Social Commentary in Catch-22 Life is full of situations from which it is very difficult to find an escape. Even from time to time, life presents a situation that is more than difficult and from which it is absolutely impossible to escape. These situations were expanded upon and brought to light in Joseph Heller's novel, Catch-22. This novel was such a masterful work that the phrase catch-22 has become synonymous with the situations Heller portrays in his novel. Set in the final months of World War II, Catch-22 tells the story of a bomber squadron on the mythical island of Pinosa, just off the coast of Italy. The story is told through the eyes of Captain John Yossarian, one of the few sane men in the novel, who sees all the impossible situations his squadron finds itself in. “Because Catch-22 is the unwritten loophole in every written law that allows the authorities to revoke your rights whenever it suits their cruel whims: it is, in short, the principle of absolute evil in a malevolent, mechanical, incompetent world Because of Catch-22, justice is mocked, innocents are victims, and Yossarian's squadron is forced to fly more than double the number of missions prescribed by Air Force code" (Skreiner 1). The vivid examples of the paradoxes created by the catch-22 come from specific characters; Hungry Joe, Doc Daneeka, Orr, Milo Minderbinder and Yossarian. Probably the most peculiar paradox presented in Catch-22 forms around a pilot named Hungry Joe. Following a common and logical train of thought, Hungry Joe wishes to finish his time at war and return home, where his safety is guaranteed and he is in no danger of being killed. Capture originates from a common crossbreeding of many of Capture's characters...... middle of paper...... who so quickly manages to persuade us (1) that the craziest are the most logical, and (2 ) that it is our conventional standards that lack any logical coherence" (Brustein 228). Catch-22 is about facing what life throws at you, then understanding desperation and yet never giving up. Catch-22 is a novel that instructs the reader to do as Heller did, leaving convention behind. It is wrong, only the individual matters, because without the soul, man is rubbish , Joseph . Catch-22. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1996. Skreiner, David "Catch-22" Downloaded from http://www.schoolsucks.com/ :229.Burhans, Clinton. 3:230.