Catch-22 does not tell its story in chronological order but starts in the middle and jumps backwards and forward in time. The narrative is structured around chapters that focus on individual characters such as Colonel Cathcart, the squadron commander, or A.T. Tappman (who was called R. O. Shipman in the early editions of the novel), the base chaplain. It is also structured around extended sequences that stretch out over several chapters, such as the Great Big Siege of Bologna or the scenes of Yossarian and the other men on leave in Rome. A few episodes are returned to several times throughout the book. The most crucial of these is the death of the gunner Snowden in the raid over Avignon, France. The book returns to this scene again and again, revealing a little more each time, until the next-to-last chapter, when the full extent of Snowden's wounds is revealed in all its horror.
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