that it isn't that far off. Except for the the Oath Crusades, people (military or the US government in general) are corrupt and last full and savage as he depicts them making this one of the best antiwar books because it makes you question what's fact and what's fiction.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what everyone has said, which is that Heller is portraying the United States military as a joke with everyone carrying on as if the war was a game. Earlier I had said that I didn’t believe that war was pointless, yet within these few extra chapters Heller has managed to convince me that, as far as this book goes, war is in fact pointless. All the military personnel are the opposite of what you would expect from the honorable, useful soldiers usually depicted. For example, Major Major is, well, a Major and therefore should demand respect from his men and receive it. But instead he gets beat up, avoids them, and even jumps out of his window to not have to see people, who mostly want to complain about the missions. That is a pathetic joke of a Major. In fact, the only people that seem to want to be in the war and take it seriously are Captains Piltchard and Wren who “…wanted to fly hundreds more. (combat missions)” (145) Everything else from the fruit juice, all the woman, drinking, etc. just strengthens Heller’s point that the war is pointless and everyone only worries about themselves.
ReplyDeleteI think Heller was just trying to further the readers belief of war being pointless. He uses all these exaggerated examples to continue in making his point about war and its uselessness. Considering he wrote the book in the 1950's, it was probably hard to convince the people of that time that war was useless especially when a lot of people believed soldiers to be hero's at the time. He knew his audience could possibly be offended by his beliefs so he had to exaggerate his experiences so much so that it really got into people's minds that the war really was an unnecessary evil. As for my opinion I think he does a great job in showing what a joke (as almost everyone else has said) the war and the united states military is.
ReplyDeleteConsidering the overall message of the novel was that the author deemed war an irrelevant and ridiculous effort, basically the entire book was conversations that contradicted themselves and ironic situations. Some situations in the book made absolutely no sense at all. Some of the characters were so awful that the author actually began to make me believe that this war was going absolutely nowhere and that all the characters would be fighting the rest of their lives. One situation that really told me the war was meaningless was when Wintergreen was sentenced to dig holes and refill them again "for the war effort". Digging holes had absolutely nothing to do whatsoever with advancing the war. The ridiculousness of this statement along with many other situations in the novel allude to the author's view on the war.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what many have said before me, that Heller does a great job depicting the U.S. military as a joke. Knowing that Heller was actually in the in the military as a bombardier, makes me as a reader how much actually happened in his life and how much he actually made up to get his point of the military and war being a joke through, to the readers.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Heller portraying the US military as a laughingstock in order to show how their ignorance affect their decision making in war time is a great way to help us as readers understand the point of view for the book as a whole. Heller being a military veteran shows that his stories and portrayals in the novel are as accurate as you can get from first-and experience. Petty jealousies, drunken accidents, and pure delusion driving the actions of the US military from what I've read in the book instead of a sense of loyalty and morality further explains Heller's underlying message that war has no purpose or legitimacy since it's conducted by unintelligent puppets in such ridiculous ways.
ReplyDeleteI would like to start off by saying the author portrays the US military as 5 year-olds. For example, by not letting Major Major Major sign the Glorious Loyalty Oath they were acting like kids who didn't get their way. They wouldn't even give Major Major Major a chance to decide if he even wanted to sign it. The book so far is just filled with redundancies and situations that contradict themselves. Like with Major Major Major being promoted to Major he would become a superior but instead of being commanding and having respect from his subordinates he lets them beat him up and let him believe that he should become a recluse.
ReplyDeleteHeller was trying to poke fun at the military in a way. I also agree with Bri that based on the facts that Heller being a military veteran the book is based on his experiences and things he saw in the war. The author was hoping to give of the impression that war is useless and just plain ridiculous.