Captain John Yossarian, the protagonist of the novel, is a bombardier in the 256th Squadron of the Army Air Forces during World War II. The squadron's task is to bomb any enemy positions in Italy and eastern France. When the novel begins, Yossarian is at the base hospital, on Pianosa, faking a liver ailment. He has learned that the hospital is a peaceful getaway and that liver ailments are difficult to diagnose. While in the hospital, Yossarian censors enlisted men's letters home; he even alters one letter to resemble a love note and signs Chaplain Tappman's name. There are few men that are in Yossarian's ward like Dunbar, who thinks he can live longer by pursuing boring tasks and making time pass slowly, and the "soldier in white," a man smuggled into the ward in the middle of the night that is encased in a full body plaster suit. Yossarian becomes so annoyed with a Texan that he soon leaves the hospital and returns to his regular quarters. Orr, Yossarian's tent mate, is great with his mechanics and is always trying to make their living arrangements better.
