The Atrocity Of War :: essays research papers

The Atrocity of War More than an end to war, we want an end to the beginning of all wars - yes, an end to this brutal, inhuman and thoroughly impractical method of settling the differences between governments (Franklin D. Roosevelt). In some people’s minds, war is glorified. The romanticized perspective that society bases war on is reversed in the book Catch-22. The Vietnam War established the book as an anti-war classic because of the war’s paradoxical nature. Heller perceives war as a no win situation. The book elaborates on the sane and the insane ways of the nation. The question is who is to determine the insane? It all comes back to the paradox that 'Catch-22' delivers. The trauma this book illustrates threatens the government’s ideal of peace. There was a time when Heller’s classic satire on the murderous insanity of war was nothing less than a rite of passage. Throughout the book it reveals a portrait of war that is the reality. The sarcasm and structure of this novel is Heller’s way to show the actuality of war’s dispair. The author exemplifies war as trivial; his characters are not fighting the enemy, but they are fighting within themselves. The world has known war ever since the beginning of time, but time has to change if the nation is going to prosper in a positive direction. In Catch-22 most of the sane characters put all of their time and energy into getting home. Yossarian, the main character in the book, was the most determined to stay alive. â€Å"The enemy,† retorted Yossarian, â€Å"is anybody who’s going to get you killed, no matter which side he’s on† (120). All around him he felt people were trying to kill him. His main fear was everyone, including his troops, were shooting at him. Yossarian informs, â€Å"They’re trying to kill me† (11). Everywhere he turned he thought people were after him. Even in the dining hall, he sensed the cooks wanted to poison him. With the trauma he went through nobody can blame him for being paranoid. Anything he could do to get out of missions he tried. The goal that he set was to go home alive, and he would do anything to achieve it. Never did he think twice about what duty he had to accomplish for his government. The whole objective in war is for innocent people to die. Not only did Yossarian fight to go home, but also he fought with the guilt he had to encounter for his lack of bravery. Nothing that he faced could stop him from leaving the war. Not only did he have to battle the constant fear of death, he also had to fight the