| Joseph Heller is a very important writer in the modern literature history of Great Britain and American. He is famous for his black humor and new style. His representative work Catch-22 was not an instantaneous success, but he has gained a good reputation since more and more scholars and critics reevaluated his composition after the Vietnam War. Now Catch-22 is not only the representative work of black humor, but also a must for college students, then a bestseller. Existence determines consciousness. The then social environmental factors were responsible for the popularity of Heller's Catch-22. Catch-22 reflects the requirements of the times and expresses the American people's emotions and wishes and their reluctance to join the war of aggression.Heller's creative ideas were very complex. He thought the world was absurd and the life was painful. The historical tragedy always repeated in a more cruel way, so did the meaningless war and death in the human history. His world outlook was similar to some philosophic thoughts of Existentialism. So, in Catch-22, Heller, in a special Existentialism way, unmasked and criticized the insanity and disorder of the modern society and the sharp conflicts between the individual and the social environment.If Existentialism is the "seeds", the American society, which was called the organized disorder and the systemized chaotic condition, in which Heller lived, is Catch-22's creative soil. In Catch-22, Heller served the conflicts between the officials and the hero, Yossarian who was eager to go... |
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