Catch-22 Summary | Chapterly

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller: A Complete Summary "That's some catch, that Catch-22." Overview Catch-22 (1961) is one of the greatest antiwar novels ever written, and among the funniest. Set on a small island off the coast of Italy during World War II, it follows Captain John Yossarian, a U.S. Army Air Forces bombardier who has decided that the war is trying to kill him personally and that staying alive is his only remaining mission. The novel's title has entered the English language as shorthand for any absurd, no-win situation. The original Catch-22 is this: a pilot can be grounded if he is insane, but he must request the evaluation himself. However, requesting to be grounded proves he is rational, since only a sane person would want to avoid danger. Therefore, he must keep flying. The catch is inescapable. Heller's novel is structured not chronologically but in loops and circles that mirror the absurdity of its world. Events repeat, characters reappear in different contexts, and time folds back on itself. The effect is disorienting by design -- war, Heller argues, does not make sense, and a novel about war should not make sense either. Themes The Absurdity of War Catch-22 does...