A Study On Existentialism In Catch-22

Joseph Heller is known as the originator of black humor literature.Catch-22 is Heller’s representative work,and it is also the pioneering work of black humor novels.The novel takes the later stage of World War II as the historical background,tells the story of a series absurd events when the U.S.Air Force is stationed on an Italian island,which reveals a disorderly world.Heller does not describe the war itself too much,but reveals absurdity of society and the misery of individuals by a description of the background of the war.Considering that existentialism is the philosophical basis of black humor novels,and Catch-22 is the representative work of black humor,so existentialism thought can be found in the novel.Taking Sartre’s existentialism thought as the theoretical basis,this thesis analyzes the manifestation of existentialism in the novel.Based on basic viewpoints of existentialism,this thesis interprets the novel from two aspects: 1.“The world is absurd and the life is anguished.” 2.“Free choice.”“The world is absurd” is revealed from three aspects: A world of chaos and disorder;a world of antagonism and ruthlessness;a world dominated by capital.Among them,the chaos and disorder of the world are reflected by the chaotic military system and the ridiculous religious belief;the antagonism and ruthlessness of the world are revealed by the conflicts between soldiers and officials and the competitive relationships among high-ranking general officers;a world dominated by capital was presented by people’s crazy pursuit of interests and the carving up of interests.“The life is anguished” is reflected in two aspects: the physical anguish suffered by junior officers,soldiers and ordinary people;the mental anguish suffered by a group of people represented by Doc Daneeka,Hungry Joe and Dobbs.The other basic viewpoint of existentialism is “free choice,” which can be found in many protagonists such as Orr and Yossarian.Human first exists and then determines his nature through his free choices.The existence is inseparable from human choices and his responsibility for those choices.Most protagonists make a choice in the absurd world,and only two of them,Orr and Yossarian,who escape from the absurd island and live a new life.By exploring the process of their free choice,it can be found that how they break the chains of absurdity,and then they make a self-realization.In short,by perusing the novel and analyzing the experiences of several characters,it can be concluded that existential thoughts are clearly revealed in Catch-22 and the interpretation of Catch-22 from the perspective of existentialism will play a positive guiding role in helping to understand Heller’s other works.