I Can See Clearly Now Essay

Flannery OConner argued that anguish is the only trend to make flock see. This famous statement is initially contradictory and incongruous, but in Joseph the Tempters Catch-22 it is easy to see the truth of this paradox. The pages of Catch-22 argon lined with aberrance and each instance provides for a new gracious of clarity. Catch-22 is exactly a struggle story illustrated by ridiculous behavior and mixed-up arguments and told in a flatly satirical tone. though the earmark neer states outright that matters argon funny, the referee is always awarfaree of how outrageously grotesque the characters and situations are.Heller uses out of sequence narration, a confused distinction among appearance and realisticity, and the irrationally logical paranoia of characters to create his corrupt military world. Distortion is found first in the very organization of the impudent. Many events are out of sequence and Heller discusses events as if readers were already aware of their d etails, though merely mentioning them for the first date. Often times Heller references events multiple times before one ever reads about it in its entirety. For example, the demise of Snowden is slowly explained throughout the book.The death is first referred to early on in chapter four when Yossarian asks, Where are the Snowdens(Heller 35) at an educational meeting. This question is asked without context and the reader is unsure of what a Snowden is, let alone how it died. By creating this dialogue without context, Heller leaves readers to question the seemly incoherent question and the idea of Snowdens is planted in their brains. The death is mentioned in chapters five and seventeen and though more(prenominal) tuition is provided each time, the reader does not fully understand what took place until chapter 30 when the details and context of Snowdens death are given.At first, this way of structural organization creates some confusion for readers but as they put out on a grea ter focus and understanding of an event much(prenominal) as Snowdens death is found. Snowdens death is an incredibly deprecative event for Yossarian because he not only loses his friend in the planer he loses his will to fight. With Snowden lying dead in his arms, the truth of war becomes even more frightening and real and Yossarian becomes truly paranoid. Without the focus that the confused and repeated storyline of Snowden provides, one may not have been commensurate to grasp its true significance.Often times Catch-22 is characterized by a very loose captivate on reality. The line mingled with what is apparent and what is real is continually indistinguishable, even to readers. One aspect that contributes greatly to this effect is the distortion of justice and the military technicalities. In the military world created by Heller, what is create verbally on paper is what is true, even if it can be defied by reality. passim much of the book, Yossarian is found complaining tha t there is a dead reality(24) in his tent.When the concept of the dead humanness is first introduced, the readers are lead to believe that there is an actual dead soldier sitting in Yossarians tent, which the military refuses to remove. However, later clarification shows that is not the case at all, but instead, after setting his luggage down, the soldier was killed in the broadcast before he even got the chance to sign in. The grim ridicule of the situation is that according to the appearance based logic of the military, it is as if the man was never there at all, and his things can therefore not be processed.Another example of such ill-shapen reality is found in McWatts plane crash. Doc Daneeka had lied about flying with McWatt, due to his fear of flying, but the documents had it that Daneeka died in the plane crash (338). Everyone can visibly see that Doc Daneeka is alive, in the flesh, and yet he is reported as killed in action(344), and Daneeka is treated like he is dea d for the final stage of the novel. The reality of the military has been so contorted that they are more uncoerced to accept the truth they read than the truth they can see.This confusion between appearance and reality demonstrates the deteriorated state of the military government and forces readers to give a greater attention to the details of such storyline. A third kind of distortion are the irrational and paranoid statements and thoughts of the books protagonist, Yossarian. though Yossarian likely entered the army a sane man, he apparently loses his grip on reality as he watches his friends die in the war surrounding him. Yossarian is often referred to as crazy(20) and yet there is chaff in the fact that every paranoid thought he has is true.Yossarian has a sole goal through the duration of the book staying alive. He goes up into the sky and finds airplanes shooting at him from all directions, and so he goes as far as to see himself as a potential shoot victim. Theyre trying to kill me(16), he argues to a fellow cadet. Though the other cadet insists that they are simply partaking in a war, Yossarians paranoia illustrates a sky full of strangers who want him dead. Though Yossarians thoughts are irrational, they also prove to be somewhat reasonable. The truth is, every time Yossarian goes on a mission his life is in grave danger, and deal are trying to kill him.Though his thought process is distorted by fear, this fear is in turn what proves his sanity. Catch-22 is not a book that can be rightfully summarized. It is not the remarkability of the plot but rather the distinct form of literary distortion that makes it such a classic. This novel illustrates the corruption of wartime and a particular squadron, but in end, it illustrates much more then that. The book uses often-comic distortions of structure, reality, and mind to give readers a profound wiz of universal flaws and truths.