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Yossarian

Page history last edited by jack8102@aol.com 13 years, 4 months ago

Yossarian is the novel's main protagonist. Yossarian is one of the few charcaters in the novel who has good intentions and is most definitely on the "good" side.  Yossarian is caring, trustworthy, and faithful to his friends.  Unlike almost every other character in the novel, Yossarian sticks with his morals and ideals, despite the affects the war has on him.  The plot of the novel revolves around his constant struggle to escape his military duty and his struggle to live. Yossarian is essentially trapped on duty, because every time he flies the neccesary missions to go on leave, Colonel Cathcart raises the number on him. He is also confined to his post in the military because of Catch-22.

 

In the novel, Yossarian views the conflicts of the war in personal terms. To him, his enemies, which include his superior officers, are out to murder him. However, those individuals who believe in the purpose of war, disagree. In chapter 2, the young airman Clevinger, for instance, refuses to accept Yossarian's views that people are trying to kill him:

"No one's trying to kill you," Clevinger cried. "Then why are they shooting at me?" Yossarian asked.
"They're shooting at everyone," Clevinger answered. "They're trying to kill everyone"
"And what difference does that make?"
Clevinger was already on the way, half out of his chair with emotion, his eyes moist and his lips quivering and pale. There were many principles in which Clevinger believed passionately He was crazy (16-17). This passage illustrates how Yossarian reduces the war to its barest elements and refuses to see himself as one component in a wider cause, which  baffles the "principled," and patriotic Clevinger.

 

Yossarian is also accused of being "crazy" multiple times. For example, early on in chapter 2, when Yossarian asserts that his food is being poisoned, Clevinger shrieks angrily, "Crazy! That's what you are! Crazy!" (20). The notion of what is and is not "normal" or crazy is a consistent theme throughout the novel, and Yossarian often demonstrates this theme through his thoughts and interactions (and then consequently how his squadmates perceive his actions).

 

Yossarian famously utters, "The enemy is anybody who's going to get you killed, no matter which side he is on," but proves his nobility and character when he refuses to help Dobbs murder Colonel Carthcart. Yossarian will not even consent to say that he approves of the plan, and Dobbs does not go through with it.

 

In the beginning of the novel, Yossarian has the job to read and edit letters while he is in the hospital. He blacks out everything to amuse himself or he signs things Washington Irving or Irving Washington if he gets bored. This starts a recurring storyline involving the two C.I.D. men, Major Major, and the Chaplain. The two CID men come in to the base to investigate who has been signing Washington Irving. Major Major gets the idea from Yossarian to sign Washington Irving, and when he does it the papers never return unlike usually when they come back. The Chaplain is later accused of being Washington Irving, because Yossarian signed the Chaplain's name once. 

 

Much of Yossarian's unwillingness to fight in the war more revolves around the death of a young man in his plane on a mission to Avignon. The young man was named Snowden and he died in Yossarian's arms, bleeding out and eventually freezing to death. At first Yossarian is hopeful, since the wound is not life threatening, but, when he opens Snowden's suit, he realizes that there is no hope for Snowden. Yossarian opened the flak jacket and Snowden's insides spilled out all over him, wiping out Yossarian's newly found confidence that they would get Snowden back safely to Doc Daneeka. Yossarian was so affected by the death that he refused to wear his uniform ever again. As Snowden lies dying on the floor of the plane, Yossarian comes to the realization that "Man was matter, that was Snowden's secret. Drop him out a window and he'll fall. Set fire to him and he'll burn. Bury him and he'll rot, like other kinds of garbage. The spirit gone, man is garbage. That was Snowden's secret. Ripeness was all" (440).

 

Throughout the novel, Yossarian is struggling for self-preservation. After Snowden dies in his arms, he is deeply traumatized and alarmed by the realization that man is essentially garbage once his soul is gone. Yossarian sees how ephemeral and fleeting human life is, and he spends the rest of the novel trying to protect his own. Although Yossarian wants to preserve himself, his main problem is that he also cares deeply for the men in his squadron so he is unable to make choices that will hurt them. His self-preservationist attitude makes him the best bombardier at avoiding flak. McWatt and Yossarian work together to avoid flak since McWatt can not see where the flak is, so Yossarian yells to him the direction he must fly to avoid the flak. Yossarian is very good at this and manages to get his plane back safely. Yossarian says McWatt "was the craziest combat man of them all probably, because he was perfectly sane and still did not mind the war"(60). Before the Snowden incident, Yossarian was the lead bombardier because he flew right in and got it done. However, after Snowden, Yossarian didn't care that he was demoted and Havermeyer took his place because all he wanted to do was live. "Havermeyer was a lead bombardier who never missed. Yossarian was a lead bombardier who had been demoted because he no longer gave a damn whether he missed or not. He had decided to live forever or die in the attempt, and his only mission each time he went up was to come down alive" (29).

 

Yossarian also proves himself as wily when it comes to staying alive while on a mission to Bologna. His squadron was volunteered by Colonel Cathcart for a mission to Bologna. Yossarian and the other men fear this mission because it is supposed to be very dangerous. Initially Yossarian moves the bomb line to include Bologna so the mission is called off because it appears Bologna has already been taken. However, this fraud is quickly discovered and the mission is back on. While on his mission, he pretends that the communication is severed between himself and the pilot. This forces them to turn around not go through with the mission. Aarfy often recalls Yossarians trickery by claiming he can "hear nothing" just like Yossarian claimed that day on the way to Bologna, much to Yossarian's annoyance. It turns out that the mission went well and no one was injured and there was no flak at all. On the next mission to Bologna, Yossarian expects a similar "milk run," ironically, however, they encounter heavy flak. 

 

Yossarian vehemently wishes to not fight anymore--he often goes into the hospital to fake illnesses to get out of flying. He even has a letter from Doc Daneeka which allows him to have as much fruit and fruit juices as he wants. Yossarian has a fondness for bending the rules to help in his quest for self-preservation. The fruit is supposed to help with his liver condition, or the symptons of it which he claims to have. He never eats the fruit and instead gives most of it to Dunbar. At first glance it would appear that Yossarian has faked a liver condition as well as pretending that he "sees everything twice," which he promptly stopped pretending once another man who claimed to have seen everything twice died in front of him. It would also seem that Yossarian lies when he had to pretend to be Giusseppe for the family who didn't make it in time for their son's death. However, throughout the novel Yossarian never actually lies (or does his best not to). At the same time, Yossarian never really tells the truth either, which is yet another of the novel's many paradoxes. When Yossarian says he has a liver condition, the reader assumes that Yossarian is lying because there is nothing wrong with his liver. However, from Yossarian's perspective, he is telling the truth. Yossarian says he has a liver condition, but he doesn't specify what the condition is. If from his point of view the condition is that his liver works perfectly, then it's still a condition, but everyone with a properly functioning liver has it. Therefore Yossarian is being truthful. At the same time though, Yossarian is skating over the surface of dishonesty because he doesn't correct the doctors assumptions. When Yossarian says that he sees everything twice he isn't lying either. Most people would assume this means that Yossarian views events once (as they happen) and then again directly afterwards. Yet again, Yossarian is actually telling the truth because physically speaking he does in fact see everything twice (once in the left eye and once in the right eye). Yossarian is and isn't telling the truth because he knows that the doctors misinterpret what he says but he doesn't correct them. When the family of the dying soldier comes to visit Yossarian, he doesn't lie to them because he corrects them and says "My name is Yossarian" (184). On the other hand Yossarian isn't being fully honest either because he lets the family assume that he is their son. Another example of a paradox of Yossarian's truthful lies occurs when Yossarian tells Appleby, "Appleby, you've got flies in your eyes" (46). It is assumed that Yossarian is lying, but again he is telling the truth. The eyes serve as the zippers, or, "flies" to a person's soul, so when Yossarian tells Appleby, "you've got flies in your eyes", he is and he isn't telling the truth. Appleby does have flies in his eyes in Yossarian's sense of the word but Yossarian allows Appleby to form the wrong conclusion which makes his action not entirely truthful.
 A large aspect of the story is perception, usually yossarians, and the assumptions people make. Yes Yossarian takes advantages of peoples tendancy to assume the wrong meaning of what he says, but he is in no way obligated to correct assumptions.

 

Yossarian hates Appleby. Appleby is a blond boy from Iowa who believed in "God, Motherhood and the American Way of Life... Everybody who knew him liked him" (21). Yossarian hates him for it. Yossarian hates how he is good at every single thing he does and how he accepts certain things (like God and war) without a second thought. He is the All-American boy.

 

On one trip to the hospital, Yossarian and Dunbar pretend to be higher ranked officials. This plan backfires however, when the psychologist, Major Sanderson, who is sent to evaluate Yossarian deems him unfit for duty. This would be a fantastic thing for Yossarian, had he not been pretending to be A Fortiori , since A. Fortiori was declared not fit for duty, not Yossarian. Yossarian's dream about a fish disturbed the doctor greatly. Yossarian and Sanderson banter back and forth about Yossarians dream, only when Yossarian says its a sex dream does Sanderson get excited. He tries to make Yossarain tell him about a serious sex dream, but Yossarian adamantly claims that the fish dream is a sex dream. Sanderson does not believe Yossarian when Yossarian admits that he is not Fortiori, infuriating Sanderson.

 

In the novel, one of Yossarian’s foils is Clevinger. Although Clevinger disappears and is presumed dead after he flies into a cloud, before his disappearance, he and Yossarian have many fervent debates.  Clevinger often accuses Yossarian of being crazy. Yossarian firmly believes that everyone is trying to kill him and Clevinger refutes his point saying “ ‘They’re shooting at everyone,’ Clevinger answered. ‘They’re trying to kill everyone,’(16). Yossarian’s vehemence about himself being specifically targeted in the war is one of his defining characteristics.  In the novel, we see Yossarian argue this point many times. Yossarian and Clevinger also have an argument pertaining to Yossarian's paranoia about whether or not someone is trying to poisin Yossarian's food. Again, Clevinger argues that they are poisoning everyone's food, but Yossarian is adamant in his arguement. Yossarian's awareness of his own mortality constantly provides annoyance to Clevinger.

 

Orr and Yossarian are tentmates. Orr constantly fixes things, like a leak or the stoves, which annoys Yossarian greatly. When Orr fixates on the little things Yossarian begins to feel nervous. He would rather look at the whole picture and does not understand the individual parts that are key to creating the whole. Yossarian always wants to know why the robust woman in Rome was hitting him over the head with the heel of her shoe, but Orr always side steps explaining the story. The first time, Orr has crab apples in his cheeks so Yossarian couldn't understand him. Later on, Orr says he will tell him if he answers a question. Orr asks why Yossarian doesn't fly with him. Yossarian lies and does not tell him that is is because he was flying Snowden got shot. Also, Orr gets shot down over and over again, which Yossarian doesnt realize is on purpose and par of his strategy. Orr keeps hinting to Yossarian that Yossarian should fly with him again, but his hints fall on deaf ears. Orr never tells Yossarian why the girl in Rome was hitting him, because he was shot down and never returned (because he was rowing to Sweden), but later on Yossarian realizes it was because he was paying her to so he wouldn't have to fly. Yossarian also realizes that Orr got shot down on purpose, so he could perfect it and could then escape when the moment arrived.

 

Yossarian has a funny relationship with Doc Daneeka. Yossarian often visits Doc Daneeka, begging for him to send him home. Doc Daneeka always refuses him, saying that he doesn't have enough missions and then telling Yossarian "you think you've got it hard?" before going into a long story about his life before the war. When Yossarian asks Doc Daneeka if he can be grounded because he is crazy, he is introduced to the phenomenon of "Catch 22." 

 

     "You're wasting your time," Doc Daneeka was forced to tell him.

     "Can't you ground someone who's crazy?"

     "Oh, sure. I have to. There's a rule saying I have to ground anyone who's crazy."

     "Then why don't you ground me? I'm crazy. Ask Clevinger."

     "Clevinger? Where is Clevinger? You find Clevinger and i'll ask him."

     "....And you can't let crazy people decide whether you're crazy or not, can you?"

     "...Sure there's a catch," Doc Daneeka replied.  "Catch-22. Anyone who wants to get out of combat duty isn't really crazy" (45-46).

 

Yossarian has an affair with Nurse Duckett. Initially, their relationship is troubled because he sexually harasses her while he is her patient. He tries to explain that he did it out of pity because she is so self-sufficient and needs no one. Eventually their relationship becomes more than patient and nurse. They go to the beach where Nurse Cramer sits 10 yards away in silent disapproval. Yossarian likes Nurse Duckett because she knows when not to talk. She is with him when McWatt's airplane splits Kid Sampson in half.

Yossarian has a plagued relationship with women from the start. He found a good match in the Italian girl Luciana, but he tears up her address later so that he can feel like a big shot who doesn't have to pay for sex, just as she predicted he would. He regrets this later and roams the street for her to no avail. He envies Aarfy for his white brassiere wearing girl who is interested only in fornication, but she is not concerned with Yossarian or Hungry Joe who is infatuated with her cameo ring. Yossarian also is obsessed with the black haired countess and her daughter-in-law who lives above the enlisted men when they are in Rome. He also sleeps with the maid in the lime green panties. Yossarian falls in love with almost every women he encounters, Nurse Duckett, Luciana, the countess and her daughter-in-law, the maid in the lime green panties, and even Lieutenant Scheisskpf's wife (who also sleeps with everyone). Despite his apparent goodness, Yossarian can safely be called a sex fiend.

 

Nately's whore begins a vendetta against Yossarian after Yossarian tells her the bad news of Nately's death. She is irate and takes her anger out on Yossarian. They fight and then begin to make love and then fight again. She and her kid sister chase Yossarian out of the brothel. She follows him back to his base and tries to attack him over and over again. He eventually pushes her out of an airplane to stop her, but on the last page of the novel she attempts to kill him again, but he escapes. He later learns that the brothel has been flushed out and that Nately's whore's kid sister is now all alone. Feeling somewhat responsible, Yossarian flies to Rome to find her without a pass. He first enlists Milo to use his influence and help him find her, but he is sidetracked by illegal smuggling. His aimless wandering through the streets of Rome provide fruitless and depressing as he sees the horrors of humanity. Men beat dogs and rape women as he walks by. Before Yossarian arrives at the house in Rome, Aarfy rapes the maid and holds her in the closet until it is past curfew and she is not allowed to be out. He then pushes her onto the street from the balcony, killing her, and essentially blaming her for being out in the street past the curfew. Yossarian comes back and sees her in the street and then attempts to make Aarfy realize what he has done. Aarfy claims that he has never had to pay for "it" in his life before and that no one will miss one insignificant Italian maid when there is so much death. Yossarian hears the sirens and tells Aarfy they are coming for him. Aarfy begins to realize the mistakes he has made, but the soldiers are here to arrest Yossarian for being in Rome without a pass. They apologize to Aarfy for disturbing him and do not even say anything about the dead maid in the street. All these little events in Yossarian's life add up to represent the constant absurdism that is present in the story.

 

At the end of the novel, Yossarian finally has had enough of his service for Colonel Cathcart because Cathcart wants Yossarian to die so that he can be featured in The Saturday Evening Post . When Yossarian is in the hospital, he keeps seeing a man who tells him that he has his "pal." Yossarian is imagining him but it is this man that makes Yossarian finally realize that all his friend's are dead or gone and he should just leave. After he hears of Orr's arrival in Sweden, Yossarian finally decides to escape. Since his friends (OrrClevingerNatelyMcWatt, DobbsDunbar) are gone, he doesn't feel obligated to stay and fight. Yossarian makes the conscious decision to save himself, "I've been fighting all along to save my country. Now I'm going to fight a little to save myself. The country's not in danger anymore, but I am" (446). Although Yossarian has experienced the death of his friends, become tramautized by the sight of Snowden's condition, and endured a constant horrible atmosphere, he is still able to discover and hold on to the small  amount of hope that comes out of this discovery about Orr. Yossarian's epiphany of hope for a better life is coupled with the Chaplain's epiphany at the end of the novel. Both men realize that there is, in fact, hope still remaining in the world, and decide to not allow themselves to be controlled by the bureaucracy of the military.

 

Nately is often embarassed by Yossarian, although they are good friends. Nately attempts to hold onto his dignity and Yossarian has an entertaining time stripping it away from him. During the strategy meeting before a mission to Avignon, Yossarian is so taken by General Dreedle's nurse that as as Major Danby is trying to synchronize the watches, Yossarian moans. Nately is horrifed with Yossarian's lack of decorum, as he hisses to him, "'Are you crazy? Nately hissed vehemently, 'You'll get into trouble,'"(220), but quickly Yossarian's good natured rebellion rubs off on Nately. Yossarian, though he is constantly looking out for himself and his own self-preservation, often provides brief moments of levity for the men in his squadron. They are often entertained by his antics and disregard for the bureaucracy of the military rank. In chapter 2, Yossarian is mimicking two officers who are mocking him. Nately pleads with him to stop. Even though they are good friends, Nately is ashamed of Yossarian's antics and often tries to make him stop acting "weirdly." Yossarian's decision to stop flying missions in order to save himself connects back to chapter 23 in which Yossarian's friend, Nately has a conversion with the old Italian manNately believes that the old Italian man is speaking nonsense when he tells him that it is absurd to risk your life and fight for a "country which at the end is just a piece of land surrounded on all sides by boundaries" (247). The old Italian man feels sorry for Nately and thinks of him as a "pure and naive young man" who is only 20 years . The old Italian man tells Nately "they are going to kill you if you don't watch out. Why don't you use some sense and try to be more like me? You might live to be a hundred and seven, too." Nately doesn't take the old Italian man's advice because he thinks of the old Italian man as insane. Nately dies later in the story, and Yossarian is affected by his death which causes him to make the decision to not fly any more missions. At the end of the story we can see that Yossarian did the opposite of Nately, and because Yossarian chose to save himself instead of his county, he continues to live.

 

Yossarian and Nately, despite all of their ups and downs, are very close friends. Yossarian begs Nately not to fly more missions after Chief White Halfoat dies of pneumonia, but Nately won't listen because he doesn't want to be sent home before his whore can come home with him. Sadly in the mission, Dobbs accidently runs into the plane which Nately is flying, causing Nately's death. Yossarian mourns Nately's loss. The Chaplain immideitly knows that Nately has been killed when he catches a glimpse of Yossarian walking back from the the mission, "he spied Yossarian finally with a feeling of immense joy, and then his mouth gaped open slowly in unbearable horror as he noted Yossarian's vivid, beaten, grimy look of deep, drugged despair. He understood at once, recoiling in pain from the realization and shaking his head with a protesting and imploring grimace, that Nately was dead" (378). After Nately's death, Yossarian marches backwards and refuses to fly more missions. Not only does Yossarian deeply mourn the loss of his friend, but Nately's untimely death also raises Yossarian's awareness of his own mortality. Yossarian keeps his weapon on him at all times "to make certain no one was sneaking up on him from behind" (292) and becomes even more paranoid as a result. As mentioned above, Nately's whore attempts to kill Yossarian when he gives her the news of Nately's death. Her constant homicide attempts paired with innocent Nately's death make Yossarian even more inclined to prioritize his own self-preservation to fighting in the war. In addition to this, Nately's death takes away Yossarian's hope and faith in life and the fairness of humanity.

 

In chapter 38, Yossarian experinces a Catch-22 with the old woman who owns the girls including Nately's whore and her kid sister.  After his encouter he states that he doesn't believe in Catch-22s. "Cursing Catch-22 vehemently as he descended the stairs, even though he knew there was no such thing.  Catch-22 did not exist, he was positive of that, but it made no difference. What did matter was that everyone thought it existed, and that was much worse, for there was no object or text to ridicule or refute, to accuse, criticize, attack, amend, hate, revile, spit at, rip to shreds, trample up or burn up" (409). However, the way Yossarian gets out of the war is by agreeing to a Catch-22 with Colonel Cathcart and Colonel Korn. Yossarian agrees to be Cathcart and Korn's "pals" in order to get sent home.  Korn is confident in his idea because it keeps him from getting in trouble with either General Peckem or Gerneral Scheisskopf and he knows that Yossarian will agree because it will get him home quickly and safely. 

 

     "'You're going to be one of the boys, remember? You'll enjoy a rich, rewarding, luxrious, privileged existence. You'd have to be a fool to throw it all away just for a moral principle, and you're not a fool.  Is it a deal?'

     'I don't know.'

     'It's that or a court-martial'

     'That's a pretty scummy trick I'd be playing on the men in the squadron, isn't it?"(428).

 

But Yossrian still agrees to the idea because he is tired of the war and he is not ready to die.  "He was home free: he had pulled it off; his act of rebellion had succeeded, he was safe, and he had nothing to be ashamed of to anyone" (429).   

 

Yossarian's arguably greatest moment occurs at the end of the novel. He maintains a moral and steadfast personality throughout the novel, however he is most admirable when he stands his ground, refuses to fly more missions, and declines an immoral deal. He has decided what is right for him, and is not letting anyone else tell him what to think. Colonel Cathcart's attempt to corrupt Yossarian for his own benefit backfires, and Yossarian shines once again as the moral compass of the novel. Although Yossarian is initially fooled into agreeing with Cathcart's deal, Yossarian eventually declines.

 

Yossarian, and arguably the novel as a whole, argue fiercely about the war. The argument is not the traditional, should we fight the war?, as an argument for not fighting Hitler would be hard to make, but instead, should every soldier have to continue fighting? Yossarian's closest friends all seem to die, not because of the initial brutality of the war, but because they have been forced to remain on Pianosa for almost twice as long as any other unit. Their unfair situation is Yossarian's prime example in arguing for his asylum from the war.

 

In the preface of the novel, Joseph Heller (the author), says, "...Yossarian is alive when the novel ends...he is not captured and he isn't dead. At the end of the successor volume I've just completed...he is again still alive, more than forty years older but definately still there...should I ever write another sequel, he would still be around at the end" (5).

 

Comments (2)

Arabella Watters said

at 8:12 pm on Nov 18, 2010

there was a link to a timeline of Yossarian, where did it go?

Arabella Watters said

at 8:12 pm on Nov 18, 2010

b/c we needed that for external media sources

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