Saxena 1 Lori Saxena Smythe AP English 02/04/2021 Catch-22; In-Class Essay Catch-22by Joseph Heller is a novel which uses a satirical lens to examine World War 2. The novel tells the story of Yossarian, a bombardier during the war, and recounts his desperate attempts to stay alive and be discharged from fighting. The novel examines the complexities of war, satirizing the dehumanization of the soldiers in an attempt to shed light on the overarching social issues which lead to war. Heller cracks jokes about horrific wartime events and depicts lengthy, odd arguments with absurd conclusions, using slapstick comedy to criticize the social mechanisms leading to wartime. In this way, he effectively is able to convey the issues that arise when the cause of a war is not related to the people fighting in it. By creating illogical, satirical, and absurd situations and characters, Heller showcases the complex nature of war and ties it into the larger social issue of bureaucracy and its effects on the common man. There are various different scenes throughout Catch-22 where Heller uses satire to reflect the absurdity of war and its connection to bureaucracy. One such scene occurs when Yossarian, who is being awarded a medal, chooses to receive his distinction wearing no clothes. When
