A Thematic Study Of Alienation In Joseph Heller’s Catch-22

The coming of the 20 th century witnesses the rise of black humor. As one of the most splendid representatives of black humor, Joseph Heller is noted for his masterpiece Catch-22.Taking the point of view of humanism and applying the postmodern artistic techniques such as black humor, language games and popularization, Heller reveals an absurd world and human’s living crisis in it. The absurd world Heller describes is full of alienation, and the alienated world mirrors the social reality of American society in the period of mid 20thcentury: the cold war with the Soviet Union, the Vietnam War, and McCarthyism all brings endless pain and threat to the ordinary people. Heller makes a revelation on the inhumanity in American society and army, and embodies the alienation process and the misery of alienation American underclass has undergone.Based on the original text of Catch-22 and applying the alienation theory, the thesis tries to make an analysis of alienation phenomenon, the crisis of alienation and the protagonist Yossarian’s confrontation with alienation. In the first place, alienation in modern society is full-scale and omnipresent. Alienation is mainly embodied in the areas of politic, society and sprit. In political area, the bureaucrats wield power excessively; the alienated Catch-22 is an accomplice of the bureaucrats, hence the democracy is alienated. In social area, the interpersonal relationships are distorted. Battle companions wrangle with each other and the jealous mind begin to torment them. The relationships between soldiers and their commanders are paralleled by tensions. The commanders do not care the dignity of soldiers’ lives whereas the latter bears a deep resentment towards the former. The relationships between men and women are distorted,too. For people in the novel, love is like a commodity which can be bought, sold, traded or stolen.In spiritual area, the senses of patriotism and religious belief have been alienated as tools for bureaucrats to become famous and rich. As for the little men, the beliefs that have propped up them collapsed. In the second place, alienation has brought out various spiritual crises, and the morbid psychology and trauma are the manifestation of the crisis of alienation. Finally, the protagonist Yossaian began to seek a way of pursuing mental health, namely, a process of de-alienation. Realizing the pain from the death of his comrades and the disillusionment of beliefs, he perceives that one can not realize self-love without loving others. Through improving his sense of survival, he can raise other people’s value of survival. From the standpoints of love,he achieves the balance of freedom and responsibility. Applying the exile strategy, he succeeded in getting out of alienation and gaining his spiritual rebirth.At the end of the thesis, the author concludes that for a man living in society with abusivepower, the all-around alienation and the crisis brought out by alienation are unavoidable, but man has the potential to change his ideal and life practice to confront alienation, thus regaining mental health.As one modern writer concerns the living situation of modern people, Heller conveys his deep humanistic concern of human through the description of alienation.