Joseph Heller, you got it so right...
From Catch 22 :
Yossarian came to him one mission later and pleaded again, without any real expectation of success, to be grounded. Doc Daneeka snickered once and was soon immersed in problems of his own, which included Chief White Halfoat, who had been challenging him all that morning to Indian wrestle, and Yossarian, who decided right then and there to go crazy.
‘You're wasting your time,’ Doc Daneeka was forced to tell him.
‘Can't you ground someone who's crazy?’
‘Oh, sure. I have to. There's a rule saying I have to ground anyone who's crazy.’
‘Then why don't you ground me? I'm crazy. Ask Clevinger.’
‘Clevinger? Where is Clevinger? You find Clevinger and I'll ask him.’
‘Then ask any of the others. They'll tell you how crazy I am.’
‘They're crazy.’
‘Then why don't you ground them?’
‘Why don't they ask me to ground them?’
‘Because they're crazy, that's why.’
‘Of course they're crazy,’ Doc Daneeka replied. ‘I just told you they're crazy, didn't I? And you can't let crazy people decide whether you're crazy or not, can you?’
Yossarian looked at him soberly and tried another approach. ‘Is Orr crazy?’ ‘He sure is,’ Doc Daneeka said.
‘Can you ground him?’
‘I sure can. But first he has to ask me to. That's part of the rule.’ ‘Then why doesn't he ask you to?’
‘Because he's crazy,’ Doc Daneeka said. ‘He has to be crazy to keep flying combat missions after all the close calls he's had. Sure, I can ground Orr. But first he has to ask me to.’
‘That's all he has to do to be grounded?’
‘That's all. Let him ask me.’
‘And then you can ground him?’ Yossarian asked.
‘No. Then I can't ground him.’
‘You mean there's a catch?’
‘Sure there's a catch,’ Doc Daneeka replied. ‘Catch-22. Anyone who wants to get out of combat duty isn't really crazy.’
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. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn't, but if he was sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn't have to; but if he didn't want to he was sane and had to. Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle.
‘That's some catch, that Catch-22,’ he observed.
‘It's the best there is,’ Doc Daneeka agreed.
‘You're wasting your time,’ Doc Daneeka was forced to tell him.
‘Can't you ground someone who's crazy?’
‘Oh, sure. I have to. There's a rule saying I have to ground anyone who's crazy.’
‘Then why don't you ground me? I'm crazy. Ask Clevinger.’
‘Clevinger? Where is Clevinger? You find Clevinger and I'll ask him.’
‘Then ask any of the others. They'll tell you how crazy I am.’
‘They're crazy.’
‘Then why don't you ground them?’
‘Why don't they ask me to ground them?’
‘Because they're crazy, that's why.’
‘Of course they're crazy,’ Doc Daneeka replied. ‘I just told you they're crazy, didn't I? And you can't let crazy people decide whether you're crazy or not, can you?’
Yossarian looked at him soberly and tried another approach. ‘Is Orr crazy?’ ‘He sure is,’ Doc Daneeka said.
‘Can you ground him?’
‘I sure can. But first he has to ask me to. That's part of the rule.’ ‘Then why doesn't he ask you to?’
‘Because he's crazy,’ Doc Daneeka said. ‘He has to be crazy to keep flying combat missions after all the close calls he's had. Sure, I can ground Orr. But first he has to ask me to.’
‘That's all he has to do to be grounded?’
‘That's all. Let him ask me.’
‘And then you can ground him?’ Yossarian asked.
‘No. Then I can't ground him.’
‘You mean there's a catch?’
‘Sure there's a catch,’ Doc Daneeka replied. ‘Catch-22. Anyone who wants to get out of combat duty isn't really crazy.’
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. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn't, but if he was sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn't have to; but if he didn't want to he was sane and had to. Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle.
‘That's some catch, that Catch-22,’ he observed.
‘It's the best there is,’ Doc Daneeka agreed.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
And that... is how I feel towards my job!!
posted by Pixychik at
5:37 PM
3 Comments:
Thats a really nice excerpt from the book!
Catch-22 is a brilliant satirical critique of a number of modern social phenomena. It is generally referred to as an antiwar novel, but Heller's criticisms extend beyond the absurdity of war to capitalism itself and the social relations that arise from it. To be sure, his analysis is at times confused, and is often directed at surface elements while neglecting more fundamental issues. Nonetheless, Catch-22 stands as a strong protest against the conditions of modern society.
There are a lot other instances where we come across the Catch-22... I read the book long back... so I remember very few of them -
this is for the people who haven't read the book -
1. Army regulation Catch-22 says you've always got to do what your commanding officer tells you to do, even if it goes against army regulation. The men have no refuge from the illogical power of the rule because officers are infallible, even if they are wrong, which they never are!
2. Luciana confuses Yossarian with her illogical response to his marriage proposal. She will not marry him because he is crazy and he is crazy because he wants to marry her. The circular argument is like Catch-22 in that his desire to marry Luciana hinders the marriage, just like his desire to be grounded prevents his grounding!
Keep posting RS. you are doing a terrific job!
this place is for comments and not for your own blogs, 'd'
shd try starting ur own blog.... and dont worry i will comment there too....
BTW, keep posting RS u r doing a terrific job!
thanks for the inspiring me Delhi!
Will surely start writing one of these days.... in the meantime we shall keep on proving support to RS on doing a good job!
BTW, keep posting RS u r doing a terrific job!
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