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Essay / Catch-22 Plot Summary
Catch-22 begins with Yossarian faking liver disease in order to stay in the hospital and avoid returning to combat. While Yossarian is there, the chaplain visits him and takes a liking to him. The chaplain is also comfortable talking to him and Yossarian invites him to come back. The narrator then introduces a wide range of characters, including: Clevinger, a Harvard graduate who ends up mysteriously disappearing while flying; Orr, Yossarian's clever roommate; Milo, a mess officer who ends up creating a successful business; Havemeyer, who likes the danger of missions; McWatt, who likes to fly dangerously low; Nately, who is the son of a wealthy businessman and fell in love with a prostitute in Rome; and Chief White Halfoat, a Native American officer determined to die of pneumonia. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Yossarian goes to ask Doc Daneeka to punish him, but he refuses and tells him it's because of Catch-22. Doc Daneeka says that those who are crazy can be punished if they ask for it, but because Yossarian asked for it, it shows that he is sane enough to steal. Only those willing to keep flying are those foolish enough to be grounded. While General Dreedle and Peckem argue and don't care at all about winning the war, Colonel Cathcart continually increases the number of missions given to his men. are necessary to fly. Being in his squadron, Yossarian finds this unfair as other squadrons are not required to do this, Cathcart and his assistant Colonel Korn do not care. Colonel Cathcart wishes to be promoted to general while Colonel Korn wishes to be promoted to full colonel. Cathcart suggests his men carry out a dangerous mission to Bologna, and Yossarian tries to avoid the mission as long as possible. However, Yossarian ends up flying there anyway and barely manages to survive as his plane as his plane is constantly bombarded with flak. After the mission, Yossarian quickly leaves for Rome and briefly spends the night with Luciana. As the story progresses, unfortunate events continue to occur as characters begin to disappear or die. Dunbar disappears after causing havoc at the hospital another time, McWatt flies into a mountain after accidentally killing Kid Sampson by flying his plane too low into the lake, and Nately, Dobbs and Havermeyer are killed during their mission to La Spezia. The chaplain is devastated to learn of these increasingly frequent disappearances and deaths. He also sees the toll of the growing number of missions on Yossarian and will meet with high-ranking officials like Colonel Korn and Cathcart. However, they ignored his requests, and eventually, the chaplain was even tried and investigated for the case of forgery of "Washington Irving" on official documents. He is eventually released, but over time his faith in God begins to be questioned. He finally decides to believe in God and continue by standing up to his superiors in order to help Yossarian and the other soldiers. After seeing his friends disappear one by one, Yossarian begins to change his mind. At first, he was content to avoid his own duties. However, as the story progresses, he begins to think that increasing the number of missions is pointless, especially as the war comes to an end. After returning to Rome for a final visit and seeing it in total destruction, Yossarian decides not to carry out any more missions. Many soldiers begin to hear about it, so Colonel Cathcart and Korn make him a deal: either they will be punished and will..