"Maybe a long life does have to be filled with many unpleasant conditions if it's to seem long. But in that event, who wants one?"One of the most discussed topics in this novel is man's mortality. Although I cannot be sure since I'm only halfway through the book, I think this is going to be present in a theme. Dunbar has taken the theory of relativity to the extreme and has decided to "elongate" his life by making it as boring and unpleasant as possible. Yossarian is obsessed with staying alive, even more than Dunbar is. He is the best at evasive action and he does everything he can to keep from going on missions; he takes every precaution to stay alive. He is deeply uspetted by the fact that Catch-22 prevents him from leaving and thereby prevents him from choosing when he dies. Although it may seem insane to live the way they do, they have a point. Human beings are extremely fragile creatures, and the world is entropic and destructive. Yossarian cannot choose when and how he wants to die because of his committment to the Air Force, but, excluding suicide, one cannot choose in any situation. I can't just wake up one morning and say, "I'm going to die in my sleep peacefully at the age of 110". My desire isn't going to change the fact that I could die in a horrific car crash tomorrow. Also, in the military, one has to follow the chain of command. My cousin is an intelligence officer in the Air Force. Basically, he rides in planes and interprets enemy codes and signals. Intelligence officers are not given parachutes. If the plane goes down, he goes down with it. He is not supposed to survive, and there's nothing he can do about it. That's just how war is.
"I do," Dunbar told him.
"Why?" Clevinger asked.
"What else is there?"
Sorry, that was a little depressing. Here's a happy video to cheer you up.
Alysse
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