Milo Minderbinde's Role In Catch 22

In Joseph Heller's novel Catch-22, it depicts the side of World War II that many seem to not realize at first glance. Simply put, Heller focuses more on the conflicts that go on in the allied lines rather than the lethal battles between the Allied and Axis powers. One of the main characters in the book, Milo Minderbinder, plays a crucial role in these conflicts as the book goes on. He at first starts as a simple mess hall officer who attempts to make profit in the war, but ends up letting his capitalistic ways reign superior over his own moral conscience. His deceptions to his fellow airmen promising a reward for his profits allows Milo to carry out unrecognizable war crime and hurt the troops in his squadron physically. Thus, Heller includes Milo in the book to reveal how unaware the troops are when it comes to basic moral common sense, letting the lives of others become inferior to pro-capitalistic ways.
Milo …show more content…
His actions are directly related to his efforts of keeping his business profitably flowing, with no accountability of any human morals that could be hurt. As a result, Milo uses his rise of economic power to carry out several immoral actions. The most prominent task was to bomb his own military base for a profit, with the noticeable fact that he could "reimburse the government for all the people and property he had destroyed and still have enough money left over" (Heller 259). The same idea that "everyone gets a share" was the main reason why the shocking friendly fire was carried out. The lives of Americans were taken and military property was destroyed all for the sake of profit that will benefit the government. The bigger picture of common sense is lost by everyone on this base that allowed this to happen, just to promote capitalism and the deception of profit for all. Milo weakened the military power of the Americans, which fundamentally helps the Germans with an advantage