The Effects Of Catch 22

Term Paper Title	The Effects Of Catch 22
# of Words	962
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	3.85

The Effects of Catch 22

Justin Suissa
                           November 05,1996

         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 would not declare
Yossarian insane so he doesn't hav...

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