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Study Guide

Catch-22 Study Guide & Plot Synopsis

This Study Guide consists of approximately 127 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more - everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of Catch-22.
This section contains 1,549 words
(approx. 6 pages at 300 words per page)
Purchase our Catch-22 Study Guide

Catch-22 Summary & Study Guide Description

Catch-22 Summary & Study Guide includes comprehensive information and analysis to help you understand the book. This study guide contains the following sections:

This detailed literature summary also contains For Further Study and a Free Quiz on Catch-22 by Joseph Heller.

Catch-22 Plot Summary

Preview of Catch-22 Summary:

The "Catch-22"

Joseph Heller's satirical war novel Catch-22 depicts the absurdity and inhumanity of warfare through the experiences of Yossarian, a bombardier pilot stationed on the island of Pianosa (near Italy) in World War II. Heller does not tell Yossarian's story chronologically. Instead, the novel revolves around episodes in Yossarian' s life (particularly the gruesome death of Snowden, a young airman) and employs flashbacks and digressions to jump back and forth between events.

Yossarian is terrified of flying bombing missions and attempts throughout the novel to escape this duty. He is thwarted, however, by his superiors and by "Catch-22," an ever-changing rule that keeps people subjected to authority Early on, "Catch-22" works to keep all the men flying bombing missions, as Doc Daneeka explains to Yossarian:

"Sure, I can ground Orr [who is considered crazy] But first he has to ask me to."
"That's all he has to do to...
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This section contains 1,549 words
(approx. 6 pages at 300 words per page)
Purchase our Catch-22 Study Guide
Copyrights
Catch-22 from BookRags and Gale's For Students Series. ©2005-2006 Thomson Gale, a part of the Thomson Corporation. All rights reserved.
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