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1、Unit16-Catch-22Unit16-Catch-22Life story (1)Joseph Heller was born in Brooklyn in 1923.He served as an Air Force bombardier(投弹投弹手）手） in World War II and enjoyed a long career as a writer and a teacher. His best-selling books include Something Happened, Good as Gold, Picture This, God Knows, and Clos
2、ing Time, but his first novel, Catch-22, remains his most famous and acclaimed work. He died of a heart attack in December 1999. Life story (2)The title of this work (Catch-22)entered the English lexicon to refer to absurd, no-win choices, particularly in situations in which the desired outcome of t
3、he choice is an impossibility, and regardless of choice, the same negative outcome is a certainty /any illogical or paradoxical problem or situation is widely regarded as one of the best post-World War II satirists. Anti-war Black humor Serious Absurd “People go to fight wars because they dont under
4、stand the seriousness of what theyre doing. Joseph HellerThematic Concern Institutionalized Absurdity of the Society Vs. Integrity of the Individual Anti-heroCatch - 22Catch-22One of the most influential book in modern literature .Huge impact on popular culture and literary circlesIt introduced the
5、post war world to the concept of Black Humor, also the the archetypal example of black archetypal example of black humorhumorThis book also gives us the first true anti-hero.anti-hero. Black Humor It is a term applied to a large group of American novels beginning in the 1950s. Although the writers o
6、f black humor did not intentionally form a school or literary movement, there is in their novels a common core of satire which is directed against hypocrisy, materialism, racial prejudice, and above all, the dehumanization of individual by a modern society. Black Humor In their opinion, the society
7、is full of institutionalized absurdity. Therefore, all of them hold a cynical attitude toward society and the conventional moral values which support that society. This despondency is reflected in their novels, not by angry protest, but by the use of exaggeration as a vehicle for satire. The satire
8、is based on the exposition and exaggeration of the abnormal and the seamy side of both people and society to the point of ridiculousness and absurdity. It is humor out of despair and laughter out of tears. Black HumorIn literature, drama, and film, grotesque or morbid humor used to express the absur
9、dity, insensitivity, paradox, and cruelty of the modern world. Ordinary characters or situations are usually exaggerated far beyond the limits of normal satire or irony. Black humor uses devices often associated with tragedy and is sometimes equated with tragic farce. Black HumorA kind of humor in w
10、hich disturbing or sinister subjects such as death, disease, or warfare, are treated with bitter amusement, usually in a manner calculated to offend and shock. It is strongly evident in modern American fiction from Nathanael Wests A Cool Million (1934) to Joseph Hellers Catch-22 (1961) and Kurt Vonn
11、eguts Slaughterhouse-Five (1969).A central character in a dramatic or narrative work who lacks the quality of nobility and magnanimity expected of traditional heroes and heroines in romances and epics. Unheroic characters of this kind have been an important feature of the Western novel, which has su
12、bjected heroism to parody since Cervantess Don Quixote (1605). Flauberts Emma Bovary (in Madame Bovary, 1857) and Joyces Leopold Bloom (in Ulysses, 1922) are outstanding examples of this antiheroic ordinariness and inadequacy.Anti-heroThe anti-hero is also an important figure in modern drama, both i
13、n the theatre of the absurd and in the tragedies of Arthur Miller, notably Death of a Salesman (1949). In these days, as in many modern novels, the protagonist is an ineffectual failure who succumbs to the pressure of circumstances. The anti-hero should not be confused with the antagonist or the vil
14、lain.Anti-heroCatch-22-plotnIt is about the story of Captain Joseph Yossarian and his attempt to avoid serving in World War II by feigning insanity. However, Yossarian is thwarted by the doctors argument that if he were truly mad then he would endanger his life and seek to fight more missions.nOn th
15、e other hand, if he were sane, then he would be capable to following orders to fight more missions. Thus the phrase catch-22 came to mean a proviso（限制性条款） that trips one up（绊倒） no matter which way one turns.Catch-22n “There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for
16、 ones own safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind.n Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions.n Orr would be crazy to fly more missions an
17、d sane if he didnt, but if he was sane he had to fly them. nIf he flew them he was crazy and didnt have to; but if he didnt want to he was sane and had to. 第二十二条军规n疯子才能获准免于飞行，但必须由本人提出申请； 同时又规定，凡能意识到飞行有危险而提出免飞申请的，属于头脑清醒着，应继续执行飞行任务。因为如果一个人真的神志不清，他会主动执行飞行任务，因此便没有人能获准免于飞行。n第二十二条军规还规定，飞行员飞满上级规定的次数就能回国，但它
18、又说，你必须绝对服从命令，要不就不准回国。因此上级可以不断给飞行员增加飞行次数，而你不得违抗。如此反复，永无休止。Catch-22-CharactersYossarianColonelCathcartMiloMinderbinderOrrChaplainA.T.TappmanDunbarNatelySnowdenYossarianTheprotagonistandheroofthenovel.YossarianisacaptainintheAirForceandaleadbombardier（投弹手）inhissquadron（空军中队）,buthehatesthewar.Hispowerfu
19、ldesiretolivehasledhimtotheconclusionthatmillionsofpeoplearetryingtokillhim,andhehasdecidedeithertoliveforeveror,ironically,dietrying. Heavoidsflyingcombatmissionsbyallmeanspossible:bymovingthebomblineonthemapofItalyprecedingtheBolognamission,bypoisoningthesquadronspotatoes,bydismantlinghisintercoma
20、ndorderinghisplanetoturnback,andbyfeigningaliverconditiontopassthetimesafelyinthehospital.YossarianColonel CathcartTheambitious,unintelligentofficerinchargeofYossarianssquadron.ColonelCathcartwantstobeageneral,andhetriestoimpresshissuperiorsbybravelyvolunteeringhismenfordangerouscombatdutywheneverhe
21、getsthechance.Ashetriestoschemehiswayahead,heconsiderssuccessfulactions“feathersinhiscap”（功绩）andunsuccessfulones“blackeyes.”（失败）Milo MinderbinderA fantastically powerful mess officer, Milo controls an international black-market syndicate（辛迪加 /财团） and is revered in obscure corners all over the world.
22、 He ruthlessly chases after profit and bombs his own men as part of a contract with Germany. Milo insists that everyone in the squadron will benefit from being part of the syndicate and that “everyone has a share.” He also takes his job as mess officer very, very seriously; as a result, the troops i
23、n Yossarians division eat better than any others. OrrYossarians often-maddening roommate. Orr is a gifted fix-it（故障检修员） man who is always constructing little improvements to the tent that he shares with Yossarian. He almost always crashes his plane or is shot down on combat missions, but he always m
24、anages to survive. He asks Yossarian to fly with him, but Yossarian refuses. Everyone things Orr is simple-minded because he stuffs his fat cheeks with apples. His pretend ignorance is actually a cover and the frequent crashes are really practice for his escape to Sweden. He wanted Yossarian to join
25、 him, but his roommate never took the hint. Yossarian：anti-hero The hero of Catch-22, bombardier Yossarian, is not a brave soldier. He tries again and again to escape missions so that he may be safe in the war.Yet he is endowed by the author with such values as questioning the justification of autho
26、rity and refusing blind obedience.Catch-22-themeHeller writes his novel in a fantastic way but he has a serious intentionto criticize bureaucracy through laying bare the irrationality and absurdity of the abuse of patriotic heroism on account of personal ambition. Set at the end of the War, the nove
27、ls directs the spearhead of its attack at the corruption of the American Army. The commander is described as harboring an ambition for promotion at the expense of others lives.The mess officer is a brazen dab hand in speculation and profiteering.Here obviously the American airforce base is treated as a microcosm of modern American society.
