Part 2

The theme, the plot, the purpose, or whatever you might call it of this novel is finally becoming apparent. Rather than being about Yossarian, which I wouldn’t mind, the novel is about everyone involved in a war. From the crazy high ranked officers such as Major Major Major Major all the way down to the lowly Ex-PFC Wintergreen and the Italian lover Luciana we are shown the ways of the war, even if through exaggerated caricatures.

Using all of the characters with any power at all Heller satires the mess of bureaucracy while at war. This also of course is where the title and invention of the term catch 22 comes in. Catch 22 is of course introduced by Doc Daneeka who explains that all of those crazy enough to be sent home are too crazy to ask and anyone able to ask is just not crazy enough.

Then there is the man that absolutely disgusts me. Captain Black. The “Glorious Loyalty Oath Crusade” is the kind of false patriotism that really angers me, especially when motivated by a reason such as jealousy. The Crusade is another catch 22 of sorts as you must either waste time signing all of the loyalty oaths or be considered an outsider. Instead of having any real purpose the Crusade was only for the sake of showing up Major Major Major Major. Rather than a crusade of loyalty this is really a crusade of fear, comparable to the ridiculous American flag lapel pin controversies of present time.

More of this bureaucratic trash seems to follow around my boy Yossarian. For instance rather than bringing about any trouble or criticism by punishing Yossarian for getting a pilot killed on a second unordered bombing run, they end up giving him a medal. What he did was brave, but my issue is that the medal was more to lessen any work the officers might have to do rather than to applaud his bravery one of the only times it appears. Then of course there is the time when Yossarian tricks the whole army into thinking Bologna has been taken. Rather than anyone questioning the movement board every officer just tries to take credit for what didn’t happen. Once again it is not just the initial action that puts me off it is each and every officer trying to impress those above with what they have very little information about.

Now this whole post could be pointless as I am talking about a bunch of fake satire. What is slightly saddening is that I believe that any of these things could happen in any war past or present. It is how humans act when given power over others and a structured business of promotion.
(456)

Part 1

Of course I didn’t know what to expect. I had heard it was unusual, but also that it was very good and thus worth reading even though it is a bit lengthy and must be finished before high school is.

At first I wasn’t quite sure if it was going to work for me. Hospitals are frightening, Yossarian is a pretty weird name, and why is the first chapter named The Texan when this Texan is not even the main character. Then I got past the first page and realized it would all work out. Yossarian is sort of an arse, just like me. Then I got to the second chapter. I was confused again. Clevinger, who is he and is he as unimportant as The Texan. Also why does everyone have such weird a weird name. They are Americans, and yet The Texan is about as regular as any name gets.

Few more chapters in and I realized how the novel was going to work(made sure by checking late in the book and yes the chapters were still named after people, lots of people). After getting over all of that I really started to enjoy the structure. Rather than going somewhere in a linear fashion the plot was more like a bunch of conjoined short stories. FUNNY STORIES. Not depressing, not emotional, not serious.

What is probably the most entertaining is how I am able to believe all these characters could exist. Whether it is someone such as Yossarian who is just trying to get by and get home with his life, or the drill sergeant lacking a life that is Lieutenant Scheisskopf the characters are satirical but I also see where they are coming from.

I personally, as previously stated, feel the most for Yossarian who is really just a boy thrust into a world of men. He would rather not be at war, trying to escape by medical means and by completing the tour initially promised, but while there he makes the best of it. While at boot camp he survives and enjoys himself along the way as he becomes quite close with Scheisskopf’s wife. Then when in service Yossarrian survives by screwing with people. Rather than flying for very long in dangerous airspace Yossarian drops all of his bombs as quickly as possible before getting out with his life. This seems to a great extent to be the way Yossarian lives his life as he gets into trouble, but then finds a way to escape, usually by bending the truth in half.


First impressions second and third will come. I apologize for the lateness but it will all be done.
(445)

POEM

A Theme for English B
In “A Theme for English B” Langston Hughes strays far from the norm in topic and structure. Relating very closely to Langston Hughes’s life, “A Theme for English B” tells of a young African American man at a predominantly white University. The “college on the hill above Harlem” refers to Columbia where Hughes spent one year. While at Columbia Hughes was the subjected to a great amount of racism, but also found his interest in the Harlem area while there.

The poem lacks much of any structure in rhyme or meter. Instead it is a rather free flowing speech that uses rhyme very unusually. The professor giving the assignment speaks in a very simple aabb rhythm that shows us he speaks in a educated and proper manner that may even be leaning towards condescending. The speaker however has a very different voice. Rhyme is still present, but is in no clear pattern. He speaks in free verse with rhymes hidden within lines, alliteration, and slant rhymes, in his borderline rant.

The speaker in the poem like Hughes has an unquestionably different college experience compared any of the white students at the time. The Instructor gives an assignment to “Go home and write a page tonight. And let that page come out of you—then, it will be true.” The speaker retorts, “I wonder if it’s that simple?” It is not the paper that the speaker is questioning it is life. Life itself is almost never simple for someone living in a hostile and prejudiced setting. Coming from communities almost sure to have had very large African American populations such as Winston-Salem and Durham, the speaker knows he is not going to be readily accepted at a white institution. Instead he looks to Harlem for support, “I hear you: hear you, hear me—we two—you, me, talk on this page.” Harlem stands for freedom. It is a place where African Americans are free to express themselves whether through music, art, or in the case of Hughes and the speaker writing.

The point of the paper the speaker is writing isn’t to bemoan fate, but instead to show the heart of a man who will not be dispirited. The speaker acknowledges that he is different, but focuses on what makes him just like any other man. Whether it is a function necessary to survive or just a luxury for personal enjoyment, he is very much as capable as any other person. He can do anything a white man can do, but no matter what he writes, “Being me, it will not be white.” What he does have that he stresses to his professor is the patriotism that all Americans share. Some would rather not be linked to a man of his color and he would rather not be linked to them, but patriotism is above that. People must learn from each other whether it is how to write an essay or how to accept another person as an equal.
(512)