Style and organization of Catch-22

The Novel “Catch-22,” by Joseph Heller, is a very different novel in a structural, organizational, and stylistic sense. Upon beginning the novel, I became slightly confused because I could not seem to find an underlying plot or any logical flow to the novel. The novel is organized chapter by chapter, each dedicated to a different person. Catch-22 introduces its characters through the different chapters and by intertwining the characters together through different incidences relating to the main character of the presented chapter. It consequently appears to be a mixed-up string of disjointed experiences. This is true mainly because Catch-22 is not structured in a chronological fashion. As a result, I have found that I need to keep a close focus on all of the characters and their individual descriptions, such as Appleby, who is referred to as having “flies in his eyes,” in order to maintain a clear sense of the novel and its messages and themes presented by Yossarian. Catch-22’s lack of chronology forces the novel to organize itself in different more thought provoking ways. The reader has to put every incident and story into memory because Yossarian, more often than not, will bring it up again and relate it to another character and a story that character’s own. Therefore, the novel can be seen as being organized based on the combination and relationship between different scenes. The union between scenes can be used to reveal Yossarian’s perspectives on all the different characters, the motivations of the war, the treatment of the war by the men, and patriotism. Although every chapter seems like a different unrelated episode from the chapter before, when the reader puts the novel together as a whole there is gradual development in the events. Everything seems to build on something that occurred previously. An example of how this graduation of events occurs is the repeated increase in the number of missions needed in order to be discharged from the war. The number continually gets higher and higher allowing for more to take place and more psychological developments; which Heller ends up finding a way to ultimately tie together in one way or another. The events of the novel allow for Heller to take the novel deeper through his descriptive language and his satirical style of writing. He makes commentaries on all aspects within the novel through his satire, sarcasm, and caricatures. He also builds on the novel through his descriptive and metaphorical language, which he used to describe the physical beauty within the novel. This bounces right back off with his sarcastic view of the reason why he is in a beautiful place, the war. Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 is very original in its style and organization which I believe makes it a more interesting and engaging piece of literature. (495).