The American Dream In Joseph Heller's Catch-22

Heller's novel Catch-22 established its reputation in the literary domain and distinguished itself from among war fictions as one of the most satirical and unflattering novels emerged from the ashes of war. Unlike many laudatory and rhapsodically novels which sing the praises of war, Heller's novel comes as a powerful deconstruction and bitter critique of the romantic sentiment of the American dream, in a way which probes deep into the hopes and aspirations of a tortured individual amid a fragmented society. Under the bogus motto of patriotism and fraudulent catchword of national ideals, people in the absurd cosmos of Catch-22 found themselves strenuously seized/intercepted by the deadly pitfalls of a mad regime whose incongruous tenets and autocratic percepts defeat both logic and morality. …show more content…
In a manner of speaking, the novel circulates around a kind of rebel-victim antihero whose sole purpose in life is to save his skin/neck in various successive attempts to evade the brutal atrocities and incongruities of a self-centered regime whose military commanders are in a constant pursuance to enslave him and victimize his fellow mates in the squadron for their own ego-centric aspirations. What impresses one most about Heller's novel is its balanced interweaving and skillful juxtaposition of realism and satire, witty humor and grotesque, bitter cynicism and sheer fantasy along with conscious irony and apparent paradox. Technically, Catch-22 exhibits Heller's virtuosity and dexterity in adroitly applying/utilizing a mixture of the most appropriate stylistic techniques befitting his aesthetic purposes and his thematic