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the more easy going of the two ultimately parrots the same line as his coarser colleague. Next, we see the same kind of language game as we have seen before being used to confuse the issue in the chaplain's interrogation. This game emphasizes the mentality at work here: if we are questioning you, you must be guilty. True to this line of thought, the interrogating officers wear no insignia: they are the personification of this warped logic, and, thus too, they have no names. |
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They have an effect on the chaplain, however, as does their "named" counterpart, Col. Korn, because the chaplain does "feel" guilty in general. He is faced, therefore, with the conflict between mere instinct and "immoral logic." What we have here is a miniature "descent into hell." The novel will pick up on this literary device later. |
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Peckem's plans fall apart in an ironic twist: his own machinations are his undoing. Moreover, Scheisskopf becomes the general in charge, and, of course, orders parades. But here, the order is expressly for "everybody to march," words with quite a different connotation than the word "parade." |
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Heller has set this brief chapter aside for a symbolic purpose: worldly wisdom (cleverness) fails—absolute conformity reigns—and the way for this reign was paved precisely by that very cleverness which, through arbitrary caprice, sought to control the spirit of men. |
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As this chapter begins, we find that a real change has occurred in Yossarian. Some would say he is paranoid, but paranoia means "unreasonable fear" and Yossarian's fear is really a wholly merited distrust of the world. All of this is the reason for his refusal to fly more missions, and this refusal prompts another literary allusion as Col. Korn compares Yossarian to Achilles. In The Iliad Achilles refuses to fight, only coming into the battle when his friend is killed; this happens only when the battle touches upon him and his sense of right and wrong and thus, one of its purposes is to define honor. Thus, through this allusion, Yossarian, as a character, is related to the core of Western ideas about life and honor. |
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Following this beginning we are given a flashback to one of the principle causes of Yossarian's change, not only Nately's death but its effect on his "whore." In this episode we see how differently grief can affect people and also how close love and hate can become in the context of grief. This is, in its way, a study in the complexity of human emotions as well as a story of subterfuge. As Nately's whore begins to appear everywhere, we begin to see that she symbolizes Yossarian's guilty conscience, an apt response to his claim, "I didn't kill him." |
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