Heller's novel not only satirizes war, but all of society. Catch-22 shows how the individual soldier loses his uniqueness. Heller exhibits that the problem with this is not necessarily from the battles themselves, but from the routine activities of military life. The most relevant example is of Lt. Scheisskopf's fascination with parades. This activity, all the soldiers together doing the same thing, kind of shows how they are losing in

Heller uses many themes and styles to convey the satire of war throughout the novel. Unlike other war novels, which concentrate on the glory and defeat of war itself, Catch-22 shows the corruption of our society and Heller’s idea of human’s truly evil intentions. While I understand where Heller is coming from, I tend to disagree with his ideas that men are inherently evil. It seemed to me that he was commenting on our nature, and I don’t necessarily agree that everyman is out for just himself. I think that people can act out of love and compassion for people other than themselves. However, the satirical way in which Heller delivered, allowed the book to be very effective. He shows us that war is pretty much pointless, and nothing good ever comes out of it. The insanity throughout the novel helps the readers understand the insanity all together that’s going on in the world on a daily basis. Heller communicated his ideas very cleverly and showed us that he believed men were twisted creatures. He succeeded in his ultimate motive—to make us step back and take another glance at everything.

The novel exhibits Heller’s satirical outlook on other war novels that glorify war, even though it consists only of dishonorable actions. One time, a soldier steals a lifer raft supplies and trades them. At one time during the novel, the army actually provides prostitutes for the soldiers, this shows the corruption of what is “good and just”, like what they are supposed to be fighting for. Heller satirizes the other novels, by not even allowing patriotism to prevail in the slightest. The soldiers in the novel don’t have a conscious idea what “their country” is, and just do what they are told. This again goes back to the idea of losing individuality. A prevailing idea in the book, is that of the corruption of the higher officers. They all used the men to make themselves look better. The officers in the book are constantly on “power

Some topics in this essay:
Major Major, Lt Scheisskopf, Joseph Heller, Colonel Korn, Lt Scheisskopf's, throughout novel, chaotic world, insanity throughout novel, war novels, reader feel, insanity throughout, human nature, makes reader, heller satirizes, military life, war setting,