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Second, Heller transposes Gen. Dreedle's habit of mind – take him out and shoot him – to the psychiatrist. The point of the satire is precisely that the dilemma facing these men is not psychological in nature. And, in case we might forget what that problem is, Heller re-introduces Dobbs, who tells Yossarian, "I'm afraid to do anything alone." And this fear is not psychologically based. It is a deeper problem. |
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Throughout this episode, Heller interweaves another theme: the definition of reality. Here this theme revolves around Yossarian's sense of who he is versus Sanderson's identification of him as A. Fortiori, based on the "official" record. This misidentification results, of course, in A. Fortiori being sent home for Yossarian's behavior. This, in turn, leaves the supposedly crazy Yossarian to go back to war; and, once again, we have Catch-22 as Doc Daneeka asks, "Who else will go?" |
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Chapter 28 begins with the role reversal of Yossarian and Dobbs, a reversal which indicates not only the "Everyman" quality of each of them, but also how much each is subject to his own immediate circumstances and well-being. Into this context Orr is introduced; and, through a time shift, we see him "tinkering." |
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Orr tries to convince Yossarian that his continual ditching is "good practice," something of which Yossarian is decidedly not convinced. Note, however, that Orr will not tell Yossarian this directly. He only hints and Yossarian almost senses that Orr is trying to tell him something. |
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What stops Yossarian is not only that he can't imagine what ditching might be good practice for, but also that he has such ambiguous attitudes towards Orr himself. On the one hand, he regards him as brainless and worries about, "Who would protect him if he lived." Yossarian is concerned about Orr's innocence. On the other hand, we see enough of Orr to ask, who is really most able to cope? And, thinking of the severest threat to life, Yossarian himself thinks that "the idea of murdering Orr was so ridiculous." Thus this chapter suggests that perhaps the philosopher Kierkegaard was right: the best protection is innocence. |
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Having spent some time on General Dreedle's command, the novel now turns to General Peckem. (Together, one sees the humor in the names themselves.) And, as it does so, we find the paradox of an intense rivalry between the two commands. What makes the rivalry paradoxical is that essentially there is no difference between the two, and one is forced to ask, over what can there be a rivalry at all? |
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