Catch-22: Chapter 23

This chapter deals with the morals and reasons of war. Is it even necessary? What's more worth fighting for, life or your country? These questions are explored through Nately's conversation with an elderly man whom he meets in Rome.

In short, the old man's view of war is "'Surely, so many countries can't all be worth fighting for." Nately's response, in turn, is "Anything worth living for is worth dying for." As emphasized through just the chapter's title, "Nately's Old Man," implying old age and longevity, the old man believes that one should not have to fight for his country, but only fight to survive. He had lived through several wars, and in each one he supported the country with the advantage, in essence swallowing his pride in order to live. Though it seems a bit shameful, he raises a good point: what good will it do for you to fight for your country? Either way, people will die, and life will resume as before. It's a personal question to the civilians of the warring countries, and definitely more of a struggle to answer for the soldiers.

Catch-22: Chapter 18

Chapter 18, "The Soldier Who Saw Everything Twice," seems to be titled appropriately, since there's a lot of duality in this section; we see a lot of opposites. For example, Yossarian switches often between good and bad health. Additionally in his conversation with Lieutenant Scheisskopf's wife, we see an appreciation as well as a resentment for life. The presence of God, the absence of God. A good God, a bad God. God Himself, the Devil ("Where the devil else do you think you're heading?").

Overall, this was a clever chapter reflecting Yossarian's own appreciation and resentment for life. It makes sense that he feels both, since he's often on the borderline between life and death during the war.

Catch-22: Chapter 16

Chapter 16 of Catch-22 was definitely the most interesting part of the book so far. Titled "Luciana" after the woman Yossarian meets in a night club, we experience a day in Rome on the soldiers' day-off... filled with lots of booze and sex.

There are two interesting points that I got out of this chapter:

1. Irony. The holy city of Rome, Italy, during wartime is pervading with much temptation and rated-R fun. What this means - I don't know.

2. Evil. The chapter title gives it away: Luciana sounds a lot like Lucifer, or the devil. The author is pretty blatant with the allusion, using words such as "gluttony" and displaying Yossarian's lust and pride. That's at least three out of the seven deadly sins, and I'm sure there are a lot more.

That's it. Hopefully we'll see what else happens in Rome and how, if at all, Yossarian's relationship with Luciana develops.

Catch-22: Chapters 14 - 15

Like I said before, I'm about two-fifths into Catch-22, but the literary elements I read about in HTRLLAP are becoming a little more prevalent now.

At the end of Chapter 14, the speaker's diction switches from sarcastic/sardonic to something a little calmer with more imagery, though somewhat darker. There's also a small section detailing the four elements: fire, water, earth, and wind ("boiling"/heat; ocean, "earth-shattering," sky). I don't know what this means or how it heightens the story, but it was definitely interesting.

In Chapter 15, it begins to "snow" within the jet. It was fake, but definitely a profound image. The author even italicized the text to show emphasis. I'll read the section back again to see if I get anything out of it.

That's all I have for now. Catch-22 is definitely getting a lot more interesting, so hopefully it'll be a faster read now.

So this is my blog.

I'm a little late starting this, so I'll have to post more than four times a week. I've already read HTRLLAP, and I'm about 2/5 done with Catch-22. These last few weeks of summer are gonna be filled with a lot of reading, so let's get this started. But for now, I'll just talk really briefly about what I've read so far in Catch-22.

There's a lot of humor and sarcasm present in the writings and in the characters regarding the serious topic of war. Yossarian, the main character, seems especially sarcastic. Furthermore, ironically (and it's even pointed out within the text), the crazier Yossarian's stunts become to avoid war, the more sane he seems to his peers. This raises an interesting question about morals versus pride.

The most striking literary element to me so far in this book is flight. The characters take on anthropomorphic attributes when they step into their jets, yet most of them are reluctant to participate in the war. It's easy to see why, though - each mission puts them at a huge risk of death. We'll see how this plays out in the book.