Catch-1

Catch-22 ~ Joseph Heller

Yossarian is crazy. He remains in the hospital to avoid the war. He is crazy and everyone around him is crazy too. He says that outside the hospital "Men went mad and were rewarded with metals." this quote introduces the idea of "crazy" or not being sane which is already a reoccurring theme in the novel thus-far. Through Yossarian's attitude towards the war and even the idea of war in general you can get a sense of the true satirical nature Heller wrote this book in. Yossarian's argument with Clevinger illustrates this really well.  Clevinger is another officer in Yossarian's squadron and the two have it out. He says "Clevinger really thought he was right, but Yossarian had proof, because strangers he didn't know shot at him with canons every time he flew up into the air to drop bombs on them, and it wasn't funny at all." This statement is almost comical in the way it is worded because obviously people will not just sit back and take getting bombed like it is nothing. This quote really gets across Joseph Heller's anit-war message and introduces the idea that war itself is illogical, even comical, because the horrors that occur during a war are so often overlooked but if they occurred in an everyday situation it was be a travesty of unimaginable proportions.

Otherness.

We do not live in a post-racial society. Race is still a major issue in this country, and in the world. Even in our own community race is still an issue. It is true that huge gains have been made in the right direction since the civil rights movement. We have been integrated and on paper, there is no racial prejudiced. In practice there are still racial stereotypes and unspoken racial discrimination. Sometimes it is spoken. Racial slurs and derogatory words fly daily in the halls, online, and on television. They are mostly overlooked saying well that people are just playing around. But it is still a problem. It perpetuates stereotypes that are unfounded and outdated. As long as we placidly accept racism and racial slurs against those that did nothing other than be born with a different color skin. Things now are exponentially better on the race front than they were just a few decades ago, but there is still so far to go. 

The worst kind of racism that still exists is from those that think they aren't racist. "I'm not racist but..." They don't exclude people from opportunities or cross to the other side of the street instead of walking next to them but the race issue is still there. Being surprised by a someone speaking well when they expect them to talk in slang or broken English. These are little things but they are still a problem and still evidence of the race issue. There are still bigger issues at stake too. Getting ignored for a taxi or being feared for no reason other than the color of your skin are still issues but more serious lasting racial issues include lower wages and missed job opportunities. The evidence of the race issue is everywhere. Racial profiling anyone that looks like they might be from the Middle East for "random searches" at the airport. There are countless other examples that I could list. There is no doubt in my mind that the race issue is just that, still an issue.