Catch-22

After the staff uncovers Yossarian and Dunbar’s change of identities, the two men sexually assault one of the nurses. Nurse Duckett is a “tall, spare, mature, straight-backed woman” (236), and she is Yossarian’s nurse. Trying to “help” her, he puts his hand up her skirt, and, when she shouts out, Dunbar leans over and grabs her breasts. A doctor must come to rescue Nurse Duckett from the men, and Yossarian apologizes to her. Yossarian claims that he is “crazy” (236) and gets an appointment with the psychiatrist, Major Sanderson.

When speaking to Sanderson, Yossarian mentions a recurring dream about a fish. Sanderson, who seems interested in psychoanalysis, finds the dream deeply intriguing. The two of them keep talking about dreams, and though the discussion is nonsensical, the psychiatrist is increasingly enthralled. Keen to please Sanderson but having run out of dreams to discuss, Yossarian later goes to other men to get their dream stories, which he plans to present as his own. When he shares these dreams with Sanderson, however, one of the dreams disturbs the psychiatrist, who then becomes angry. It also soon becomes clear that Sanderson is under the impression that Yossarian is actually A. Fortiori. Still enraged by the dream, Sanderson insists that Yossarian should be shot.

When rumors of other squadrons being sent home spread through the camp, Dobbs repeats his plan to kill Cathcart, who he claims is the real “murderer” (242).

When Yossarian tells Sanderson that he is convinced that people are trying to kill him, the psychiatrist reacts angrily, now convinced that Yossarian is clearly “crazy” and should be sent back to the United States. However, the paperwork is filed incorrectly, and Fortiori is sent back home while Yossarian is sent back to the camp. A furious Yossarian confronts Doc Daneeka and insists that now, with a licensed psychiatrist having called Yossarian “crazy,” Daneeka must finally ground Yossarian from further flights. Yossarian insists that the military can’t possibly send a “crazy man” to his death—but Daneeka still refuses to ground Yossarian because, if he grounded every “crazy” person, “who else will go?” (245).

Yossarian goes to Dobbs. He gives his blessing to Dobbs’s plan to “kill Colonel Cathcart” (246). However, Dobbs has now completed the 60 required missions and is waiting to go home. He no longer has a reason to kill the colonel. Dobbs suggests that maybe Orr would want to kill Cathcart. Orr, however, has his own problems; he crashed another plane recently, and, when he searched for the life jackets, he discovered that Milo replaced the carbon dioxide inflation cylinders with notes that said, “what’s good for M&M Enterprises is good for the country” (247).

Yossarian finds Orr in their tent, tinkering with the stove he has installed. Orr is an incredibly skilled engineer and is very talented at crash landing his plane, but he is not good with people, and Yossarian worries that he will eventually be exploited by someone.

Orr recommends that Yossarian fly a mission with him to practice crash landing, making pointed references that go over Yossarian’s head. Yossarian is concerned about another potential mission to Bologna. As Orr makes annoying noises, Yossarian is comforted by the idea of killing his tentmate. The men discuss women: Yossarian believes that all women are “crazy” (253), and Orr points out that few women actually like Yossarian. When Orr repeatedly offers to tell Yossarian why a naked woman was hitting him with a shoe in Rome, Yossarian laughs. He declines Orr’s offer.

In September 1944, Orr flies another Bologna mission and, once again, crash lands on the water. He inflates his survival raft, and it drifts away. Orr disappears. The stove in the tent works perfectly.

Scheisskopf is promoted to colonel, and—to the men’s horror—he is transferred to General Peckem’s staff. Peckem hopes that recruiting Scheisskopf will give him the edge over General Dreedle, his main rival. Scheisskopf, however, is upset because he cannot bring his wife to Italy or compete in parades every week. He was expecting to be able to conduct parades on Sundays, since the officers back in the States told him he could; however, Peckem explains that those officers lied. In his mission to overshadow General Dreedle, Peckem pits his colonels against each other. Soon, Scheisskopf and Cathcart are competing for his approval while keeping a paranoid eye on one another. Peckem explains to Scheisskopf that he invented the meaningless term “bomb pattern,” and now his men are more concerned with the aesthetics of the missions than the actual objectives.

When Peckem tells Scheisskopf to accompany him to experience Colonel Cathcart’s briefing, Scheisskopf listens as the men are told that they will be dropping bombs on a “tiny, undefended” (260) village. The men are not pleased. Unbeknownst to them, the true aim of the mission is to provide Peckem with a clean set of aerial photographs of the bomb patterns. Unbeknownst to the commanders, Peckem does not really care. Cathcart is angered by Scheisskopf’s presence. He takes over the briefing and—despite his shaky performance—convinces himself that he has done a great job. 

Dunbar ignores his orders and drops his bombs far away from the undefended village. Yossarian worries about Dunbar, who seems to be “wasting away” (264). He remembers Snowden’s death. The memory causes him to panic. McWatt, as usual, flies with confidence and scant regard for safety. His reckless style infuriates Yossarian, who threatens to kill him. After the mission, McWatt is worried that Yossarian seems “in pretty bad shape” (266). McWatt promises not to buzz the camp again so as not to worry Yossarian, but he is “incorrigible” (267). At this time, Yossarian has started a relationship with Nurse Duckett. They meet and visit the beach, where they have sex. As they lie together and stare at the sea, Yossarian is “never lonely” (269) when he’s with her. Then, he thinks about his dead friends. Orr and Clevinger were both seemingly lost at sea. Yossarian holds Nurse Duckett for comfort.

McWatt performs one of his favorite tricks, buzzing his plane low over the beach. He flies so low over the beach that his propellers catch Kid Sampson. Kid Sampson is cut in half, and his innards are sprayed across the beach. As the beach fills with people “screaming and running” (270), McWatt realizes what he has done. He flies higher and higher as Yossarian screams at him to return to base. Yossarian understands what McWatt intends to do: McWatt kills himself by crashing the plane into a mountain. Colonel Cathcart, shocked by the death and the suicide, raises the number of required missions to 65. 

It is October 1944. Colonel Cathcart believes that Doc Daneeka was also killed in McWatt’s crash. He is so shocked that he raises the number of required missions to 70. However, Daneeka was not on board McWatt’s plane. He bribed Yossarian to alter the flight records to appear as though he was getting his required number of flights. Daneeka, who hates flying, is shocked by the news that he died alongside Watt. His wife in the United States receives a letter confirming her husband’s death. Though she is initially dismayed, she is cheered by the news that she will receive her husband’s pension and by the life insurance policy. She dyes her hair and welcomes the attention of her husband’s friends.

The men on the base blame Doc Daneeka for Cathcart raising the flight quota to 70. As he no longer has a position on the base because he is technically dead, Daneeka begins to feel as though he is actually dead. He writes to his wife and pleads with her to clear up what has happened. After a short period of consideration, Daneeka’s wife decides not to help and moves to Michigan with her children, leaving “no forwarding address” (275).