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“No human….at work” -Ania Loomba, (Indian scholar) Colonialism/Postcolonialism
Many literary works have a sense of “greater authority” or “identity loss” in them, and it is exactly this that makes them akin to colonialist literature, even when at first glance, the books seem to do nothing with postcolonialist literary theory.
In Catch 22, we see this element of Postcolonialist theory through representations of oppressors, non-oppressors and the immoral “other”, a role of language that supports this power dynamic, and identity loss from within the characters.
It is through the lens of post-colonialist theory, that we will analyze Catch-22, and discover why these elements attribute to postcolonialism.
Firstly, we see representations of the oppressor as the norm for “good” and the non-oppressor as exotic or immoral ‘other’.
When Yossarian is in the army, we see that he is in an environment that strips people of their individuality and authenticity, and for those who completely lose that, and end up having the status of an “unknown soldier”, their fates are even worse.1
Yossarian, through the machinery of war, becomes nothing more than a rat in a bucket of paradoxical bureaucracy, who, if he will not act, will surely die for his country.
Authority figures such as Colonel Cathcart are those who can decide his fate, but he decides not to.
Why? Because he uses his soldiers for making him impressive in the eyes of the other colonels, which speaks to the “inferior soldiers” that are being used as means, not as ends.
Secondly, there is an interest in the role of language supporting that power is present.
While the main intent of the language is to communicate, Heller creates a world in which language loses its function as a means for communication in favour of an overly-present miscommunication.
During the final stages of the war, instead of providing comfort, language becomes not that what it is intended for, and its power is knocked down on its knees by the paradoxical military bureaucracy.
Within the very beginning of Catch-22, language is given to the reader as a sort of boredom activity for Yossarian while he “heals” in the hospital.
He “censors” bits of text by randomly erasing words that contain too much information “Death to all modifiers!”, he said one day.
The more words Yossarian deletes, the less language stays true to its original function – namely to give the only line of communication that soldiers have with their loved ones.
Alas, how outrageous his behavior might seem, one learns later that it is the military bureaucracy that has the true power over language in the book.
Lastly, the keeping of personal identity runs throughout Catch-22.
The novel presents a conflict between our individual and “that” institution.
Yossarian confronts that authority. In the base hospital, the soldier in white represents a loss of identity within the almighty system.
No one knows the identity of that soldier, or whether there even is a soldier inside all that gauze and plaster casing. Yossarian, who would seem most skeptical about identity, in fact, does take a stand in the end. He rejects Colonel Korn’s offer to freedom even though it offers Yossarian a trip to his home.
Although it may seem best for him and for the authorities, Yossarian cannot accept Korn’s deal because it would be unloyal for the rest of the squadron. He would be losing himself to the bureaucratic loophole. To regain himself, he must declare a separate peace and flee.
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