How Does Heller Use Language In Catch 22

Language In Catch-22 Catch-22 is a witty novel written by Joseph Heller that covers many aspects of World War II that usually go untouched. Unlike most war novels, Catch-22 shows the irrationality of war and its negative affects felt by soldiers. It is not the usual novel where hero's are marked by rank and kill counts. Two themes that Heller covers are that of capitalism and free enterprise. He does so by using language, style and the character Milo Minderbinder. In the novel, Milo assumes the low rank of a mess officer. However he is different from most mess officers. Milo is described as the most incredible mess officer who unlike the other soldiers in the novel benefits from the war. Early in the novel, Milo is seen providing the soldiers with wonderful meals that are not the military norm. The reader's view of Milo as a dedicated mess officer who wants to serve his soldiers soon changes. He is often seen
Milo's bad investment in Egyptian cotton leads the air force bombing their own base because of a deal Milo made with the Germans to get rid of the cotton. This event shows that when a capitalistic government gets involved with a business and that business fails the government will do anything to help that business recover. In Milo's case, the government disturbingly allows Milo to bomb his own base to make up for a bad investment. Another example of Milo's operations failing and his evil is Snowden's funeral. Milo approaches naked and sad Yossarian sitting in a tree and is upset only about his loss of cotton. He gives Yossarian chocolate covered cotton saying they must eat it. This is a parallel to the story of Adam and Eve in which Milo is the evil snake tempting Yossarian to eat the tainted chocolate cotton. This scene expresses Heller's view that Capitalism is done right evil and is completely unconcerned with anything that does not bring