So it's gone

Joseph Heller's narrative from Catch-22 resembles that of Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut. Both of these works are narrated in non-linear ways that convey different meanings to their stories. In Slaughterhouse-Five the jumping narrative is structured like that because the main character, Billy Pilgrim, travels between different times of his life. As of now, Catch-22's narrative style has no connection to a single character, but one could say that to all of them: war has made them only one. Whether it is Billy Pilgrim or the vast array of characters in Yossarian's squadron, their unhinged ways of living and the different views on death are conveyed by the narrators.

Slaughterhouse-Five recounts the events of Billy Pilgrim's life in an odd fashion that certainly shows his detachment from life.  This behavior is embodied after he came "unstuck in time" and in the way he saw life go by: "so it goes". Billy's beliefs that life happens all at the same time is constantly occurring are manifested by the narrator's soothing and easing recount. Furthermore, when Billy was abducted by aliens in the middle of war he detached himself from human customs and embraced alien ones. War disrupted Billy's rationality to an extent where he no longer appreciated life. Indifference is his new way of life. His indifference in front of death is certainly opposing to Yossarian's fear of it. Every time someone dies in Slaughterhouse-Five the narrator says "So it goes", showing how every death is just another death and nothing more. Billy feels no pity or fear of death, whereas Yossarian does everything in his power to avoid death. The repetition of death and the indifference towards it, portray its inevitability in war.

Catch-22 jumps along different perspectives and parts of Yossarian's experience in war. Characters come and go in a very fast paced manner with their peculiar behaviors, but as the story progresses one gets a sense of similarity in all of them. It is a feeling of inanity that makes these soldiers relatively equal in from of one thing: death. "Of course you're dying. We're all dying. Where the devil else do you think you're heading" (chapter 18) said a doctor to Yossarian. This rather explicit quote from one of the few apparently sane characters (who was present only at that situation),encapsulates the narrator's apprehension of the inevitable death. Disregarding their rank and their mental state they are all facing death and it shall come. The narrator presents a variety of characters who essentially face the same problem to equalize them and define war not too far from death.

Both Slaughterhouse-Five and Catch-22 depict the inevitability of death throughout different narration styles. One does it in a very indifferent manner and the other in a much more dooming one. Slaughterhouse-Five's indifference expresses the unimportance of life since it is constantly vanishing, whereas Catch-22's conglomeration of characters captures an essence of equality in front of death. The dehumanization and ferocity of war is presented via similar concepts of death in both works, expanding on war's broadest exit: the inevitable death. 

Masters of Satire

In Catch-22 Joseph Heller excels at satirizing war by presenting absurd situations that remark how illogical war may be. Heller's style shares many qualities with Stanley Kubrick's film Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, which satirizes the nuclear scare from the Cold War. Both of these works extend war to absurd situations that show a perspective of war on inhumane aspects of war that pass unseen. 

One of the striking similarities between these satires is the vast power that high rank officers acquire. The "purpose" of war is even set aside by these overpowered men's desires, exemplifying the irrationality in war. In Catch-22 Colonel Catchart obliges the American soldiers to fight indefinitely by constantly raising the number of missions needed for them to be dismissed. In Dr. Strangelove General Ripper unchains an irreversible nuclear attack on Soviet Russia because he believed they were polluting "precious bodily fluids". While Colonel Cathcart has his men fight and possibly die endlessly, Ripper gave the Russians reason to annihilate all human and animal life with the "doomsday machine". The excess of power that these officers have is not just abusive, but absurdly excessive, yet they accomplish their goals. The purpose of war, even though some may argue Kubrick and Heller imply there is none, is irrelevant to the war when leaders put their own interests before those of war. 

In both stories there is nothing humanity can do to prevent total devastation from happening. War has no exit in either situation because one way or another there will be massive destruction. Whether it is catch-22 that prevents Yossarian from leaving war, or the doomsday machine from the Soviets in Dr. Strangelove, everyone is on the brisk of failure or death. In Catch-22 Major Major told Yossarian there was nothing he could do to help him be dismissed so Yossarian is awaiting death even more. Similarly in Dr. Strangelove General Ripper said there was nothing anybody could do about the nuclear bombs he released and he was proved right. In these satires whatever absurd situation is present, it is bound to happen. The logic of catch-22 is fulfilled in both of these works as there are unavoidable constraints that all lead to a problem. These situations provide an insight in the illogicality of war by showing how war is the same trap for everybody, disregarding their side.

Kubrick's masterpiece and Heller's work are both enchanting satires that mock war by depicting it in a more comedic and exaggerated way. Ironically, their characters are completely serious and and sincere, but this is all to build up the satire. For many, war has been the inhumane inner and outer struggle depicted in both works. The satirization and exaggeration of these events is a conduct for the sense that war lacks and a corroboration of the mutually-assured destruction of war.