Chapters 39-42
Part of me wants to be disappointed with the way that Heller ended “Catch-22” while the other part of me concedes that this ending is not only the most logical, but also the most realistic. I hate to think that Yossarian lost his battle against the corrupted authorities when he had done so much more for the country than they had because I hate the idea that, in this case, the good guy lost the war. On the other hand, however, this ending is realistic because Yossarian did not stand a chance of beating the system because he was only one man surrounded by others who would stop at nothing to glorify themselves while the system itself was filled with Catch-22s and other corruptions. Every way he turned, he was confronted by another issue that made his battle that much harder. Still, it is sad to think that Yossarian was not willing to fight to the death for his cause in order to help save his comrades because his only concern was saving himself. In a way, Yossarian was just as bad as the crooked Generals and Colonels because he was selfish. His lack of reverence for the other men’s lives was, ironically enough, just like one of the worst parts of Hitler’s system, the thing that he was supposed to be fighting against. In my mind, I want to be able to see Yossarian as a hero, but it hardly seems fair for him to be one when his actions were just like those of the bad guys, except on a smaller scale. I find it hard to believe that this was the message that Heller was trying to send, after he worked so hard to build a case against the bureaucracy, but Yossarian’s actions leave me with the message that everyone is selfish and corrupt, not just the members of the bureaucracy.
