Catch-22 Meaning and History

 

A catch-22 is a paradoxical situation from which one cannot escape because of conflicting rules or regulations. The expression was first used by Joseph Heller in his 1961 book Catch-22. This is an example provided by Brantley Foster from The Secret of My Success: "How can I gain any experience unless I have a job that gives me experience?"

Catch-22 situations usually result from following rules, laws, or procedures that one must follow but has no control over since to do so would be to succumb to them. Another instance of this is when someone needs something that they can only get by not needing it (e.g.: the only way to qualify for a loan is to prove to the bank that you do not need a loan). One interpretation of the phrase is that individuals who put themselves in the "catch-22" predicament came up with arbitrary regulations to hide and justify their own misuse of power.

In his 1961 book Catch-22, Joseph Heller, who exposed the absurd bureaucratic constraints imposed on troops during World War II, used the word for the first time. Doc Daneeka, a character in the movie "Catch-22," is the first to use the expression to explain why a pilot who requests a mental evaluation for insanity—hoping to be found not sane enough to fly and thereby escape dangerous missions—demonstrates his own sanity in doing so and cannot be declared insane. This phrase can also be used to describe a difficult situation or predicament from which there is no way out because of circumstances that are mutually exclusive or dependent.

The term "Catch-22" (or in other words catch 22 meaning) is used to explain or justify the military bureaucracy as well as to indicate a logical deadlock. For instance, Yossarian, who is confined to a hospital bed, is asked to sign letters in the first chapter. One private had been utilizing a promotion loophole to keep the coveted rank of private first class after each promotion, however a clause in chapter 10 closes that loophole. Catch-22 limited the number of times he could do this before being sent to the stockade; otherwise, he would have been reduced to private through courts-martial for going AWOL.

Brief overview

The novel's progression may be broken down into sections. The first (chapters 1–11) mostly continues the plot, however it is divided up among several individuals and set in 1944. Before returning to the historical present of 1944 in the third section, the second (chapters 12–20) leaps back to concentrate mostly on the "Great Big Siege of Bologna" (chapter 21–25). The fourth section (chapters 26–28) flashes back to Milo's syndicate's beginnings and expansion, and the fifth part (chapters 28–32) resumes the story's present-day setting while preserving the same mood as the first four. The sixth and last phase, which begins in chapter 32 and continues through the remaining chapters, continues to take place in the present-day setting of the novel but takes a considerably darker turn by emphasizing the grim and violent aspects of both life and war. Prior to the last portion, the reader has been shielded from the entire horror of the events, but now the horrors are exposed.