Catch-22

Front cover of a first edition of Catch-22.

Catch-22 is a darkly comic, satirical novel by the American author Joseph Heller that has earned popular and critical acclaim. It was first published in 1961, although Heller began work on it as early as 1953. It is the first of seven novels that Heller wrote.

The action takes place towards the end of World War II, mostly in Italy and chiefly on the island of Pianosa on which a squadron of the US Army Air Force is based. The novel's protagonist is Captain John Yossarian, a bombardier in the fictional 256th US Army Air Squadron. Yossarian has no interest in being a hero or a good airman or in helping to win the war. He merely wants to stay alive. He is well aware that his life is in almost constant danger. It is undeniably true that other people are trying to kill Yossarian. The fact that those other people are the wartime enemy, that they have no personal grudge against Yossarian and that they are trying to kill lots of other people as well provides Yossarian with no comfort. A further irritant in Yossarian's life is the fact that his commanding officer keeps raising the number of missions that each airman has to fly before his tour of duty is complete and he can be sent home. To get out of flying missions and therefore avoid putting his life at risk, Yossarian often fakes being sick, spends a lot of time in the hospital and becomes a good friend of the medical officer Doc Daneeka. Doc Daneeka tells Yossarian that he could be sent home if he were insane. There is, however, a catch. Yossarian would have to tell Doc Daneeka that he was insane and therefore could not fly any more missions. Since doing so would be an obvious and completely rational act of self-preservation, Doc Daneeka would have no choice but to declare Yossarian sane and recommend that he fly more missions. Doc Daneeka explains that this catch is called "Catch-22".

Joseph Heller wrote a sequel to Catch-22, called Closing Time, that was first published in 1994.

An American film adaptation of Catch-22 was released in 1970. A six-part mini-series based on the novel began streaming on Hulu in the United States on May 17, 2019. Joseph Heller himself adapted Catch-22 for the stage in 1971.

The phrase "Catch-22", which originated in the novel, has entered the English language to refer to, "a difficult situation from which there is no escape because it involves mutually conflicting or dependent conditions."

Catch-22 has been criticized for its use of derogatory language towards women. The female characters in the novel are chiefly depicted as objects of the men's sexual desires and often as willing and available ones. Catch-22 includes references to sexual harassment and assault that some readers may find disturbing.

Summary

The events in Catch-22 are not all narrated in strict chronological order. The same incident may be referred to multiple times. The full implications of any incident referred to may only become clear later in the novel. There are some fifty named characters in Catch-22. A character will often be casually referred to for the first time in one chapter and then introduced in more detail in a later one. Most of the chapters are named after a character. The named character always appears in the chapter but does not always feature prominently in it.

Chapter 1 - The Texan

The novel opens in an American military hospital on the Italian island of Pianosa late in World War II. The bombardier Captain John Yossarian is there. He is not really ill but is convincingly faking having a liver condition to get out of active service for a while. Many doctors are confused by Yossarian's liver condition neither worsening nor getting better. Since they cannot prove that he has recovered, however, the doctors permit Yossarian to remain in the hospital. He considers staying there for the remainder of the war.

As an officer, Yossarian is required to censor mail sent home from the hospital by enlisted men and to sign his name at the bottom of each letter as the officer who has censored it. He amuses himself by censoring the mail in a completely nonsensical manner. Sometimes he censors almost the entire letter. Sometimes he censors words of a type that he has randomly selected. Instead of signing his real name, Yossarian signs "Washington Irving", or sometimes "Irving Washington".

Yossarian shares the ward with, among other people, his friend Dunbar and a man who is unable to move or speak, is completely covered in bandages and is known only as the "soldier in white". Yossarian is visited by a chaplain one day and takes an immediate liking to him.

One day, a patriotic, opinionated and talkative Texan is admitted to Yossarian's ward. He constantly annoys the other patents by trying to convince them that "decent folk" deserve extra votes. He is the only person who talks to the "soldier in white", dismissing the other patients' protests that the "soldier in white" may not even be able to understand him. The "soldier in white" suddenly dies one evening. Ten days after the Texan's arrival, Yossarian makes a complete recovery and leaves the hospital, as do all the other patients on his ward.

Chapter 2 - Clevinger

Yossarian believes he is the only person worried about the war in which millions of young men are killing each other. He recalls an argument that he had about it with an officer named Clevinger. Yossarian complained that everybody was trying to kill him. Clevinger pointed out that none of the enemy were trying to kill Yossarian out of a personal grudge. That provided Yossarian with no comfort.

Returning to his tent, Yossarian sees his roommate Orr and is told that Clevinger is still missing. After eating a delicious gourmet meal in the mess hall managed by Milo Minderbinder, Yossarian goes to consult Doc Daneeka. The doctor enrages Yossarian by telling him about a change that Colonel Cathcart has just introduced. The number of missions that each airman must complete before he can be sent home has been increased from forty-five to fifty. Yossarian had just completed forty-four missions.

Chapter 3 - Havermeyer

Orr tells Yossarian a story that makes no sense about why he used to put crab apples in his cheeks when he was a boy. Yossarian is reminded of a similarly nonsensical incident in which he saw a prostitute in Rome repeatedly and violently hit Orr over the head with a shoe, for completely unknown reasons and much to Orr's apparent delight. It strikes Yossarian that Orr is even smaller than Huple, a 15-year boy who lied about his age to get into the Army and now lives near to Hungry Joe's tent. Hungry Joe, so called because he is very thin, always has nightmares when he does not have to fly on a mission the following day. The entire camp is kept awake by his screams.

In a failed attempt to cheer up the men who hope that Colonel Cathcart will not raise the number of missions they have to fly from fifty, General P.P. Peckem and his assistant Colonel Cargill arrange for a U.S.O. troupe to visit the camp. The ambitious General Peckem hopes to take over command of the squadron from General Dreedle. In civilian life, Colonel Cargill had been a bad advertising executive. Major firms used to pay him to run advertising campaigns that they knew would be bad and could be written off as tax losses.

Yossarian complains to Doc Daneeka that he is ill. Doc Daneeka refuses to ground Yossarian and tells him to try to be more le the brave bombardier Havermeyer. Havermeyer enjoys shooting field mice in the middle of the night.

Chapter 4 - Doc Daneeka

Hungry Joe, who s crazy, will not listen to Yossarian's advice because he thinks Yossarian is crazy. Doc Daneeka tells Yossarian that he has worse problems than Hungry Joe does because his highly profitable medical practice has been interrupted by the war.

Yossarian recalls the time he disrupted an educational meeting held by intelligence officer Captain Black by leading some of the men in asking unanswerable questions. That led to the creation of a new rule that the only people allowed to ask questions and meetings were the ones who never did. That rule was thought up by Colonel Cathcart and Lieutenant Colonel Korn, the same men who approved the construction of a skeet shooting range at the camp. Yossarian stopped going to the skeet shooting range because he did not enjoy it. Dunbar, however, goes there frequently because he does not enjoy it. Dunbar often does things that he finds boring because then time passes more slowly and he believes that is lengthening his life. He failed to convince Clevinger of that belief.

A panic starts at headquarters in Rome after someone telephones and simply says, "T.S. Eliot." General Peckem is greatly troubled by what he believes to be a coded message. The telephone call was made by ex-P.F.C. Wintergreen in response to a memo from a colonel saying it would be hard to name a poet who makes any money.

Chapter 5 - Chief White Halfoat

In his tent, Doc Daneeka tells Yossarian about his lucrative and corrupt medical practice in New York City. He is interrupted by his alcoholic Native American roommate Chief White Halfoat, who proceeds to tell his own life story. Chief White Halfoat's family were forced to lead a nomadic life. They were forced off every piece of land they ever settled on because there always turned out to be huge oil deposits underneath it. Major oil companies began following the family around.

Flowchart showing Catch-22 as explained to Yossarian by Doc Daneeka.

Yossarian asks Doc Daneeka if he could get out of flying any more missions on grounds of insanity. Doc Daneeka explains the rule regarding that and says there is a catch. An airman would have to go to a doctor and request to be grounded due to insanity. However, since requesting not to be put in further danger is a rational act, a doctor would have to declare the airman sane and he would need to continue flying missions. Doc Daneeka tells Yossarian the catch is called Catch-22.

Yossarian thinks about how much he hates flying missions. He remembers a particular one when someone named Snowden lay in the back of the plane dying.

Chapter 6 - Hungry Joe

Hungry Joe continues to have nightmares and to keep everyone awake with his screams. He has already completed the fifty missions he is required to fly but the orders to send him home never arrive. Hungry Joe always gets incredibly excited whenever he believes he has the chance of photographing a naked woman. He persuades Italian women to pose for him by telling them that he is an important photographer for Life magazine and he can turn them into Hollywood stars. He never succeeds in taking a good photograph of a naked woman due to some problem, even though he really had been a photographer for Life magazine before joining the Army.

A fight breaks out at the officer's club between Yossarian's roommate Orr and the table tennis champion Appleby. As the brawl continues, Chief White Halfoat breaks the nose of General Dreedle's son-in-law Colonel Moodus. General Dreedle is so delighted by this that he calls on Chief White Halfoat to do it again. He has Chief White Halfoat moved into Doc Daneeka's tent to make sure that he stays in peek physical condition.

Colonel Cathcart raises the number of missions each airman must fly to fifty-five. Yossarian complains that Twenty-seventh Air Force regulations only require men to fly forty missions. Ex-P.F.C. Wintergreen tells Yossarian there is another regulation which states he must obey every order Colonel Cathcart gives. Ex-PFC Wintergreen says that regulation is called Catch-22.

Chapter 7 - McWatt

Yossarian's pilot McWatt appears to be completely unaltered by the war. He remains cheerful and polite and loves whistling show tunes. That leads Yossarian to conclude that McWatt must be the craziest man in the squadron.

Due to his liver condition, Yossarian is allowed unlimited fresh fruit. Since he does not want his liver condition to get better and rob him of a ready excuse to go to the hospital whenever he feels like it, Yossarian gives all the fruit away to anyone who asks for it. The mess hall manager Milo Minderbinder tries and fails to persuade Yossarian to sell the fruit on the black market. Milo intends to serve the very best meals in the world in his mess hall. He is worried about his chef, Colonel Stark, who had previously poisoned the entre squadron by putting soap in the sweet potatoes.

A C.I.D. man comes to camp to look for the officer who forged Washington Irving's signature on censored letters. Milo thinks that is just a cover story and it his black market activities that are really being investigated.

Milo tells Yossarian of his idea to form a money-making syndicate of which everyone will be a part. The first action Milo takes in the name of the syndicate is stealing McWatt's bedsheet and tearing it into pieces. He gives a piece of it back to McWatt and appears to offer an Italian thief a piece of it in exchange for a box of dates. Milo cheats the thief by taking the dates but not handing over the piece of torn bedsheet.

Chapter 8 - Lieutenant Scheisskopf

Neither Yossarian nor the usually intelligent Clevinger understand how Milo's syndicate works.

Yossarian remembers his training with Clevinger before they were sent off to Italy. It is revealed that the only reason Yossarian chose to become an officer and a bombardier was because he hoped that the war would be over by the time he completed his training. Yossarian and Clevinger both trained under Lieutenant Scheisskopf. Lieutenant Scheisskopf was obsessed with parades. His wife and her friend Dori Duz had sex with all the men under his command. Lieutenant Scheisskopf hated Clevinger and eventually had him and put on trial on false charges. Clevinger was unable to communicate his innocence at his trial due to his angry superiors making a great show of his failure to use proper forms of address. Clevinger realized that those superiors hated him more than anybody in the fascist enemy ever could.

Chapter 9 - Major Major Major Major

Major Major Major was given the first name Major and the middle-name Major to go with his surname Major because it was his father's idea of a joke. His name and his strong resemblance to the famous actor Henry Fonda meant that he had an unhappy childhood and youth. Almost immediately upon joining the Army, he was promoted to the rank of major, thus becoming Major Major Major Major, due to an IBM computer error. His drill sergeant did not know how to deal with a new recruit who was also his superior officer. Neither did Lieutenant Scheisskopf when Major Major Major Major first went to him for aviation cadet training. To get rid of him, Scheisskopf trained Major Major Major Major quickly and had him sent off to Pianosa. For the first time in his life, Major Major Major Major was happy on Pianosa and had many friends among the other men. That all changed when Colonel Cathcart made him squadron commander, after which nobody was ever friendly with him again.

Major Major Major Major is confused about everything, especially about whether he is the superior of executive officer Major -- de Coverley or whether the reverse is true. Having heard of the forger signing Washington Irving's name and unhappy in his position, Major Major Major Major amuses himself by signing the names Washington Irving and John Milton on some official documents. When the incompetent C.I.D. man questions Major Major Major Major about the Washington Irving affair, Major Major Major Major claims to know nothing about it. The C.I.D. man believes him, as does a second equally incompetent C.I.D. man sent to investigate the first.

Unable to deal effectively with any problems, Major Major Major Major gives orders that nobody is ever to be allowed to enter his office while he is there. Visitors are only allowed to enter his office after he has left it.

Yossarian catches Major Major Major outside his office one day. Forcing him to the ground, Yossarian demands to be let off flying any more missions and sent home. Major Major Major Major sadly replies that he is unable to help.

Chapter 10 - Wintergreen

Clevinger goes missing after his plane disappears into a cloud near the island of Elba. Although he is officially presumed to be dead, Yossarian refuses to accept that possibility.

Some background is given on the character of ex-P.F.C. Wintergreen. While doing his training before being sent overseas, he kept going absent without leave. As punishment, he was made to dig holes and then fill them in again. He happily accepted the punishment as contributing to the war effort. He was sent off to Pianosa after he accidentally cut intoa water pipe while digging. Since Chief White Halfoat was with him at the time, he was initially believed to have struck oil.

Yossarian remembers Mudd, a soldier who arrived at camp, left his belongings in Yossarian's tent and was then killed before he had the chance to report for duty. For that reason, Mudd never officially arrived on Pianosa and his belongings cannot be removed from Yossarian's tent because they are not officially there. Yossarian, however, feels like he is sharing his tent with a dead man.

The thought of death reminds Yossarian of the time Colonel Cathcart volunteered the squadron for the highly dangerous Great Big Siege of Bologna. All of the airmen had to take part in it and therefore doctors were not allowed to ground anyone because of illness. One doctor, Dr. Stubbs, asked what the point was of treating men who were all gong to die anyway. Dunbar replied that the point of life was to live as long as possible and forget that death cannot be avoided.

Chapter 11 - Captain Black

Intelligence officer Captain Black was delighted to hear that Colonel Cathcart had volunteered the squadron for the dangerous raid on Bologna because he hated all of the men in it. The highly ambitious Captain Black had hoped to be made squadron commander and was devastated when that position went to Major Major Major Major instead. To get his revenge on Major Major Major Major, Captain Black started the Glorious Loyalty Oath Crusade. He made all of the men in the squadron sign and declare lengthy loyalty oaths before allowing them to do almost anything, including eat meals. Major Major Major Major, however, was not permitted to sign any of Captain Black's loyalty oaths in order to call his patriotism into question and deny him his basic needs. Captain Black's Glorious Loyalty Oath Crusade came to an abrupt end when Major --de Coverley angrily demanded food in the mess hall without signing a loyalty oath first.

Chapter 12 - Bologna

The raid on Bologna was delayed due to persistent rain. All of the men hoped that it would carry on raining forever. When the rain stopped, Yossarian secretly moved a line on a map and thus fooled his superior officers for some time into thinking that Bologna had already been captured. Yossarian also made sure that nobody in the squadron could fly by giving them all diarrhea through food poisoning. The rain then started again and continued for another two weeks.

By trying to sell Yossarian a cigarette lighter, ex-P.F.C. Wintergreen attempted to compete with Milo as a black marketeer. He commented that Milo had apparently cornered the entire world market in Egyptian cotton but was unable to sell any of it.

Chief White Halfoat, Yossarian, Dunbar and Nately took a jeep for a drunken drive one evening. They crashed the jeep and noticed that it had stopped raining. They saw Hungry Joe try to shoot the teenager Huple's cat because it gave him nightmares. The others told Hungry Joe to allow the cat a fair fight. He agreed and the cat escaped. Hungry Joe had another nightmare about the cat later that night.

Chapter 13 - Major -- de Coverley

Major -- de Coverley, whose first name is unknown to everyone, has a regal bearing. His white hair resembles a lion's mane and his gaze is like that of an eagle. He wears a transparent eye patch at al times. Most people are much too intimidated by Major -- de Coverley to talk to him, although Milo once approached him to ask permission to use Army planes to import eggs. That permission was granted. Major -- de Coverley spends most of his day throwing horseshoes at a target. His only duty is to go to cities that the Americans have captured and rent rooms there for airmen to stay when they are on leave. To the confusion of both the enemy and his own superiors alike, Major -- de Coverley is somehow always photographed with the first group of American soldiers to occupy a city. When Yossarian altered the map to make it look like Bologna had already been captured, Major -- de Coverley went to Florence, which was still in the hands of the enemy, and went missing.

It is revealed that Yossarian was once awarded a medal by Colonel Cathcart. At that time, Yossarian took his duties more seriously and was determined to hit his target. In order to do so, he had the plane fly around the target twice. On the second pass, a young pilot named Kraft was hit by shrapnel and killed. Unsure how to punish Yossarian for recklessly endangering his crew's lives, Colonel Cathcart and other superior officers decided to reward his bravery instead.

Chapter 14 - Kid Sampson

By the time that the go-ahead was finally given to bomb Bologna, Yossarian did not even feel like flying over his target once. He falsely claimed that the intercom was not working and ordered the pilot, Kid Sampson, to return to Pianosa. They arrived back just before dawn and Yossarian went to sleep on a beach. He woke up when the planes returned. Every plane that went to Bologna came back. Yossarian thought at first that the mission must have been delayed again due to cloud cover. He was wrong. The Americans successfully bombed the city, did not face any antiaircraft fire and suffered no losses.

Chapter 15 - Pritchard & Wren

The medical orderlies Captain Pritchard and Captain Wren told Yossarian that, since he did not take part in the bombing of Bologna, he would have to fly another mission to bomb that city. That time, Yossarian did not expect to face any antiaircraft fire. He was wrong. He found himself being fired at from all directions. He ordered his pilot McWatt to make evasive maneuvers and argued with his relentlessly cheerful navigator Captain Aardvark, known as Aarfy, until all the bombs were dropped. Yossarian managed to escape with his life but many men in his squadron were not so lucky. When he returned to Pianosa, Yossarian went immediately to obtain rest leave that he spent in Rome.

Chapter 16 - Luciana

A copy of Catch-22 in New Delhi, India in 2017.

In Rome, Yossarian met a beautiful young Italian woman named Luciana. She hinted that she would sleep with Yossarian if he bought her dinner and danced with him first. Luciana then sad that she would sleep with him but not until the following morning. That morning, Luciana went to Yossarian's room, which she insisted on cleaning before getting into bed with him. Believing himself to be in love with her, Yossarian asked Luciana to marry him. She replied that she would not marry him because he was crazy. The reason she thought he was crazy was because he wanted to marry her. She could never marry any man who would marry a woman who, like her, was not a virgin. Hungry Joe suddenly came into the room and got very excited by the sight of the naked Luciana. She and Yossarian got dressed and left before Hungry Joe could take a photograph.

In the street, Luciana wrote down her phone number and gave it to Yossarian. She said that he would probably tear it up as soon as she had gone just to show how proud he was that a beautiful young woman had slept with him for free. Yossarian was stunned by that suggestion. As soon as Luciana left, however, Yossarian did exactly as she had said. He came to regret that soon afterwards and went back to search the streets of Rome in vain for the torn pieces of paper.

On returning to Pianosa, Yossarian found out that Colonel Cathcart had raised the number of missions each man had to fly from forty to forty-five. He decided to go to the hospital, as previously described in Chapter 1.

Chapter 17 - The Soldier in White

Yossarian found life much more tolerable in the hospital. He found death much more tolerable there too. In the hospital, death appeared to be polite and orderly. It did not come with any of the violence that often accompanied it outside, such as Yossarian remembered from the raid when Snowden lay dying at the back of the plane. During the time they both spent in the hospital, Yossarian and Dunbar were, however, troubled by the presence of the silent man entirely covered in bandages known only as the Soldier in White. Yossarian, Dunbar and other patients talked about how unjust it seemed that some men got wounded or sick and others did not and how some men died young and others did not. Clevinger had earlier tried to give some kind of logical explanation for that but Yossarian had not really been listening to him.

To try to get out of flying any more missions, Yossarian and Hungry Joe compile a list of fatal diseases. They claim to have those diseases to Doc Daneeka. He refuses to ground them, however, and tells them they have to complete the fifty-five missions Colonel Cathcart has ordered them to fly.

Chapter 18 - The Soldier Who Saw Everything Twice

The first time Yossarian feigned illness and was sent to a military hospital was back in the United States when he was still a private in training. On that occasion, he pretended to have an abdominal pain. After he was declared cured, he decided to imitate the mysterious condition of another patient who claimed to see everything twice. He stayed in the hospital over Thanksgiving and vowed to do the same every year. As it turned out, he spent the following Thanksgiving in bed with Lieutenant Scheisskopf's wife arguing about God.

Worried about what the doctors might do to him, Yossarian claimed to be cured and no longer see everything twice. Before he was allowed to leave the hospital, he was asked to pretend to be a dying soldier whose parents and brother had come to see him. The fact that the soldier had died that morning was kept hidden from his family. Yossarian was told by the dying soldier's father that when he saw God, he should tell him that it was wrong to let some men die so young.

Chapter 19 - Colonel Cathcart

The ever ambitious Colonel Cathcart reads a story in the magazine The Saturday Evening Post about a squadron commander in Britain whose chaplain always leads a prayer meeting before his men fly a mission. Hoping to get a story about himself into The Saturday Evening Post, Colonel Cathcart asks his chaplain to do the same. It soon becomes clear that Colonel Cathcart and the chaplain have very different ideas about how such a prayer meeting should be conducted. Colonel Cathcart eventually abandons the idea after the chaplain says that enlisted men should take part in the meeting as well as officers. Colonel Cathcart says he was not aware that enlisted men and offcers worshipped the same God. Seeing the chaplain look with surprise at the many plum tomatoes in his office, Colonel Cathcart makes him take one. The chaplain tries to tell Colonel Cathcart that many of the men are upset by his constant raising of the number of missions they have to fly. Colonel Cathcart does not pay any attention to him.

Chapter 20 - Colonel Whitcomb

On his way back to his tent, the chaplain passes Colonel Cathcart's assistant Colonel Korn. Colonel Korn looks suspiciously at the plum tomato the chaplain is carrying. Colonel Whitcomb, the chaplain's assistant and roommate, is in the tent. Although he is an atheist, Colonel Whitcomb thinks he could do a better job of running the chaplaincy than the chaplain does. He blames the chaplain for blocking any advancement in his career path. Colonel Whitcomb tells the chaplain that a C.I.D. man is looking for him. He suspects the chaplain of being the forger who signed "Washington Irving" and of stealing plum tomatoes. The chaplain feels very disappointed in himself for failing to make anyone's life better.

Chapter 21 - General Dreedle

Colonel Cathcart notices that he keeps hearing the name Yossarian in connection with problems. He has heard that Yossarian complained about the increase in the number of missions he has to fly. He suspects Yossarian of being the ringleader of a large group of men who made moaning noises during the briefing before the raid on Avignon, the raid during which Snowden died. Colonel Cathcart remembers that Yossarian was completely naked when he presented him with his medal. The reason for that was because the dying Snowden bled all over Yssarian's uniform, after which he could not bear to wear any uniform for some time.

Colonel Cathcart believes that General Dreedle would be impressed if he could do something about the troublemaker Yossarian. In truth, General Dreedle takes no interest in anything that Colonel Cathcart or Colonel Korn do, as long as enough men stay alive to be militarily useful. General Dreedle travels everywhere with an attractive young woman who is his nurse. His main concern is his son-in-law, Colonel Moodus, whom he hates.

Yossarian was indeed behind the outbreak of moaning that took place at the briefing before the raid on Avignon. He saw General Dreedle's nurse and fell instantly and passionately in love with her. He continued listening to Major Danby, who was giving the talk, but looked only at the nurse. Yossarian knew that he could be killed during the raid on Avignon and never see the beautiful nurse again. The combination of lust and deep regret that Yossarian felt made him begin to moan audibly. To prevent Yossarian from being singled out for punishment, Nately and Dunbar started moaning too. That led to more men moaning and giggling. General Dreedle ordered a halt to it by threatening to have the next man who moaned shot. Major Danby continued to give his talk and told the men to synchronize their watches. He saw that none of them had synchronized their watches, realized they had not been listening and moaned out of frustration. Major Danby narrowly escaped being shot when Colonel Moodus told General Dreedle he did not have the authority too order such a summary execution.

Chapter 22 - Milo the Mayor

Yossarian again remembers Snowden's death. It happened after Dobbs took over control of the plane from the 15-year-old pilot Huple.

Dobbs is also unhappy about the constant increases in the number of missions they have to fly. He decides that the only way to put an end to that is to murder Colonel Cathcart and plans how to do it. He tells Yossarian about his plans. Although he does not expect or want Yossarian to help him carry out the crime, he will only go ahead with the murder if Yossarian approves. Yossarian does not approve.

Yossarian and Orr accompany Milo, the mess hall manager and black-marketeer, on a plane trip to get supplies. They discover that through his dealings as head of his so-called syndicate, he has already become very rich. His great wealth and economic might have also led to him gaining political powers everywhere he goes. He is the Mayor of Palermo and several Italian towns. He is the Governor-General of Malta, Iman of Damascus, Caliph of Baghdad, Vice-Shah of Oman and Sheikh of Araby. He is worshipped as a god in some parts of Africa. During their trip, Milo sleeps in increasingly luxurious mansions and palaces while Yossarian and Orr have to sleep in the plane.

Chapter 23 - Nately's Old Man

Yossarian is on leave in Rome with Hungry Joe, Aaafy and Nately, a 19-year-old airman from a very wealthy family. Nately is eager to once again see a certain prostitute, known only as Nately's whore. He tries to persuade the others to join him at the brothel where she works. Aarfy refuses, saying that he has never paid for sex in his life.

The brothel appears to host an infinite number of naked women. Hungry Joe cannot decide if he should just enjoy the sight or if he should go and get his camera. The brothel is also home to a disapproving elderly woman and a lecherous elderly man who claims to be 107-years-old. Nately finds himself ignoring the woman he has come there to see because he becomes deeply engaged in conversation with the old man and eventually gets into an argument with him. The old man argues that Italy is doing better in the war than the United States because it has found itself on the losing side. Italians are now passively accepting their occupation and are no longer dying for their country. The old man is certain that this very passivity of its people means that Italy will long outlast the United States. The United States, the old man believes, is destined to fall before very long like all powerful empires before it have fallen. The patriotic Nately tries in vain to counter the old man's arguments. He is disturbed by how much the old man reminds him of his father. The reason for that being that the old man is different from Nately's father in almost every possible way.

Nately's whore eventually leaves him still engrossed in conversation with the old man. She joins Nately in bed the following morning but they are soon interrupted by her kid sister.

Chapter 24 - Milo

2009 depction of Milo Minderbnder by an amateur artist.

Further details on Milo Minderbinder's rise to wealth and power are given in this chapter.

Milo controls the international black market. Although he refuses to trade with Russia, he trades with every other country in the world. He has no qualms about trading with Nazi Germany. He even provided the Germans with the antiaircraft guns that shot down and killed Mudd, the dead man whose belongings are still in Yossarian's tent. To facilitate importing and exporting, Milo has acquired a fleet of planes that previously belonged to armed forces fighting on both sides of the war. The planes have been repainted and now bear the name of Milo's syndicate, M&M Enterprises. The "M M" stands for "Milo Minderbinder". Milo added the "&" so as not to give the impression that the syndicate was a one-man operation. Milo hires out the services of his planes, his men and himself to the American government to bomb the Germans. He also hires them out to the Nazi German government to bomb the Americans. One night, Milo bombed his own camp, caused extensive damage and left dozens of men either wounded or dead. Most of the survivors agreed that Milo had gone too far at that point. Most of them changed their minds, however, when Milo showed them how much money the syndicate was making. Milo still insisted that the syndicate belonged to everybody and therefore it was their money too.

One particularly bad business decision that Milo made was buying the world's entire supply of Egyptian cotton. Unable to sell it or give it away, he thought about serving it to the men in the mess hall as food. On the day of Snowden's funeral, Milo found Yossarian, still naked because he could not bear to wear his uniform, watching the proceedings from a distance in a tree. Milo joined Yossarian in the tree and tried in vain to persuade him to eat a piece of chocolate covered cotton. Yossarian told Milo to try to sell the cotton to the government. That struck Milo as a particularly good idea.

Chapter 25 - The Chaplain

The chaplain is unhappy because nobody is comfortable in his presence. He is also intimidated by most of the other soldiers and is a poor religious leader. He is also troubled by nightmares of his wife and children dying horribly without him there to protect them. The only thing that keeps him going is the thought of the religious visions he thinks he has seen since arriving on Pianosa, such as the one that took the form of a naked man in a tree. The chaplain does not know that there really was a naked man in the tree and it was Yossarian.

Concerned for the men's welfare, the chaplain goes to see Major Major Major Major to ask if he can do anything about the constant increases in the number of missions Colonel Cathcart makes them fly. Major Major Major Major, of course, will only allow the chaplain to enter his office after he has left it. On his way to try to see Major Major Major Major again, the Chaplain comes face to face with what appears to be a wild man who lives in the woods. The man says his name is Flume and he belongs to the Army camp. Flume used to share a tent with Chief White Halfoat. While he was in bed, Chief White Halfoat used to whisper to him that one night he would slit his throat from ear while he was sleeping. Unable to sleep, Flume eventually ran away and hid in the forest.

When he returns to his tent, the chaplain finds out that his roommate and assistant Colonel Whitcomb has been promoted and is now Sergeant Whitcomb. Whitcomb came up with the idea of sending form letters to the families of all men who are killed. Colonel Cathcart loved the idea and was certain it would mean there would be a story about him in The Saturday Evening Post.

The chaplain tries to socialize with the other men at the officers' club but keeps getting thrown out by Colonel Cathcart. He begins to doubt everything, even the existence of God.

Chapter 26 - Aarfy

Nately has fallen in love with the woman known only as Nately's whore. She, however, appears to be losing interest in him. Nately is upset when Aarfy calls the woman a "slut".

Aarfy is the navigator on the flight during which Yossarian is hit and wounded in the leg. He is sent to the hospital. Dunbar is there again too. The two of them briefly swap identities with two enlisted men, until they are discovered and put back in their assigned beds by Nurse Cramer and Nurse Duckett.

Chapter 27 - Nurse Duckett

Yossarian puts his hand up Nurse Duckett's skirt while Dunbar grabs her breasts. A doctor stops them. Yossarian pleads insanty. He is sent to see Major Sanderson, the hospital's psychiatrist. After a few sessions, Major Sanderson concludes that Yossarian really is insane and should be sent home. As an unintended result of the prank that Yossarian and Dunbar played earlier, Major Sanderson believed that he was talking to A. Fortiori, the man whose identity Yossarian briefly assumed. It is therefore A. Fortiori who is sent home instead of Yossarian.

While he is in the hospital, Yossarian is visited by Dobbs. Again, Dobbs asks for Yossarian's permission to murder Colonel Cathcart and again Yossarian refuses to give it.

After leaving the hospital, Yossarian again goes to see Doc Daneeka and tells him that he has been declared insane. Doc Daneeka still refuses to ground Yossarian, saying that there would be nobody left to fight if all the crazy men were sent home.

Chapter 28 - Dobbs

The number of missions each airman must fly now having been raised to sixty, Yossarian tells Dobbs that he now has his permission to murder Colonel Cathcart. Dobbs, however, has now completed his sixty missions and is about to be sent home. He no longer has any interest in killing the colonel. He suggests that Orr, Yossarian's roommate, might be interested in helping Yossarian carry out the murder.

While Yossarian was in the hospital, Orr briefly went missing when, not for the first time, he crashed his plane into the sea. Although their lifejackets did not inflate, due to Milo removing the carbon dioxide canisters so he could make ice cream sodas, Orr and his crew were all found and rescued. When Yossarian sees him again in their tent, Orr says that they should fly a mission together so that Yossarian can have practice of making a crash landing. Orr knows that Yossarian has no wish to fly with him. Orr offers to tell Yossarian the reason why a prostitute was repeatedly hitting him over the head with a shoe in Rome. Yossarian laughingly declines that offer.

Shortly afterwards, Orr crashes his plane into the sea again. The rest of his crew are rescued. Orr is not. He is last seen drifting away from the other men in his little life raft.

Chapter 29 - Peckem

General Peckem wants to take over command of Colonel Cathcart's squadron from General Dreedle. In an attempt to strengthen his position, he has Scheisskopf, newly promoted to Colonel, brought to Italy to join his staff. Colonel Scheisskopf is disappointed to find out that he cannot bring his wife with him to Italy and that the other senior officers do not share his enthusiasm for parades. Everyone else at headquarters soon becomes annoyed by Scheisskopf.

Peckem brings Scheisskopf with him for an inspection of Colonel Cathcart's camp. The airmen are told that they are to fly to an Italian mountain village full of civilians that is of no strategic importance and bomb it to rubble. The only reason the bombing is to take place is so that General Peckem can get some good aerial photographs. Intimidated by the presence of Scheisskopf, whom he now sees as a rival colonel, Colonel Cathcart insists on giving the briefing about the bombing of the mountain village himself. The briefing does not go well because Cathcart is nervous. He is, however, proud of himself for getting through it.

Chapter 30 - Dunbar

During the bombing raid on the Italian village, Yossarian has a flashback to the mission during which Snowden was killed. He then notices that McWatt is being deliberately reckless and performing stunts. Yossarian threatens to kill McWatt unless he stops fooling around. He worries that McWatt will bear a grudge against him afterwards, although that does not happen.

Yossarian begins dating Nurse Duckett. They often spend time together on the beach. While they are there, Yossarian thinks about all the people who have died in the sea, including Clevinger and Orr.

While Yossarian and Nurse Duckett are on the beach one day, McWatt flies deliberately low as a joke. Unfortunately, he flies too low and accidentally kills Kid Sampson by cutting him in half. Aware of the terrible thing he has done, McWatt commits suicide by flying his plane into the side of a mountain. Everyone else onboard parachutes to safety first.

Chapter 31 - Mrs. Daneeka

Doc Daneeka was supposed to have been on the flight in which McWatt killed himself. Since he is not observed parachuting to safety, he is declared legally dead too. The fact that he was never on the plane, that he was on the ground loudly protesting that he could not parachute out of a plane he was not in and is clearly still alive makes no difference. Being legally dead, Doc Daneeka is no longer entitled to any pay and cannot be served food in the mess hall. He is also ostracized by the other men. Colonel Cathcart raised the number of missions they had to fly to seventy after McWatt's suicide and they blame him for that.

Doc Daneeka writes to his wife in New York City telling her to ignore any messages she receives telling her that he has died. She writes back to her husband but he never receives the letter. It is returned to her bearing a stamp saying the person she is writing to has died. She also receives one of Sergeant Whitcomb's form letters about her husband's death. Mrs. Daneeka accepts the official statement that her husband is dead. She is devastated at first. Her suffering lessens when she is told that she will receive payments from several military departments for the rest of her life. She also comes into her husband's inheritance and receives a large payment on a life insurance policy he took out.

Doc Daneeka tries to contact his wife again in vain. She has left to start a new life in Lansing, Michigan without leaving a forwarding address.

Chapter 32 - Yo-Yo's Roomies

Nobody can bear to take Kid Sampson's legs off the beach. They are still there when the cold weather comes. Yossarian thinks about Kid Sampson's legs and Snowden when he wakes up each morning.

Since Orr is still missing and presumed dead, Yossarian finds himself sharing his tent with new roommates. They are four 21-year-olds who have never seen combat, constantly joke with each other and call Yossarian "Yo-Yo". Yossarian hates his new roommates with a passion. He asks Chief White Halfoat to move in with him and scare his new roommates away like he did Flume. Chief White Halfoat, however, says that he is going to the hospital because he is certain that he will soon die of pneumonia, as evidenced by the fact that Flume is no longer afraid of him and has come back to the camp.

In time, Yossarian comes to feel more protective towards his new roommates. He then finds out they have used firewood left by Orr and unceremoniously removed all the belongings of Mudd, the dead man Yossarian felt he had been sharing a tent with for so long. Thrown into a panic, Yossarian goes to Rome with Hungry Joe.

Chapter 33 - Nately's Whore

Yossarian misses Nurse Duckett while he is in Rome. He goes looking for Luciana but cannot find her.

A group of officers are holding Nately's whore captive in their hotel room. Nately, Yossarian and other airmen rescue her. Afterwards, she falls deeply in love with Nately. Nately wants her to go back to the United States with him. He decides that she can bring her kid sister too and they will raise her like a daughter. Nately's whore, however, does not like the idea of giving up prostitution and the only life she has ever known. An angry argument ensues. The other airmen try to calm the situation down. Nately tells them that he will get jobs for all of them working for his wealthy father and they can all live together in the same suburb after the war. The other airmen then leave. Nately's whore is even angrier when Nately tells her that he does not want her to talk to the 107-year-old man who lives in the brothel ever again. She still has strong feelings for Nately, however, and is furious when she finds out that Yossarian broke his nose.

Chapter 34 - Thanksgiving

It is on Thanksgiving that Yossarian breaks Nately's nose. Milo gets everybody drunk on cheap whiskey. Yossarian goes to bed early but is woken up by the sound of machine gun fire. He soon realizes that some of the drunken men are firing machine guns for fun. He decides to go and put a stop to it, taking his own gun with him. Nately tries to stop him. It is then that Yossaran punches him in the face and breaks his nose.

Nately goes to the hospital. Yossarian, feeling guilty about what he has done, goes to visit him. Dunbar and the chaplain are there too. The chaplain lied about having a non-existent disease called Wisconsin shingles. Suddenly a man completely covered in bandages is brought in. He looks exactly like the soldier in white that Dunbar and Yossarian saw die during their earlier stay in the hospital. Dunbar believes it is the same man. He is thrown into a panic and starts screaming. Soon the entire ward is full of screaming men.Even the nurses start to panic.

Nurse Duckett later tells Yossarina that she heard some doctors talking about plans to "disappear" Dunbar. Yossarian goes to find Dunbar to warn him. He cannot find him.

Chapter 35 - Milo the Militant

As he had predicted he would, Chief White Halfoat dies of pneumonia.

Nately has completed the seventy missions he is required to fly and is eligible to be sent home. He chooses to stay, however, because he does not want to return to the United States until he can take the prostitute he loves back with him. Yossarian tells Nately not to volunteer to fly any more missions and asks Milo for help.

Milo goes to see Colonel Cathcart, claims to feel guilty about not flying many missions and asks to be assigned the most dangerous ones. He adds that somebody else will have to run his syndicate. Colonel Cathcart says that he and Colonel Korn could run it. Milo proceeds to explain the complicated running of the syndicate to Colonel Cathcart. As Milo had intended, Colonel Cathcart concludes that Milo is the only person capable of running the syndicate. He decides that other men can fly Milo's missions for him and that if any of those men win a medal, the medal will go to Milo. To facilitate that plan, Colonel Cathcart raises the number of missions each man must fly to eighty.

The following morning, an especially dangerous mission has to be flown. Twelve men die. Dobbs and Nately are among them.

Chapter 36 - The Cellar

Nately's death hits the chaplain particularly hard. While he is grieving, the chaplain is suddenly grabbed by a group of Military Police officers. He is taken to a cellar where he is interrogated by a group of senior officers. They mae it clear that they are convinced the chaplain s guilty of a great many crimes. They do not, however, tell the chaplain what any of those crimes are. Eventually, he is accused of being the forger who signed "Washington Irving". The only evidence they have for that is a letter that Yossarian heavily and nonsensically censored while he was in hospital and on which he signed the chaplain's name. All of the senior officers find the chaplain guilty of being the forger, of stealng plum tomatoes and of yet more still unspecified crimes. They cannot, however, decide how to punish him. They allow him go free until they can agree on a suitable punishment.

The chaplain goes to see Colonel Korn and angrily confronts him about the latest increase in missions the men have to fly. He threatens to take the matter up directly with General Dreedle. Colonel Korn gleefully responds that General Dreedle has been replaced by General Peckem as commander of the squadron and Colonel Cathcart has permission to make the men fly as many missions as he wants. Dr. Stubbs, who offered to ground any man who had already flown seventy missions, has been shipped off to the Pacific.

Chapter 37 - General Scheisskopf

General Peckem's joy at taking over command of the squadron is short lived. At the same time, Colonel Scheisskopf gets promoted. Lieutenant General Scheisskopf is now General Peckem's superior officer and the commanding officer for all combat operations. He is free to indulge in his passion for parades once more and forces all the soldiers on Pianosa to march in them.

Chapter 38 - Kid Sister

Text from a Czech translation of Catch-22 on a sculpture, also called Catch-22, in Dolní Město, the Czech Republic.

In the parades that he now has to take part in, Yossarian always marches backwards. He also refuses to fly any more missions. Colonel Cathcart and Colonel Korn concude that Yossarian must be taking Nately's death badly and send him to Rome to rest.

While he is in Rome, Yossarian breaks the news of Nately's death to Nately's whore. She is so angry with him for bringing her such bad news that she tries to stab Yossarian to death with a potato peeler. Her kid sister suddenly appears and joins in with the attempt to kill Yossarian. Yossarian manages to escape but is covered in stabs. He gets his wounds treated at a Red Cross building. When he comes out of the building, Nately's whore is lying in wait for him and tries to stab him again. Everywhere Yossarian goes, Nately's whore is waiting for him. She even follows him back to Pianosa. Yossarian has her flown off to a distant location and dropped off there by parachute.

Yossarian still refuses to fly any more missions. His superior officers offer him the chance of only flying non-dangerous missions provided that he continues to fly. Yossarian turns that offer down because it means that other men would have to fly the dangerous missions instead.

Captain Black tells Yossarian that Military Police officers have thrown Nately's whore and her kid sister out of the brothel where they both lived. Worried about them, Yossarian goes absent without leave and accompanies Milo back to Rome.

Chapter 39 - The Eternal City

Rome has been bombed and is in ruins. Yossarian makes his way to the brothel where Nately's whore and her kid sister lived. He finds it almost completely deserted. The only person still there is the old woman. She says that the 107-year-old man died and that soldiers with white helmets (Military Police officers) took all the sex workers away. They said they were enforcing a law called Catch-22 which states, "they have a right to do anything we can't stop them from doing." The old woman is distraught. She asks who will look after and support her now that all the sex workers are gone. Yossarian leaves some money for her before he goes. He knows that Catch-22 does not exist but that does not matter because people believe it does.

Milo agrees to help Yossarian look for Nately's whore's kid sister. He abandons Yossarian, however, when he finds out about money to be made dealing in black market tobacco. Yossarian wanders the dark streets of Rome alone. He sees ugliness and brutality everywhere he looks. When he arrives at the building where he and the other men from the squadron stay while in Rome, he sees a crowd of people gathered outside. They are looking at the body of a dead woman lying on the ground. Yossarian recognizes her as the maid. Inside the building, Yossarian finds out Aarfy raped the mad and then threw her out of the window so she would not tell what he had done. Yossarian asks him why he did not just go with a prostitute. Aarfy repeats his boast that he has never paid for sex in his life. Yossarian tells Aarfy that he cannot just laugh off what he has done. He is a murderer and will be punished. Approaching footsteps are heard. Aarfy becomes increasingly nervous. Military Police officers enter the room. They apologize to Aarfy for disturbing him and arrest Yossarian for going absent without leave.

Chapter 40 - Catch 22

Increasingly large numbers of Military Police officers escort Yossarian back to Pianosa. Colonel Cathcart and Colonel Korn say they are prepared to send Yossarian home. There is, however, a catch. The colonels say it is called Catch-22. Yossarian can be promoted to major and sent home if he agrees to like Colonel Catcart and Colonel Korn, be their friend, speak positively about them to the other men and continue speaking positively about them when he goes home. Although he is very uncomfortable with the deal at first, Yossarian agrees to it. As he steps out of Colonel Cathcart's office, Yossarian is attacked. Nately's whore, disguised as a private, stabs him multiple times.

Chapter 41 - Snowden

Yossarian is taken to the hospital. A group of doctors argue about what to do with him. They eventually knock him out to operate on him. Yossarian dimly recalls being visited by Aarfy, the chaplain and a sinister stranger.

The chaplain comes to visit again. Yossarian tells him that he is not going through with Colonel Cathcart and Colonel Korn's deal. He also tells him that he vaguely recalls the sinister stranger saying, "We've got your pal." Yossarian thinks that might be a reference to one of his friends who died in the war. It then strikes Yossarian that all of his friends are dead apart from Hungry Joe. The chaplain tells him that Hungry Joe died in his sleep. Huple's cat was on his face at the time.

The sinister stranger returns. He again says, "We've got your pal." When Yossarian asks who that pal is, he replies, "You'll soon find out." Yossarian lunges at the man but he disappears.

Yossarian has another flashback to the flight during which Snowden died. A more detailed and horrifying account is given of it this time. It is revealed that Yossarian spent a lot of time treating a wound on Snowden's leg, believing that was the only place he had been hit, and trying to calmly reassure him that he would live. Snowden had a much more serious wound to the abdomen. When Yossarian opened Snowden's jacket, all of his entrails spilled out. Knowing there was no hope for Snowden's survival, Yossarian still kept trying to reassure him by saying, "There there."

Chapter 42 - Yossarian

Yossarian is visited in the hospital by Major Danby. He tries to explain to the major why he can no longer accept Colonel Cathcart and Colonel Korn's deal. He feels it would be a betrayal of his dead friends. He says that he plans to run away instead. Major Danby tells him that he would never get away with that. Yossarian agrees.

The chaplain bursts in with amazing news. Orr is alive and well in Sweden, having sailed all the way there from Italy in his tiny life raft. Yossarian realizes that Orr kept crashing his plane into the sea on purpose. He was practicing for his planned escape from the war to Sweden. Yossarian is suddenly filled with a new sense of optimism. If Orr could escape to Sweden, so can he. He plans to do precisely that at once. Unlike Orr, however, Yossarian does not intend to go all the way by sea. He will fly to Rome and make his way from there. Major Danby reassures Yossarian that he will not stop him and even offers him money. The chaplain fetches Yossarian's clothes so he can leave the hospital.

As he leaves, Yossarian narrowly avoids being stabbed by Nately's whore once again.

Adaptatons

Opening title of the 1970 film Catch-22.

Catch-22 was adapted as a 1970 American film of the same name. The film was directed by Mike Nichols. The screenplay was written by Buck Henry, who also appears as Colonel Korn. Catch-22 stars Alan Arkin as Yossarian. The ensemble cast also includes Bob Newhart as Major Major, Martin Sheen as Dobbbs, Jon Voight as Milo Minderbider, Anthony Perkins as the chaplain, Paula Prentiss as Nurse Duckett, Orson Welles as General Dreedle and Art Garfunkel (in his first acting role) as Nately. The film received mixed reviews and was not considered a box office success. Having been made on an estimated budget of US$18 million, it earned US$24.9 million. In order to fit the film's running time, the novel's plot was necessarily simplified and several story arcs are left out. Characters in the film speak lines and have experiences that belong to different characters in the book. In spite of the changes made, Joseph Heller approved of the film and said he wished he could have incorporated some of its additional scenes and dialogue into his novel.

Joseph Heller himself wrote a 2-hour stage adaptation of Catch-22 in 1971. The fifty or so named characters in the novel are reduced to just nine in the play. A production of the play by Aquila Theatre toured the United States in 2008 and 2009. Heller also wrote a 15-minute one act play based on events from Chapter 8 of Catch-22. The play, called Clevinger's Trial, was first performed in London in 1974.

A pilot for an American TV comedy series based on Catch-22, starring Richard Dreyfuss as Yossarian, was produced in 1973. The series was never made.

Catch-22 was adapted as a six-part mini-series of the same name that began streaming on Hulu in the United States on May 17, 2019. It stars Christopher Abbott as Yossarian. Hugh Laurie appears as Major -- de Coverley. George Clooney, who was also the series' executive producer, appears as Scheisskopf. The series was broadcast on the premium cable TV channel Canal+ in France and on Channel 4, one of the main free-to-air television channels, in the United Kingdom.

See also

• Slaughterhouse-Five

External links

• Quotations from Catch-22 on Wikiquote.
• Catch-22 study guide on the SparkNotes website.