Catch-22

[darie...@ywcpa.org]

In the beginning of Catch-22, Yossarian discovers the clause regarding a soldier's ability to go home early based on one's mental state. Had there not been a rule that a soldier must first request permission to go home, who do you think would have been sent home early as a cause of their insanity?

[faviola...@ywcpa.org]

I don't quite understand the question, but if you're asking who would be sent home early because of their insanity if they could leave, then I think Hungry Joe would be the one. In chapter 6, the author says "Hungry Joe's nightmares awake everyone in the squadron..." and that could prove his insanity. The author also mentions in the beginning of the chapter that he had his bags packed up and ready to go home. So even though Hungry Joe flew more combat tours than anyone and that he's one of the biggest heroes of the Air Force (based on Yossarian), his nightmares that grabbed everyone's attention was the reason he would've been sent home.

[karinareye...@ywcpa.org]

Well, I believe the rule that a soldier must first request permission to go home is included in the catch, Catch-22. In Chapter 5, Doc Daneeka explains to Yossarian that there's a Catch. The catch is that Doc Deneeka has to ground someone who is crazy but they have to ask him to ground them. But if they ask him, then they are not crazy anymore and they can't be grounded. In the beginning of my reading I really got confused about the catch. But then realized its suppose to be confusing because the catch has no way out. I believe that no one can be sent home early as a cause of their insanity. The only way you can go home is if you finish all your missions. But Yossarian can never go home because every time he gets close to finishing, the colonel raises the number of missions you have to complete to be able to leave. But if someone could have been sent home because of their insanity I would think that Orr would be the first to get sent home.Doc Daneeka stated in Chapter 5, "He has to be crazy to keep flying combat missions after all the close calls he's had." I would also think someone is crazy if they would keep flying missions and are always close to getting killed but would never complain about doing another mission.