Catch 22 Satire

Response critics like Stanley Fish downplay individual responses and instead focus on the collective response of groups. Furthermore, Fish makes the point that we all come to texts already predisposed to read them in a certain way due to our baggage. Catch-22 had such a profound impact not due to the predisposed baggage necessarily, but to the lack thereof; no one before Heller had portrayed war in a satirical way and Heller’s unique trailblazing style of writing connected with readers collectively.
In 1961, the public’s view on the United States’ involvement in Vietnam was quite controversial. The controversy combined with the rising anti-authoritarian generation resulted in a nation prime to go against the grain. Additionally, since no other novel had ever satirized a major war, Catch-22 was published at the perfect time. Inflaming society’s controversy, Catch-22’s satirizing about a past war caused the rebellious generation to protest against the involvement in Vietnam (Aldridge 1). However, Heller does not use the war as his basis for the satire, he uses the authoritative corruption and general natures of war (Neary 3). Therefore, readers at the time were forced to reflect on how the United States’ involvement in Vietnam was actually beneficial. In having the novel published in the …show more content…
Important to realize though is that the novel had such a profound impact because readers had never before been exposed to such a satirizing depiction of war. Reader’s deficiency combined with the controversy regarding the United States’ involvement in Vietnam served to provoke the novel’s popularity. Likewise, soldiers were able to empathize with Yossarian, thus the book became relevant for people at home and people fighting in the war. In conclusion, Catch-22 provided the glasses for the anti-authoritarian generation to truly see the mind numbing bureaucracy of the Vietnam