Heller wrote this book to satirize institutions and how these institutions do not service the
constitutions of which it is composed, but they undermine them.
The American citizens which fought for the United States during World War Two showed
the values within current America. On the home front, in the newspapers, and through statistics,
the United States had been victorious in Europe and US soldiers were seen as defenders of
American culture and values. Thousands of American troops took on the responsibility of
protecting the American way of life. Author and war veteran Joseph Heller showed that certain
parts of the U.S Army did not prove to be as patriotic as many believed. Through the actions and
attitudes of certain characters, Heller displayed the chaos and negative aspects of the American
soldier at war. Whether motivated by greed or differences, he proved that many of the troops
fighting did not live up to the romantic Hollywood images that many Americans saw as truthful.
His claim was that in actuality, survival of the self dominated the outlook of many in combat. In
his work Catch-22, Joseph Heller showed the shift in values of the American soldiers through his
characters Milo, General Cathcart, and Yossarian. Each man created a portrait of a soldier who,
through his actions and attitudes, did not live up to the American ideal of morality and patriotism.
Colonel Cathcart was a man who, when examined, did not conduct himself with the high
moral character that many Americans felt was necessary among men of power and authority. "He
could measure his own progress only in relationship to others, and his idea of excellence was to
do something at least as well as all the men his own age who were doing the same thing even
better." (Pg. 192) Though patriotic and concerned with victory for the United States and the
Allies, he used the war to promote himself within the ranks. He fe...