《catch-22美国文学选读》.pptVIP

catch-22美国文学选读 Definition of the term It used to be a military term Because of Joseph Heller’s Catch-22, it has become an English idiom. Definition: an impossible situation; one in which the solution or success depends on mutually dependent factors: A depends on B; B, in turn, is dependent on A; so it is an interlocking situation in which there is no way out. An example: job-hunting Analysis of the text General Setting:in an American army camp on the island of Pianosa, Rome during World War Ⅱ. Minor setting: yossarian remembered Snowden’s death when he (Yossarian) was wounded. Brief summary The novel tells a story of a pilot soldier Yossarian in WWⅡ. His task is to accomplish a certain number of flying missions. But his superior keeps raising the number using one military rule Catch-22. it mainly describes every effort the protagonist Yossarian has made for his escape from the Catch-22 and ultimately from the war. Chapter41: he was wounded and then treated by two fake doctors. When the “treatment” was over, he was told his superior was going to make him a “hero, and this acknowledgement let him remember his comrade Snowden’s death. Main Characters Protagonist Yossarian: paranoid, thinks everyone is trying to kill him( which is true); thinks everyone is crazy; feels guilty about the death of Snowden, which changes his view of war. Antagonist Cathcart: colonel that desperately wanted to be a general; unsure of himself, want to impress his superior-which is why he keeps raising the number of the missions Minor characters Snowden- soldier who dies in Yossarians plane; while Yossarian was treating him for minor leg wounds, Snowden was dying of fatal chest wounds- Yossarian feels guilty because if he had known about the real problem, he thinks he could have saved Snowdens life(chapter41). Milo Minderbinder- mess officer; leader of the syndicate (black market/underground business dealings); willdo anything for a profit, even bomb his own squadron. Orr- shares tent w