Catch-22: Chapter 29

This chapter raises a lot of questions of whether power is ever given to the right people. Peckem ironically states, "But that's the way things go when you elevate mediocre people to positions of authority." It's clear to the reader that Peckem is one of those mediocre people; although he is educated and proper, he has no intent to lead and motivate his soldiers to win the war. He simply likes his power. The colonels' concern about bomb patterns and pleasing the higher-ups augments the feeling of undeserved power within the air force.

That statement might also have been almost an "aside" to the audience about current events when the book was written. I did a little bit of researched and found out that Heller began writing the book in 1953, just when the Korean War was ending. Heller might have had a bitter opinion toward Eisenhower and the war, and that's where many elements and attitudes in the story might have been influenced.