Written by Joseph Heller in 1961, Catch-22 is an absolute masterpiece of a novel that still rivals such giants as Kafka's The Metamorphoses today or The Hunger Games by Susanna Collins. Among the mass of characters and their individual stories, there are naturally a plethora of themes that run through this novel. This is perhaps one of the main reasons for the success and seemingly eternal fame of Catch-22 as a story. As a result, there is a colossal amount of information to analyze and simply cannot all be explored in depth in a single review. Therefore, only the major and most obvious themes will be explained. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayThe story follows World War II bombardier Captain John Yossarian and his fellow officers stationed on the Italian island of Pianosa. An individualist who prioritizes his own life and interests above those of others, he seeks to protect himself from dangerous duty as a bomber in a military hospital by pretending to have liver pain. After being sent back before Pianosa (much to his chagrin), Yossarian encounters other equally strange and interesting characters. The rest of the novel takes place in the current year (1944), with two exceptions which both date back a few years or so, the first at the "Great Great Siege of Bologna" and the second for the sake of the history of Milo and his organization. Other than that, the progression of the novel is relatively straightforward - were it not for the sometimes confusing and misleading writing (this is probably intentional on the author's part). Unlike most novels, the finale of Catch-22 is rather dark and unhappy in tone with Yossarian simply unable to carry out any further missions after the death of one of his closest friends: Nately. In order to escape the court martial and murder by Nately's prostitute, Yossarian flees the Pianosa military base with everything still as hectic and dysfunctional as at the beginning of the novel. Nonetheless, the novel ends on a high note with Yossarian hearing of his friend Orr's survival and successful escape to Sweden (with Yossarian vowing to find him). There is no clear moral in Catch-22, unlike some accounts, and so the morality of the novel is open to debate. This particular review will explore the following interpretation of the novel's message: "Your enemy is not necessarily the person you are officially against, but rather the one who puts you in danger in the first place." This is very evident throughout the novel. Particularly in Yossarian's arc, who might be much safer from the German war effort, were it not for his greedy superiors such as Colonel Cathcart who kept increasing the minimum number of potentially lethal missions before 'being relieved of his duties and always put his squadron on missions. the deadliest bomb possible. The lesson above is particularly useful for students who critically analyze present and past political and social issues. Particularly with conscription laws and the actions of political leaders. What is unfortunate however is the fact that Heller decided to never resolve this issue, as the World War rages on with countless other officers involved, just like the Colonel, long after the novel ends. However, this would not be a criticism of Catch-22. without touching on the elephant in the room. Known literally as "Catch-22", this dilemma was first described by Heller in his novel-22..