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Structurally, the reader needs to be aware of how the novel is organized and unified. The organizing principle of the novel is not chronology. Time is disjointed, and episodes are placed for one of two purposes. The first of these purposes is to juxtapose two scenes in order to show their relevance to one another, regardless of their chronological order. For example in the beginning and middle of chapter two, Yossarian is arguing with Clevinger, but in between we are shown where Yossarian lives at a time when Clevinger ''had still not returned.'' The purpose of this rapid juxtaposition is to establish an ironic perspective on Clevinger's claim that war is impersonal. Another example of this is the lifting of the first chapter out of sequence in order to establish the importance of the hospital, the friendship of Yossarian and the chaplain, and the psychology of Yossarian from the outset. |
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The second criterion for the placement of episodes is the requirement that they create a graduated series of events. For example, we are given several interrogation scenes, each more sinister than the one before. Or we see several attempts at a bomb run, each new attempt heightening the psychological impact on the men. |
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In disjointing time in this way, the structure contributes to the content of the novel where time equals mortality and, therefore, disjoints the lives of men in the squadron. And, without this structure, the presentation of the theme of deja vu, the sensation of having seen something before, would be impossible. |
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Nevertheless, these seemingly disjointed series can be followed chronologically due, again, to a structural device, the repetition of three key incidents. The recurring reference to Snowden's death scene, the continuing growth of M and M enterprises, and the raising of the number of missions all provide focal points for the organization of the novel and, in turn, provide much of the motivation for the action of the story. |
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This structure is abetted and maintained by the novel's style. In part, the style is that of satire, using exaggerations, grotesque and comic caricatures, and telling allusions. But what, for example, is exaggerated on a literal level is all too true on, for instance, the psychological level; and the style makes possible the novel's emphasis on and attention to just that and other analogous levels. In line with the satiric style, note the naming of characters for comic effect; for examples, Scheisskopf, meaning ''shithead"; the appellation "Hungry" for Joe; and Danby, with its echoes of namby-pamby, for the middle-aged idealist major. |
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Apart from the satiric style, two other styles can be identified. The first of these is the descriptive style. Doc Daneeka, "roosted dolorously like a shivering turkey buzzard"; the mountains, blanketed in a "mesmerizing quiet," Yossarian, wet "with the feeling of warm slime," "lavender gloom clouding the entrance of the operations tent"; the style serves to transcend physical reality both by making sensations metaphors for states of mind and |
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