catch 22
catch 22
06 February 2004, 12:51 AM
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Catch 22
Catch 22 has become a phrase that most people use as a synonym for a dilemna, but that isn't how author Joseph Heller employed the term in the novel that spawned the phrase.
Throughout the book, Catch 22 gets invoked as a nonexistent rule that allows Yossarian's various antagonists to get away with all kinds of illegal and immoral trickery and skullduggery. I think that the last time the term appears in the novel we get to the real meaning: "Catch 22 means that they can do anything that we can't stop them from doing."
This isn't dilemna: this is despair
I googled, not my words. Although a decent summary.
Catch 22 has become a phrase that most people use as a synonym for a dilemna, but that isn't how author Joseph Heller employed the term in the novel that spawned the phrase.
Throughout the book, Catch 22 gets invoked as a nonexistent rule that allows Yossarian's various antagonists to get away with all kinds of illegal and immoral trickery and skullduggery. I think that the last time the term appears in the novel we get to the real meaning: "Catch 22 means that they can do anything that we can't stop them from doing."
This isn't dilemna: this is despair
I googled, not my words. Although a decent summary.
06 February 2004, 06:35 AM
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In the book, Catch 22 relates to a specific rule:
Yossarian (the hero) wants to leave the war and go home. As a pilot, he can sign himself as unfit to fly due to mental stress, however his CO won't accept his signature as he is not in a fit mental state to make the decision. IIRC, that is
Yossarian (the hero) wants to leave the war and go home. As a pilot, he can sign himself as unfit to fly due to mental stress, however his CO won't accept his signature as he is not in a fit mental state to make the decision. IIRC, that is
06 February 2004, 09:07 AM
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Rev's correct. Haven't the book in front of me, but something like:
The only way Yossarian can get home is if he is mentally unfit (crazy).
The only person to sign him mentally unfit is himself.
If he signs, then either
a) his signature is invalid, as he is too crazy to sign; or
b) he is sane enough to sign, therefore he is not crazy enough to be mentally unfit.
You'd have to be crazy to continue. If you're crazy, you should be going home. But if you know you want to go home, then obviously you aren't crazy.
OK, I give up, someone google it and put us out of our misery....
The only way Yossarian can get home is if he is mentally unfit (crazy).
The only person to sign him mentally unfit is himself.
If he signs, then either
a) his signature is invalid, as he is too crazy to sign; or
b) he is sane enough to sign, therefore he is not crazy enough to be mentally unfit.
You'd have to be crazy to continue. If you're crazy, you should be going home. But if you know you want to go home, then obviously you aren't crazy.
OK, I give up, someone google it and put us out of our misery....
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06 February 2004, 01:00 PM
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Great great book. Read it twice now, not laughed so hard since being given a book called '101 things to do with a dead cat' as an Xmas present many years ago.
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