Rebellion In Joseph Heller's Catch 22

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War begins for a reason, yet this reason often loses significance along the way. Those fighting the war are usually the ones who fail to see its point the most, and soldiers from Joseph Heller’s Catch 22 are no exception. Living on a military base and going on mission after mission without having any tangible impact on the war made Yossarian rebel against the whole institution of the American army. At the center of Yossarian’s disregard for performing well as a soldier were his long, unnecessary stays at the hospital when it was perfectly clear his only illness was inside his head. Hospitals represented a safe haven from the terror- inducing flight missions Yossarian was forced to go on when he was not “sick”. Lucky for him, “it was easy to stay on…show more content…
The Catch 22 that kept the soldiers going on missions they would never complete would fall apart if people from the outside found out the injustices that were going on. So, when Cathcart told him he would “issue orders returning you to the States” (Heller 328) in exchange for him to “Like us. Join us. Be our pal. Say nice things about us here and back in the States. Become one of the boys,” (Heller 328) Yossarian was unable to go through with it. He agreed at first, accepting their medals and fake recognitions, but finally understood that in order to be free, to achieve what he had been craving all along, he had to leave on his own turns. It was not enough to simply refuse to go on more missions, which he did, and see what happened then. Because by doing this all he accomplished was being burdened a new set of standards imposed by the very people he meant to disobey. In order to truly be a free man, he had to try to escape to Sweden. Then, even if he failed in the attempt, his life would end on his own terms, with no decisions made by anyone other than
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