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This is the tale of the dangerously sane Captain Yossarian, who spends his time in Italy plotting to survive. Yossarian is a bombardier in the 256th Squadron of the US Army Air Forces during World War II, stationed on Pianosa, a fictionalised island in the Mediterranean between mainland Italy and Corsica. The squadron's assignment is to bomb enemy positions in Italy and eastern France. Yossarian's mission is simply to stay alive.
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Catch 22 is a novel that's so similar in terms of structure, plot, dialogue, and characters to the theatre of the absurd. Being a story about war, such similarities between genres stand explained. Heller was attempting to convey, among other things, the absurdity of the armed struggle, and what's a better technique to do that than a literal demonstration of absurdity by introducing contradictions, nonsensical exchange between characters, and an endless maze of illogical thoughts and actions. In his novel, Heller exposes the military disorganization and the injustice of officers who sought career advancement rather than the safety of their men. The latter faction had to fight the war, and were depicted as truly heroic, in spite of their occasional comicality, on account of their relentless efforts to save one another. In addition to the absurdity of war, the plot is also thematically implicated with the frustrations and dilemmas of Modern life, and how it, too, borders on sheer absurdity.
