His problem is Colonel Cathcart, who keeps raising the number of missions the men must fly to complete their service. Yet if Yossarian makes any attempts to excuse himself from the perilous missions that he's committed to flying, he's trapped by the Great Loyalty Oath Crusade, the bureaucratic rule from which the book takes its title: a man is considered insane if he willingly continues to fly dangerous combat missions, but if he makes the necessary formal request to be relieved of such missions, the very act of making the request proves that he's sane and therefore ineligible to be relieved.
Yossarian is furious that his life is in constant danger through no fault of his own. He has a strong desire to live and is determined to be immortal or die trying. As a result, he spends a great deal of his time in the hospital, faking various illnesses in order to avoid the war. Yossarian is placed in ridiculous, absurd, desperate, and tragic circumstances—he sees friends die and disappear, his squadron get bombed by its own mess officer, and colonels and generals volunteer their men for the most perilous battle in order to enhance their own reputations.
Catch-22 can be found in the novel throughout the characters’ stories, —for instance, the ability of the powerful officer Milo Minderbinder to make great sums of money by trading among the companies that he himself owns.
A number of secondary stories unfold around Yossarian. His friend Nately falls in love with a whore from Rome and woos her constantly, despite her continued indifference.When Yossarian brings her the bad news of Nately's death, she blames him for Nately’s death and tries to stab him every time she sees him thereafter.
The novel draws to a close as Yossarian, troubled by Nately’s death, refuses to fly any more missions. He wanders the streets of Rome, encountering every kind of human horror—rape, disease, murder. He is eventually arrested for being in Rome without a pass, and his superior officers, Colonel Cathcart and Colonel Korn, offer him a choice. He can either face a court-martial or be released and sent home with an honorable discharge. There is only one condition: in order to be released, he must approve of Cathcart and Korn and state his support for their policy, which requires all the men in the squadron to fly eighty missions. Although he is tempted by the offer, Yossarian realizes that to comply would be to endanger the lives of other innocent men. He chooses another way out, deciding to desert the army and flee to neutral Sweden. In doing so, he turns his back on the dehumanizing machinery of the military, rejects the rule of Catch-22, and strives to gain control of his own life.
A concern for one's own safety in the face of dangers that are real and immediate is the process of a rational mind.
In addition to the theme of sanity in insane world, two of the other main themes of Joseph Heller's Catch-22 are its obvious anti-war messages and its view of heroes and heroism. Cowards become heroes (Aarfy, Milo Minderbinder) and heroes are labeled as cowards.
Probably the best examples of Heller's anti-war stance come when Orr finally succeeds in bailing out and sailing away; and when Yossarian discovers Orr's success and decides to try to duplicate the feat. Persevere and Perspire to achieve what you want.
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