Catch-22 Propoganda
Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary defines propaganda as "the spreading of ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person", or "ideas, facts, or allegations spread deliberately to further one's cause or to damage an opposing cause." Catch-22 is written by a man who himself enlisted in the Army Air Force and flew combat missions over Italy. The novel is not an attempt at veiled anti-war propaganda, it is a cathartic depiction of the author's perceptions of how military service and war reduce the importance of individuality, blur the lines of what is moral and immoral, and force soldiers in times of war to border on insanity in order to cope with what by anyone's definition is a crazy situation.
Catch-22 shows how the individual loses his or her uniqueness because of the bureaucratic mentality of the command structure. One example of this is when Lt. Scheisskopf becomes so obsessed with parades that he sees the men more as puppets than as human beings. He goes so far as to imagine the men wired together so their movements will coincide precisely. In another example, Colonel Cathcart keeps increasing the number of missions his squadron must fly not because of military necessity but from the desire to enhance his own prestige.
In addition, Catch-22 illustrates how moral values become secondary to survival in a time of war. The novel depicts lying, killing, adultery, and thievery as a necessary means to a just end. For example, the men visit with prostitutes in rooms provided by their own military bureaucracy. Likewise, honor and patriotism also take a back seat to bureaucratic rank and making the commanders look good now matter what the order. Colonel Cathcart for example, tells Yossarian that he is Yossarian's "country." Finally Mindbender makes deals with the enemy and bombs his own base managing to convince his superiors that it was the proper thing to do.
Lastly,...
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