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quickened his pace to get away." That is the end of his identification with Christ — who like a doctor walks through the ward of the world — and the beginning of his sense that it is "his spirit" which is "sick." |
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The nature of this sickness is seen in the change which has come over Yossarian. He had started his "descent" full of purpose, a direct contrast with Milo who is turned aside by material concerns. But now he wishes to retreat into that naturalistic world of sensuality which, along with the hospital, has been his "escape" before. |
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This time the retreat takes him face-to-face with Aarfy's crime, a crime of sensuality. And this episode ends with Yossarian the ironic victim of Catch-22. That is, this chapter has ended by putting Yossarian in the position of victim, by putting him to the test so far as his new-found knowledge of how to triumph over Catch-22 is concerned. And the way for this test has been prepared by the descent episode and the scene of Aarfy's crime. |
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The title of this chapter may well refer to a painting by Peter Blume of the same name, done in 1934-37; and readers will get a visual sense of the vandalized condition described in this chapter if they study this painting. |
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As chapter thirty-nine closed, Yossarian first became the victim of an ironic arrest and then was given hope of a reprieve, of being sent home. In chapter forty, we find, however, that there is a catch. Here in this, the title chapter, Catch-22 reasserts itself. |
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Yossarian's refusal to fly more missions has evidently given the men hope, has suggested that there is an alternative. This has created a problem for Korn and Cathcart, a problem which threatens the achievement of their ambitions for promotion. Their solution is, of course, ingenious: send Yossarian home, but with just one little catch — he is to go home "a friend." |
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Note that they first try to get Yossarian to change his mind by appealing to his patriotism. Yossarian, however, refuses to make the false identification of Cathcart and Korn with his country. Yossarian's patriotism is to the country, not to these men. When this approach fails, they appeal to Yossarian to accept the deal; and this appeal is to his desire for safety, on the one hand, and to "reason" on the other. Against safety and a "privileged existence" are the ideas that the deal will "offend your conscience" and the idea of ''moral principle''; and the "sensible move" is to accept the deal. |
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And, as we read, we find Yossarian, finding "no reason . . . to risk my life for them," makes the sensible move. There are two consequences, however, to be noted. The first is the most subtle of the two. In the appeals to Yossarian, he is accused of being "calculating," of refusing to fly in order to get sent home, of refusing out of self-interest. Yossarian denies this, and in retrospect his denial is true: when he refused to fly he had no idea what the |
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