搜索
AReviewofTheCATCH-22（FirstChapter）WhenIamreadingthefirstchapteroftheCATCH-22,thebiggestimpressionitgivesmeis,ofcourse,theblackhumor.Catch-22isasatiricalandhistoricalnovelbytheAmericanauthorJosephHeller.Acatch-22isaparadoxicalsituationinwhichanindividualcannotavoidaproblembecauseofcontradictoryconstraintsorrules.Oftenthesesituationsaresuchthatsolvingonepartofaproblemonlycreatesanotherproblem,whichultimatelyleadsbacktotheoriginalproblem.TheFirstChaptermainlytalksaboutCaptainJohnYossarian,aU.S.ArmyAirForcesB-25bombardier,andanumberofothercharacters.NotwantingtofacetheviolenceofWorldWarII,YossarianhasgonetoanItalianmilitaryhospitalclaimingtohaveapaininhisliver.JohnYossarianisbothamemberofthesquadron’scommunityandalienatedbyit.Althoughhefliesandliveswiththemen,heismarkedasanoutsiderbythefactthatmanyofthementhinkheisinsane.HisdifferencefromtherestofthemenleadsustoexpectsomethingexceptionalfromYossarian.ButYossarian’scharacteristicsarenotthoseofatypicalhero.Infact,fromthefirstchapterwecanlearnthathisprimarygoalthroughoutthenovelistoavoidriskinghislifewheneverpossible.ThesystemofvaluesaroundYossarianissoskewedthatthisapproachseemstobetheonlytrulymoralstancehecantake,ifonlybecauseitissological.WhatwecometohateaboutmilitarybureaucracyaswereadCatch-22isitslackoflogic;menareaskedtorisktheirlivesagainandagainforreasonsthatareutterlyillogicalandunimportant.Sothereisnodoubtthatwhyinthisillogicalworld,Yossarianseizesholdofonetrue,logicalidea—thatheshouldtrytopreservelife.ThenwecanlearnfromtheFirstChapterthatthelanguageFeatureofthisNovelisblackhumor.Itisaformofhumorthatregardshumansufferingasabsurdratherthanpitiable,orthatconsidershumanexistenceasironicandpointlessbutsomehowcomic.Hellerabandonstraditionalwritingmethod.HeadoptsanewwaytowriteCatch-22.Hemakesthewords,phrases,andeventhewholesentenceindisorderresultinginpeople’srealizingthecrazyandmorbidityofthewholesociety.Thisisthefeatureofblackhumor.Thereareplentyofrepeating,dubiousandparadoxicalwords,phrases,anddialogues.Theparadoxicalandconfusingsentencesaregoingcountertocommonsenseaimingtohinttheworld’sridiculous.Hellerdeliberatelycreatessomeconfusingsentences.Heplanstoexpressclearlybuthedoesn’tdothat.Actually,theyareplayingcontraryroles.Generallyspeaking,thetraditionalnoveliststrytomaketheirnovelsclear.Dubiousisnotallowed;whileHellerjustusessuchsentencestoletthepeopleknowtheabsurdityandirrationalityoftheworld.Wefeeldifficulttounderstandthelogicorderofhissentence,letalonethemeaning.Hissentencesaretoexplainbutmakeusmoreandmoreconfused.Inconclusion,blackhumor,oneofthemainliteraturegenesofAmericanliteraturein1960s,iscloselyassociatedwithJosephHeller’sCatch-22.