Catch+22+4W

*Ben
Facilitator:
 * Book Discussion Agenda and Questions**
 * Caitlin McGrail

Introduction:
 * Introduce ourselves.
 * Begin answering questions to the best of our abilities and discussing the book.

Factual/Clarifying Questions
 * What is the point of this book?

Character/Narration:
 * Joseph Heller explores most characters thoroughly, showing their fears, motivations, and thoughts. Why is he so extensive in detailing each figure, and what does this achieve in driving the books purpose/satire?
 * How does each character represent a facet of the satire Heller creates?
 * In Catch 22, unlike in many other books, the main character does not grow or change in a manner most would see a positive. In fact, his actions are the exact opposite of what a classical hero would do. Why doesn't the author show Yossarian change?

Setting:
 * How does the setting of the fictional island of Pianosa off the coast of Italy aid the books exposé of societal absurdity?

Themes: Style of Writing:
 * In Catch 22, some believed that Italy was in a better condition than other nations because they had surrendered and its people were no longer dying from war, does this comment provide irony because Yossarian and others believed that the losers were thought to be the winners?
 * The theme of death is reoccurring though out the story, does Yossarian accepting the inevitability of death lead him to live a better or worse life during the war?
 * Catch 22 is a non-existent document of rules which keeps all the soldiers trapped and fighting in the war. Why do you think the soldiers do not openly force the end of Catch-22 and the increase in flying missions needed to leave the squadron?
 * How is morality able to exist even in the most bureaucratic and absurd conditions?
 * Does hating war make one sane or insane?
 * What unique style traits set Joseph Heller apart from other authors?
 * How do humor, satire, and irony play into Catch 22?

Plot:
 * How does the non chronological and circular order of events help Heller expose the themes of Catch 22?
 * Does the absence of a storyline aid or hurt the reading of Catch 22?

Secondary Criticism/Commentary: http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/02/15/home/heller-loony.html Brustein, Robert. "The Logic of Survival in a Lunatic World." 31 May 2001. April 30, 2009 . >
 * "The Loony Horror Of It All-Catch 22 Turns 50" New York Times Book Review October 26, 1986
 * 

Quotes to Note and Discuss: > "But Twenty-seventh Air Force says I can go home with forty missions." > "But they don't say you have to go home. And regulations do say you have to obey every order. That's the catch. Even if the colonel were disobeying a Twenty-seventh Air Force order by making you fly more missions, you'd still have to fly them, or you'd be guilty of disobeying an order of his. And then the Twenty-seventh Air Force Headquarters would really jump on you." (pg 58).
 * "We won't lose. We've got more men, more money, and more material. There are ten million people in uniform who could replace me. Some people are getting killed and a lot more are making money and having fun. let somebody else get killed." "But suppose everybody on our side felt that way." "Then I'd be a damn fool to feel any other way. Wouldn't I?" (pg 103)
 * "'Catch-22...says you've always got to do what your commanding officer tells you to."
 * "There was only one catch and that was Catch 22, which specified that a concern for one's own safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind" (55).
 * "It certainly is not your leg!" Nurse Cramer retorted. "That leg belongs to the U.S. government. Its no different then a gear or a bedpan" (pg 291).

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