Catch-22

Catch-22

                              

When I first came to Canada to live, my English vocabulary was far from sufficient.  Take catch-22 for instance. When a Canadian friend of mine mentioned catch-22 in a conversation with me, I did not know what he meant.  

 

According to Webster’s Dictionary, catch-22 is “a problematic situation for which the only solution is denied by a circumstance inherent in the problem or by a rule.”  An example given is a show-business catch-22 which goes like this:  No work unless you have an agent, no agent unless you have worked. In other words, catch-22 is a no-win situation. 

 

The phrase, catch-22, was coined by American author, Joseph Heller.  It was the title of his novel published in 1961.   This new phrase immediately won widespread popularity and entered the English language as a commonly used term.  

 

To fully grasp the literal and figurative meanings of catch-22, I read and re-read the novel from which the phrase originated.

 

Joseph Heller’s “Catch-22” is a satirical novel. It is about American airmen stationed on the fictional island of Pianosa in the Mediterranean Sea, west of Italy, during World War II.  In his novel, Heller satirized not only the bureaucracy of the military but also the stupidity, selfishness and hypocrisy of the military personnel in high positions.  He also caricatured the confusion and anxiety that fighter pilots, bombardiers and other soldiers suffered in the extreme circumstances of war.  They all behaved erratically and irresponsibly, and their dialogue was filled with dark humor, ready wit, wisecracks and absurd remarks.  

 

Fighter pilots and bombardiers were supposed to return home after fulfilling 50 combat missions.  But the squadron head kept increasing the number of required combat missions.  He figured that by so doing, he could beef up his squadron’s record of achievements, which in turn might make him look good.  As a result, nobody was able to fulfill the service requirements and returned home.  In other words, fighter pilots and bombardiers found themselves in a no-win situation, otherwise known as a catch-22.

 

Captain John Yossarian refused to fly more combat missions, arguing that he had already fulfilled the originally required number.  This put his commanding officer in a dilemma.  He feared that other officers might follow suit.  Despite his boss’s persuasion and threats, Yossarian would not change his mind. 

 

Yossarian was convinced that his senior officers thought little of the lives of the men under their command and that sooner or later he might get killed on a combat mission like many of his former colleagues who were shot down.  So he escaped to Sweden.  He felt no guilt about his desertion.  He said, “I’m not running away from my responsibilities.  I’m running to them.  There’s nothing negative about running away to save my life.”  

 

Joseph Heller himself served as a bombardier during World War II.  He flew 60 combat missions and narrowly escaped being killed.  That traumatic experience tortured him.  After the war, he wrote “Catch-22” based on his own experiences. Upon publication of this very amusing novel, he shot to fame worldwide. His novel is frequently cited as one of the great literary works of the 20th century.

 

New immigrants to Canada fall victim to a catch-22 in the job market.  They find it difficult to get jobs for which they are well qualified because Canadian companies refuse to hire them on the grounds that they have no Canadian work experience.  How can new arrivals who have never lived in Canada have Canadian work experience?  To this reasoning, Canadian companies turn a deaf ear.  

 

The Korea Times

November 2014