Chaotic Structure Catch 22
Gavri Kepets
1. A complex, chaotic structure makes the novel difficult to follow. How might this structure parallel, represent, and/or elevate themes in the story? How does Heller piece together the chronology of events?
Catch 22 defies normal storytelling standards and structures to convey Heller’s perception on the chaotic mess that war, the army, and the life of a soldier is.
Themes of chaos, insanity, and the plot seems rigged. (Rigged in the sense that if something is bound to happen, it does, which is similar to how the entire life of a soldier is just rigged by the army)
Catch 22 is a very difficult novel to read. The structure is chaotic and keeps the readers their toes. Heller provides a series of seemingly random events during Yossarian’s
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The chapters in this book are titled according to a person or event that it is about, and every single chapter seems to tell a new, different story. This instills a sense of confusion and chaos in the reader, similar to how the soldiers felt in the book. Heller communicates with the reader by telling a story that provokes emotion through the narrative and through the structure. Heller also introduces topics and events in an abrupt or non-chronological fashion. In fact, the novel ends as Nately’s prostitutes “knife came down, missing him by inches”. Catch 22 uses a chaotic structure and form to ensure the reader experiences the story just as the characters would have. This elevates the theme of the life as a soldier in the army, when chaos is expected and logic is absent.
Heller pieces together events in the novel mainly through characters. However, the main character is Yossarian, and is told from his perspective of time and thought. Different events throughout the book are told in a certain order that makes sense to Yossarian’s psychological timeline. For example, Heller introduces Nurse Duckett after Yossarian provokes her to drag him by the ear into his bed. Instead of addressing certain events or characters in a chronological fashion, Heller uses characters as a vehicle to deliver plot points in the
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