余游

Abstract： Catch-22， the representative work of Joseph Heller， is the master piece of Black Humor. It is not really a war novel though the background is World War Ⅱ.The novel reveals the absurdity and corruption of the American ruling clique， and the confusion and madness in the American society. The absurd and confused style is designed carefully to represent the absurdity and madness of the world.

Key Words： absurdity； Catch-22； theme； black humor

一、Introduction

Joseph Heller was born and brought up in Brooklyn New York of a Jewish family. In 1941 he graduated from high school and went to war， serving as a bombardier in the US Army Air Force. After the war he went to study in New York University and Columbia University. Hellers fame came with the publication of Catch-22 in 1961， and it became the best seller. A novel the title of which becomes a new addition to the English language. Since then Heller has written a few more works such as Something Happened （1974）， Good As Cold （1979）， but his reputation has so far rested mainly on his first book.

Joseph Heller Catch-22 is considered to be one of the most significant works of “protest literature” since World WarⅡ. It is not only the representative works of Black Humor， but also the master piece of modern American Literature， which is quite prevalent in literary circles in 1960s， which was a time of more than usual ferment in American social political and artistic life. Since 1945， so much has occurred.

二、The Absurdities in Catch-22

Superficially Catch-22 tells a story about soldier named Yossarian who rebels against the dangerous and insane bureaucratically structure war by trying to escape. But Heller himself announces he is not interested in war. What he is interested in is the society. It protests against the absurdity of modern America， as embodied by the military power structure it describes. In the novel， the postmodernist artistic methods， such as Black humor， language play an important role in deepening the themes. Heller uses an absurdist concept and techniques with special form to transmit the absurd concept， atmosphere. The absurdity is reflected not only through the theme， but also the structure， content and plot.

（一）The absurdity in theme

The main theme of Catch-22 is to disclose the absurdity and corruption of American ruling clique， the confusion and madness in the American society through the illogic of war and bureaucracy. In 1962， Heller answered the question of journalist， he admitted the main content is the confusion and madness of the world， an inescapable double blind， which is not only the situation of Yossarian but also the situation of American and the all world. All the military camps are in confusion and horribleness. Here stands a military hierarchy wielding its preposterous authority over the lives of its wretched bomber pilots who fear flying and wish to be grounded and escape death. In face of the increasing number of flying missions and increasing chances of meeting death. The pilots are hopeless and desperate.endprint

（二）The absurdity in structure

Showing the absurdity of society with the absurd themes， Heller also uses the scattered and disordered structure to present the absurdity of the world and the chaos in society. This kind of structure benefits reader to see all the aspect of the story， the plots， and show us a tumultuous absurd world. Time as a frame at reference ceases to exist. Most of the chapters named with the name of character that is the main character in the small chapter. Irrelevant incidents are happening at different time crisscrossed and told. At the same time， the same incident often gets repeated at different time. It seems to the readers that reading Catch-22 is like visiting a labyrinth， readers may always be confused. While it is the confused structure of the novel that represents and strengthens the absurdity of the theme furthermore， and that superficially the structure of Catch-22 is in chaos for showing us an absurd world.

The scattered and confused structure has close relationship with the time sequence， this story is in a chronological jumble， and it does not describe the story in a clear chronology. The author presents this story in a way that it is literally different to determine the order of the event. There are no obvious relations among these 42 chapters， and the chapters jump among the past， present and future.

（三）The absurdity in content

In this novel there is a catch： Catch-22 first appears in Chapter 5. Chief White Half oat “ There was only one catch and that was Catch-22， which specified that a concern for ones own safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask； and as soon as he did， he would no longer be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didnt have to； but if he didnt want to he was sane and had to.” Catch-22 is a tight encirclement. It stipulates that a solders request to be relieved from active duty can be accepted only if he is mentally unfit to fight. Any soldier， however， who has the sense to ask to be spared the horrors of war is obviously mentally sound and therefore must stay to fight. “Catch-22 says they have right to do anything， we can not stop them from doing” （常耀信2003：149）The rule can eloquently rationalize all absurd things. Everybody knows that Catch-22 doesnt exist， but all think that it exists and obey its absurd logic “he knew there was no such thing. Catch-22 did not existed， and that was much worse， for there was no object or text to ridicule or refute， to accuse .criticize， attack， amend， hate， revile， spit at， rip to shreds， trample upon or burn up. “The rule itself is a proof of the “power” of absurdity which rules and ruins modern existence.”（常耀信2003：149） In Hellers words. Catch-22 can be deified to symbolize some mysterious supernatural power which could control human fate， and the implication of the Catch-22 becomes a symbol.

三、 Conclusion

Catch-22 presents readers an absurd world. It is a serious satire. After publishing in 1961， it causes great inflection in American society， and be highly prized in the world. It tells the story about the soldier named Yossarian who wants to escape and to safe himself from horrible war and death. Catch-22 is the epitome of absurd American society in 1960s， or even the epitome of the western Country. Heller shows， through the ridiculousness of war， the misguided much of modern society. With these special strategy and skill， it makes the novel emerge in the literature history and to be a classical one.

Bibliography：

[1] Anonymous. An Impolite Interview with Joseph Heller [J].The Realist， 1962.

[2] Joseph.Heller.Catch-22[M]. New York： Simon and Random House 1995.

[3] 剡桂珍，李崗.“黑色幽默”與《二十二條軍規(guī)》[J]. 蘭州大學學報. 2000， （28）：15-18.

[4] 張涓. 第二十二條軍規(guī)的荒誕藝術(shù)[J]. 外國文學. 2003， （2）：84-89.endprint