The Effects Of Catch 22

Term Paper Title	The Effects Of Catch 22
# of Words	1028
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	4.11

The Effects of Catch 22

.Justin Suissa                                                                                                November 05,1996

The Effects of Catch 22

          In literature sometimes a character can be helped or hindered by the economic, social, or political conditions of the day. In the novel Catch 22 by Joseph Heller, the character Doc Daneeka illustrates this idea perfectly because the conditions surrounding him greatly hindered him. Catch 22 takes place during WWII on an island named Pianosa that is close to Italy. Doc Daneeka is adversely affected by the war in the end because when it began he was making a profit from it as other doctors had been drafted, but then his day came too. Doc Daneeka was also hindered by the war because of what he had to endure throughout it. He hated his two medical assistants and his bunkmate. Doc Daneeka had to fly frequently on airplanes which he detested. Doc Daneeka's two assistants failed ever to find anything wrong with him, which deeply perturbed him. The war also caused Doc Daneeka to lose his wife after his "death." The war that was imposed on Doc Daneeka ravaged his life and terminated all of his chances to become a normal, practicing doctor.
         Before the war arrives on Doc Daneeka's doorstep, it appears to have benefitted him. Doc Daneeka was making a nice sum of money from various illegal means. He received kickbacks from drug stores in the area that ran an illegal operation. He also utilized beauty parlors to perform two or three abortions a week to bring in more revenue. When the war begins, Doc Daneeka's practice starts to pick up because of the lack of other doctors. Originally, he thought of the war as a "godsend"; however what he did not realize was that, the war would catch up with him soon enough. One day someone from the draft board came to check on Doctor Daneeka, who was in perfect health, to make sure that his story about having an amputated leg and being bedridden with arthritis was true. The doctor explains to Yossarian, a major character in the novel, that he was outraged that the government would not take a doctor's word, especially a doctor that was in good standing with the Better Business Bureau. After they uncovered the doctor's lie, they sent him to Pianosa to act as a flight surgeon.
       The doctor hated flying on airplanes. In his own words he said, "I don't have to go looking for trouble in an airplane.". Doc Daneeka felt that trouble comes after him so there is no reason to take any actions that might get him involved in more trouble. This statement reflects one of Doc Daneeka's major characteristics, cowardice. It is ironic that Doc Daneeka was drafted as a flight surgeon since he hated flying. To alleviate this problem Doc Daneeka asks Yossarian to list his name on the flight logs even if he doesn't actually go on the flights. Doc Daneeka never returns the favor because he woul...

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