The Importance Of Love In Catch 22

“Yossarian was in love with the maid in the lime-colored panties because she seemed to be the only woman left he could make love to without falling in love with” (). Throughout Joseph Heller’s novel, Catch-22, sex is illustrated as an escape from the bureaucratic and cold war which the characters are stuck within. Though Yossarian manages to become close to many of the females which he spends his time with, Yossarian treats love as a desirable escape which is detrimental. As an effect, though Yossarian seeks out love throughout the novel, he either falls completely away from love or manages to come just short of it. This is seen multiple times throughout the novel with a few critical examples being Yossarian’s relationships with the maid, Nurse Duckett, and Luciana. In all of these cases, Yossarian manages to either completely disregard love or sabotage it in some manner as a means of avoiding the detriments which it provides. With this being the case, it becomes quickly obvious that Yossarian treats love as a desirable escape while avoiding it due to its detrimental nature.

First, Yossarian’s relationship with the maid serves as an initial instance where he falls completely away from love. Yossarian embraces the maid as an escape due to her sexuality providing a sense of security. Despite this security which she provides, Yossarian openly admits that he only loves her due to his lack of love for her. Though this serves as a catch-22 moment, this relationship genuinely