Catch-22 follows the story of Yossarian. A WW2 pilot in the US air force whose primary goal is to not fly a plane. This may sound counterintuitive, and it is. That’s the theme of the whole book really. By wanting to leave the war, soldiers are proving they have the mental faculties to fly a plane. This is the “Catch 22” - Soldiers can be medically discharged if they are clinically insane. But by telling the doctor they are crazy, they prove their sanity and hence cannot be discharged. Because the only truly crazy thing to do would be to continue flying planes into a war zone. Another example, pilots can go home once they complete the mission quota. The only issue is the quota is constantly raise so none can go home. Pilots chase their flight quota of 30. Just to see it raised to 35 once they fly their 29th mission.
We experience the book through the eyes of our main character Yossarian. We learn to like Yossarian due to his strong morals and unswaying values. And so we give him the benefit of the doubt when he shirks his military duties. He brings a sense of nobility to the un-noble cause that is avoiding his duty.
The book is also funny. Very funny. The majority of supporting characters are idiots. And we laugh by experiencing their stupidity through Yossarian, who most of the time operates on a more intelligent wavelength. Such as any interaction Yossarian has with his roommate, Orr. Who is usually found either crashing his plane into the sea or putting crabapples in his cheeks. Or the industrious mess officer Milo who ends up running a circular import-export business to fund ever imroving mess cuisine.
Every now and then we are reminded that Yossarian is still a part of the book and not just an observer. This brings us my favourite quote of the book and a good place to end our review.
“You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.”
Yossarian knew what he meant.
“That’s not what I meant,” Doc Daneeka said, as Yossarian began scratching his back.