The Character Yossarian In Joseph Heller's Catch 22

In the novel Catch 22, the author Joseph Heller has created the main character Yossarian to be both a war hero, and a storybook hero as well. Although the story is loosely based around Heller’s true fact and acquisitions, the character Yossarian is believably played to be more of a heroic type of soldier. Between his countless missions on bombing and photography planes in WWI, experiencing a dear friend die right in his arms, and being faced with tough decisions of either putting lives at stake, or going to court, Yossarian is most defiantly a hero throughout the story.

While overseas in WWI, Yossarian experienced many times of heartache, borderline insanity, and heroism. During his time at war, he felt as if he had no need to be there, and his life was being both controlled, and put on the line

After being caught without a pass in Rome, he is faced with a hard decision… Either agree with the policy of his commanders, which is that his fellow pilots and soldiers face eighty more missions, or face the military court marshal. He decides against either of these, and instead runs away to Sweden, which at the time was a neutral country, where he could regain control over his own life. Deciding to rather run from the military, then put his men’s lives at stake eighty more times, truly does show the heroicness of the character Yossarian.

While fighting the war, Yossarian is faced by several true “Catch 22” moments, especially while deciding how to get out of his predicament after being caught in Rome, and while trying to prove his insanity to be sent home. The “Catch 22” situations greatly help in showing his heroicness throughout the book. These situations also help to thicken the plot, and to allow the reader to have the urge to keep reading so they can discover how he fights through these sticky