The Catch

“Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one’s own safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle.” (pg. 46)

This is the first time where Catch-22 is first mentioned with a description of its rules or law. Catch-22 is referred to many times later on throughout the entire book but in many different contexts other than that mentioned in this quote. As the meaning is described here, the reader immediately gets a sense of the lax and “unofficial” military environment and rules that everything occurs in. A rule such as this would obviously not be in order in modern time war camps. Going on through the book however, you realize that this catch is nothing but a paradoxical law, meaning that it is absurd and stupid but is actually accepted and taken into account by the wartime soldiers/characters we meet. However this mention of catch-22 to the main character Yossarian is specifically important as he has a different initial response to the law as opposed to his opinions on the catch later on. At this point when it is first referred to, it seems to Yossarian as a persuasive and logical law. He is very intrigued at the ingenuity of the idea and respects it. However going on, we realize that this catch is associated to many different aspects of the war, and it is nothing but a trap of words that begins to be used as an excuse in many dangerous and unnecessary situations...