Catch-22 Summary

In the latter part of the Second World War, an airman named Yossarian is assigned to an Air Force unit on the Pianosa island, close to the Italian coast in the Mediterranean. Yossarian, along with his comrades, is trapped in a surreal, chaotic reality shaped by red tape and hostility, being perceived as mere expendable assets by their blindly ambitious higher-ups. The unit is recklessly dispatched into violent combat scenarios and bombing sorties, where capturing high-quality pictures of detonations takes precedence over annihilating their objectives. The commanders persistently escalate the count of operations they must accomplish before repatriation, effectively ensuring nobody ever gets sent back. Nevertheless, Yossarian seems to be the only one cognizant of the ongoing war, with his insistence that countless people are out to kill him deemed insane by others.

The narrative predominantly revolves around Yossarian's experiences, hence most occurrences are seen through his lens. Yossarian perceives the whole war on a personal level: he is incensed that his life is persistently hanging by a thread due to reasons beyond his control. His will to live is potent, and he is firmly resolved to either attain immortality or perish in the attempt. Consequently, he spends most of his time pretending to be ill in the infirmary, to evade the war. As the story unravels through its loosely linked sequence of recurring tales and anecdotes, Yossarian is continuously haunted by his recollection of Snowden, a comrade who perished in his arms during a mission that extinguished Yossarian's will to contribute to the war. Yossarian finds himself in ludicrous, absurd, desperate, and sorrowful situations—he witnesses comrades disappearing or dying, their unit getting bombed by its own catering officer, and higher ranking officers using their men as cannon fodder to bolster their own reputations.

Yossarian discovers an ironic rule, referred to as Catch-22, which stipulates that one can be exempt from military duty on grounds of insanity. Grasping at this potential loophole, Yossarian asserts his insanity, only to learn that by declaring his insanity, he has demonstrated his sanity—since any rational person would declare insanity to avoid deadly bombing assignments. Simultaneously, other plots unfurl around Yossarian. His comrade Nately courts a prostitute from Rome despite her persistent indifference and constant interruptions from her kid sister. Tragically, just as she reciprocates Nately's affection, he is slain in his next mission. Upon receiving the unfortunate news from Yossarian, she holds him responsible for Nately's demise, attempting to stab him upon each subsequent encounter. Towards the climax, Yossarian, stricken by Nately's demise, declines to participate in further missions. He roams the streets of Rome, witnessing every imaginable human atrocity—violation, disease, murder. Eventually arrested for being in Rome without a permit, he is given an ultimatum by his superiors, Colonel Cathcart and Colonel Korn. He can either confront a court-martial or be honorably discharged and sent home, provided he endorses Cathcart and Korn and their policy mandating eighty missions for all squadron members. Despite the temptation, Yossarian realizes that agreeing would jeopardize other innocent lives. He opts for an alternate escape—deserting the army and absconding to neutral Sweden, thereby rejecting the military's dehumanizing system, the absurdity of Catch-22, and aiming to reclaim his own life.