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builds on the previous adjectives until the purely physical sensations are increased to psychological proportions and the suggestion of apocalypse. This technique is made all the more effective by the continuous interweaving of stories, particularly seen in this chapter in the various stories of the young couple who visited Doc Daneeka, the affinity of Chief White Halfoat's family for finding oil, the flies in Appleby's eyes, the flight, and the recurrent suggestion of a story behind the mere mention of the Snowden incident. |
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Once again the number of required missions is increased in this chapter, but here the number of missions serves as a backdrop for the reference to several deaths; and it becomes more clear that illogic and absurdity have their price in human lives. These violent deaths are underscored by the violence which lies just under the surface of day-to-day life and breaks out now and again in such episodes as Orr's attack on Appleby. |
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The violence and absurdity of the situation lead to the phenomenon of Hungry Joe's "inverted set of responses," the nightmares. These nightmares constitute an inverted response, however, only within certain perspectives; and these perspectives are challenged here. In fact, it is suggested that just possibly this response is the sensible one. This is not to say, however, that Hungry Joe is not "sick," as the narrator asserts at the beginning of the chapter; and one manifestation of his ailment is the ludicrous sensuality of his extreme hedonism. In Hungry Joe's continuing pursuit of sexual gratification, the novel raises the traditional theme of carpe diem — the idea that pursuit of pleasure is the only meaning to be found in the face of our mortality. In this chapter this theme is given added force by the suggestion that God is negligent, guilty of cosmic oversights, and of resting while men die. This theme will be developed later in the form of a full-fledged theological debate. |
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In the meantime, the illogic typical of the exercise of power and the absurd way in which decisions are made is emphasized through the growing revelation of the key role played by Wintergreen, summed up by his use of "we" to describe his own relationship to established power. Furthermore, this chapter suggests the motive behind the phenomenon of staying on the right side of power by not rocking the boat: fear for our personal well-being. "If you're going to be shot," asks Wintergreen rhetorically, "whose side do you expect me to be on?" |
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This time, the definition of Catch-22 is given in terms of power and authority, in keeping with the general theme of the chapter. Again, however, the new definition fails to satisfy, and the only answer given here to "Why?," as in Captain Flume's anxious question to Chief White Halfoat, is the Chief's answer, "Why not?" |
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