Catching Joseph Heller

As one of the greatest contemporary American novelists and a representative of Black Humor writers, Joseph Heller published numerous short stories, several novels and plays, with Catch-22 and Something Happened among his most famous compositions. Compared with the male characters that catch great critical attention, Heller's female characters have often been excluded from the critical analysis. Because of the way women characters are represented in his novels, Joseph Heller is usually thought to "lack in proper respect and sympathy towards women". However, considering the author's dim perspective of male characters in his novels, Heller can not be defined as a sexist writer. In fact, the negative opinion on women in his novels reflects the chauvinistic belief of the male characters, which is mocked and criticized by the author. Based on close textual analysis, this thesis intends to, by incorporating a feminist approach, uncover Heller's feminist tendency in Catch-22 and Something Happened. Instead of discriminating against women, Heller shows his sympathy towards women and ponders on women's miseries. What's more, he subverts the traditional gender roles and entitles his women characters the right to struggle against the patriarchal oppression.This article will be made up of five chapters. Chapter one is a brief introduction to Heller's life and literary career. Chapter two mainly discusses Heller's feminist tendency in the novel Catch-22. In a war milieu, women are oppressed by the forces of men, society and patriarchal ideology. Chapter three focuses on Heller's feminist tendency revealed in the novel Something Happened. In a common American middle class family, the housewife and the daughter are the victims of a commanding husband and father. This time, they do not keep silence any more; instead they struggle against the ignorance and ill-treatment. Chapter four explores the possible reasons for Heller's feminist tendency: his Jewish identity and Existentialist philosophy. The last chapter is the conclusion. For a long time, Heller has been misunderstood to a certain extent by readers and critics in the aspect of his sexual ideology. However, as Heller once said, "The book itself has an existence", the information conveyed by Heller in his two novels is sufficient evidence for his sympathy and understanding of women's miseries.