1、Catch-22,Dalin Wang,Catch-22 (work, paradoxical,) Background Plot Overview Character Analysis Themes Writing Techniques,Content,Catch-22 is a satirical novel which was first published in 1961. It is set during WWII in 1943 and is frequently cited as one of the great literary works of the twentieth c
2、entury. It uses a distinctive non-chronological third-person omniscient narration, describing events from different characters points of view and out of sequence so that the time line develops along with the plot.,1. Catch-22 (paradoxical),insane so can be grounded claim insane only prove sane, can
3、not be grounded a Catch-22 situation: an impossible situation because you cannot do one thing until you do another thing, but you cannot do the second thing until you do the first thing. 相互矛盾的困窘 Eg. Its a Catch-22 situation here. Nobody wants to support you until youre successful, but without the su
4、pport how can you ever be successful?,Nazis butcher: atomic bomb, peoples panic Cold war: Mccarthyism, mutural fear and hostility The Korean War and Vietnam War Assassination of Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Feminism, anti-war movement, Water-Gate scandal American dream disillusion,3. Plot Overvie
5、w,WWII, Yossarian and his squadron stationed on Pianosa. They endure a nightmarish, absurd existence defined by bureaucracy and violence. (inhuman resources, brutal combat situations, good aerial photographs, number of missions inscreasing, a war going on in Yossarians mind, crazy),3. Plot Overview,
6、Yossarians story, core of the novel, events refracted through his point of view, take the war personally, not swayed by national ideals, furious when life in danger, desire to live, so in hospital, faking illness to avoid war, troubled by his memory of Snowden, him in ridiculous, absurd, desperate,
7、tragic circumstances-friends disappear, bombed by own men, top dogs merciless.,3. Plot Overview,Nately died in mission when falling in love with a whore who blamed Yossarian and tried to kill him. Milo claims every has a share, but false. Arrested in Rome, 2 choices-court martial or home honorable (
8、support, agree 80 missions). Desert army , flee to Sweden, goodbye to dehumanizing cold machinery of the military, rejects the rule of Catch-22, a future in his own control.,4. Character Analysis,Yossarian: protagonist, alienated, insane outsider, anti-hero, avoid risking life, morbid life philosoph
9、y, illogical world (life threated by missions), logical to survive, self-preservation, in conflict by friends death, when have to make a choice, between, formed his own Catch-22-no mortal concern about others, meaningless life; if yes, life in danger, flee, liberate,4. Character Analysis,Milo Minder
10、binder: representing capitalist free enterprise, brilliant and insane, black market to make money, bend his rules for money, liked by everyone; however, bomb own squadron because of the deal with Germans, becoming evil, evil force can not be controlled, show capitalism transending political ideology
11、, acceptance of payment to show everyone values money.,4. Character Analysis,Conolel Cathcart: ambitious, unintelligent officier in charge of Yossarins squadron, want to be a general, try to impress his superiors by volunteering his men for dangerous cobat, increasing flying numbers,4. Character Ana
12、lysis,Chaplain: war making him doubt about God, struggle to maintain his faith, religion as a tool for officier to have promotion; when accused, realised innocence does not matter, war destroys moral and ethical codes, lost his way in such an absurd world.,5. Themes,5.1 The Absolute Power of Bureaur
13、acy 5.2 Loss of Religious Faith 5.3 The Impotence of Language 5.4 The Inevitability of Death,6. Writing Techniques,5.1 StructureFormless formationRepetitious ScenesBewildering Chronology (psychological time) 5.2 Black Humor, (example) 5.3 Parody, example 5.4 Symbolism 5.5 Anti-hero,Black humor, also
14、 called “black comedy”, or “comedy of the absurd.” Compared with traditional, black humor is more close to satire, meaning a kind of humor including both comic and terrible. Black humor writers usually break the convention, making the plot illogical, mixing the reality with fancy and reminiscence, s
15、eriousnesswith playfulness.,“Youre dead, sir,” one of his two enlisted men explained. Doc Daneeka jerked his head up quickly with resentful distrust. “Whats that?” “Youre dead, sir,” repeated the other. “Thats probably the reason you always feel so cold.” “Thats right, sir. Youve probably been dead
16、all this time and we just didnt detect it.”(p. 341),Parody means the hyperbolic, distorted, ironic imitation of contemporary social phenomena or historical events as well as the structures, themes, genres of classic works, making them look preposterous, burlesque and absurd, thus criticizing the con
17、ventional and historical sense of value from the literary angle.,Merchant of Venice, Shylok says the following words in Act three: “I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to
18、the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer, as a Christian is? If you prick. us, do we not bleed?”,Parody of The Merchant of Venice, If they pricked him, didnt he bleed? And if he was tickled, didnt he laugh? It seemed never to have occurred to them that he, just as they, had eyes, hand, organs, dimensions, senses and affections, that he was wounded by the same kind of weaponsthey were, warmed and cooled by the same breezes and fed by the same kind of food.” (P277-278) Parody of T. S. Eliots poem The Waste Land,Thank You for Your Attention!,
