Because of his liver problems, Yossarian receives as much fruit and juice as he wants from the kitchen. However, Yossarian never eats his fruits as he does not want his liver to get better. You see, if his liver were to be healthy, he wouldn't be obtaining such interesting benefits. So instead of eating the fruit, he gives it away to the other men.
This chapter made me question the definition of possession. When the doctor wrote the letter that allowed Yossarian all the free fruit he wanted, I'm sure the doctor's intentions were that Yossarian would eat the fruit and eventually heal his liver disease. What would the doctor say if he knew Yossarian wasn't really eating the fruit? Yossarian argues that once the fruit is his, he can do whatever he wants with it.
This story seems ridiculous. If I were to do this in my everyday life, I'm sure that a) someone would discover what I had been doing and force me to eat the fruit, and b) take away my free fruit privileges. Why isn't this happening to Yossarian? He's very open about the fact that he's not actually eating his fruit. He leaves the box outside on his front steps for anyone to come over and help themselves. What's more obvious than that? I suppose it all comes back to the central idea of this book: that everyone and everything about the war is crazy. The rules are crazy, the logic is crazy, the people are all crazy. I think I can count at least fifteen times in each chapter where they use the word "crazy".
However, I continue to thoroughly enjoy the book.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Sunday, December 7, 2008
2 Citations
Sirs. 2008. ProQuest LLC. 7 Dec. 2008 <http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-portal-display?id=SMN0307H-0-1118>
This site lists the proponents and opponents of the issue, as well as backs up their information with primary sources. These primary sources include books or articles of first-person accounts, studies and surveys, and other items that reflect the view. The site remains unbiased and equally explains each side of the issue. The intended audience is students.
The First Amendment First-Aid Kit. Chip Gibson. 2007. Random House Children’s Books. 7 Dec. 2008
This is the site for the program First Amendment First Aid-Kit which is run by Random House Children’s Books. The site quotes well-known authors and politicians to help support its cause of stopping censorship in schools and libraries.
This site lists the proponents and opponents of the issue, as well as backs up their information with primary sources. These primary sources include books or articles of first-person accounts, studies and surveys, and other items that reflect the view. The site remains unbiased and equally explains each side of the issue. The intended audience is students.
The First Amendment First-Aid Kit. Chip Gibson. 2007. Random House Children’s Books. 7 Dec. 2008
This is the site for the program First Amendment First Aid-Kit which is run by Random House Children’s Books. The site quotes well-known authors and politicians to help support its cause of stopping censorship in schools and libraries.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Observations on Characters
One of the most fascinating things about this book are the many eccentric characters. They are so important, in fact, that the title of each chapter is the name of the character described in the chapter. Here are a few of my favorites:
Orr: Orr is Yossarian's roommate. He is the type of man who will do his own thing for absolutely no reason and ignore everyone around him despite their clearly not knowing what he's talking about. For example, he tries to explain to Yossarian why he used to walk around with crab apples in his mouth. His reasoning? "Because they're better than horse chestnuts."
Doc Daneeka: This character is meant to represent one of the more intelligent of the group. However, his reasonings are almost always off. He's the one who first explains to Yossarian the concept of Catch-22. He avoids work at all cost and instead complains about what it was like being a doctor. During one particular interesting monologue, he describes an incident with some patients of his; the "virgin newlyweds."
Dunbar: Dunbar is an old man who's sole purpose in life is to make his life drag out as long as it can. He spends his time with people he hates, doing things he hates, because it makes the time pass so much more slowly, thus increasing his life span. He describes the happiest times of our life as passing much more quickly. Life is the most important thing we have, and we must extend our time on earth as long as we can.
These are just a few of the strange characters we encounter in Catch-22, and I have a feeling they won't be the last.
Orr: Orr is Yossarian's roommate. He is the type of man who will do his own thing for absolutely no reason and ignore everyone around him despite their clearly not knowing what he's talking about. For example, he tries to explain to Yossarian why he used to walk around with crab apples in his mouth. His reasoning? "Because they're better than horse chestnuts."
Doc Daneeka: This character is meant to represent one of the more intelligent of the group. However, his reasonings are almost always off. He's the one who first explains to Yossarian the concept of Catch-22. He avoids work at all cost and instead complains about what it was like being a doctor. During one particular interesting monologue, he describes an incident with some patients of his; the "virgin newlyweds."
Dunbar: Dunbar is an old man who's sole purpose in life is to make his life drag out as long as it can. He spends his time with people he hates, doing things he hates, because it makes the time pass so much more slowly, thus increasing his life span. He describes the happiest times of our life as passing much more quickly. Life is the most important thing we have, and we must extend our time on earth as long as we can.
These are just a few of the strange characters we encounter in Catch-22, and I have a feeling they won't be the last.
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