The black humor depicted in Catch-22 is reflected through his style of writing. He describes Scheisskopf's strange obsession with parades will reappear each time he is promoted. When Lieutenant Scheisskopf accedes to his wife's suggestion of him whipping her, this demonstrates a destructive, cruel streak in what should be a pleasurable, relaxing activity.

It was the despair of Scheisskopf life to be chained to a woman who was incapable of looking beyond her own dirty, sexual desires to the titanic struggles for the unattainable in which a noble man could become heroically engaged. “Why don’t you ever whip me anymore?” she pouted at night (Heller 82).

Such behavior reflects the effect of war: an inability to have pleasu

The irony of Catch-22 by Heller greatly illustrates the black humor and the appalling effects of war. The end of The Glorious Loyalty Oath is particularly ironic. The basic denial of food unless they sign the oath makes no sense to Major de Coverly. Captain Black thought that The Glorious Loyalty Oath was a challenge but he kept signing more loyalty oath, every time he forged ahead of his competitors, he swung on them scornfully for their failure to follow him. Who ever did not sign the Oath where bullied, insulted, harassed and they were denied food (Heller 183). Ironically, Captain Black brings upon his own destruction when he invites Major de Coverly. Strangely enough, the Major is described as a god with a white hair and Jehovean bearing. Figuratively speaking, he does act as a god when he saves the entire squadron from the dangerous clutches of Captain Black. The major effects of war are illustrated when The Glorious Loyalty Oath is signed and when they said if you do not sign the Oath there will be no food given. This affects the war in a great deal because it becomes very harsh to the people that are fighting in the war without food.

The period that Heller wrote Catch-22 was during Post Modernism, which also reflects the movement of realism. Replicated in the eclectic styles of writing through the use of such concepts as the ridiculous, the antihero and the antinovel, and realism. The anti-hero of this novel is Yossarian. These descriptive styles help depart from pure realism--they serve to transcend physical reality by making sensations metaphors for states of mind and by attributing unusual qualities to objects, making the reader take a second look at familiar objects and feelings. The

Some topics in this essay:
Post Modernism, Lieutenant Scheisskopf, Colonel Cathcart’s, Loyalty Oath, I’d Colonel, Joseph Heller, Colonel Cathcart, , Strangely Major, Captain Black, black humor, humor heller, loyalty oath, sign oath, glorious loyalty, effects war, captain black, glorious loyalty oath, colonel cathcart, characterization colonel cathcart, major de, horror hilarity, major de coverly,