I like the outline...
Also, have you ever read either of these books?
Nope.
Is it fine to write generally about war, faith and then bring forth the characters from the books and their role towards each category?
It is probably better to show the teacher, in the opening paragraph, that you are writing about the correct subject. Use an opening paragraph that says what you are going to "argue" in the paper, and then set up the rest of the paper to support your "argument." It's not really an argument, but you need to convey soe eaningful insight that you got from the reading.
Also, It depends on how you transition from paragraph to paragraph. When professors ask you to use a logical order for writing, it is so that you can guide the reader through a meaningful process.
Finally, would it be logical to write about post-war trauma and death after the characters are introduced?
In this novel, the religious character, Anderson, is a relatively minor character, but what he represents is very important. Throughout the novel, Anderson prays to survive and overcome the war. Consistently he is seen doing this and in the end Anderson dies just like the rest of the soldiers, thus showing that religion certainly does not protect them. Now, right here, say something that applies to both books. Wrap up your intro paragraph by connecting the books together. In that connection is your theme.
Hi Kevin, I have attached most of my essay if you have any time to scan through it and give me any pointers I'd really appreciate it.
P.S. I haven't completed all of the post-war trauma, death, or conclusion paragraph.
- Kale
There was only one catch
... And that was Catch-22
English Major Research Paper
War is horrible and it often changes people to something they are not. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller is a novel on an Air Force squadron in World War II. Yossarian is the protagonist of the novel; however, another major character, the Chaplain, represents religion and faith. As the novel progresses, the Chaplain's belief and support for his position slowly fades to less and less. By the end, the chaplain is persuaded that in the war God does not have any power to change the enemy's judgement and as a result religion is useless. Similarly, Generals Die in Bed by Charles Yale Harrison is another war novel where a Canadian squadron is sent from Montreal to France to fight the Germans in World War II. In this novel, the religious character, Anderson, is a relatively minor character, but what he represents is very important. Throughout the novel, Anderson prays to survive and overcome the war. Consistently he is seen doing this and in the end Anderson dies just like the rest of the soldiers, thus showing that religion certainly does not protect them. Evidently, in Catch-22 and Generals Die in Bed, Anderson and the Chaplain face many problems due to their religious status. War does not necessarily make people lose all faith, but it does have unacceptable consequences, which include death and post-war trauma.
War is something that is never planned for but it often could have been prevented or avoided. War is the state of prearranged conflict that creates an environment conducive to combined hostile efforts between two engaging parties in order to facilitate the transfer of power (Wikipedia). Both, Catch-22 and General's Die in Bed are written about this and each show how much of an impact war can have on a person, the society, and the world. In Catch-22, the war is seen from the perspective of the Air Force. Constantly people in the war are trying to escape combat by claiming false injuries, false mental problems, or simply trying to evade the war. For instance, Yossarian was very good at creating false injuries to avoid doing his flight missions.
Yossarian was in the hospital with a pain in his liver that fell just short of being jaundice. The doctors were puzzled by the fact that it wasn't quite jaundice. If it became jaundice they could treat it. If it didn't become jaundice and went away then could discharge him. But this just being short of jaundice all the time confused them.
(pg. 7)
Clearly to start doing such things must mean the circumstances and conditions in the war are awful. Colonel Cathcart makes the conditions for the men even worse, especially when he slowly raises the missions required to be released from the war from fifty missions to eighty missions. In the beginning, it is only Clevinger who complains how "the colonel wants fifty missions!" (pg. 21) but by the end Yossarian also finds it absurd that Colonel Cathcart put it "right up to eighty" (pg. 374). Yossarian concludes that the only reason colonel is raising the missions is to knock General Dreedle's eye out" (pg. 374). However, the rules for the war are very ridiculous and ludicrous; as a result, this is how it is possible for a rule such as 'Catch-22' to be possible. Catch-22 practically evaluates the stupidity of wars and how desperate countries are to keep soldiers in the war.
There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one's own safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn't, but if he was sane he would have to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn't have to; but if he didn't want to he was sane and had to. Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle. "That's some catch, that Catch-22," he observed. "It's the best there is," Doc Daneeka agreed.
The description of Catch-22 shows that the actual rule is a catch and it is a loophole. When someone claims they are insane then obviously they are sane enough to realize they are not. This idea is much like the number twenty two since whichever way you look at it, backwards or forwards, the outcome is the same. Similarly, whether you say you are insane or sane in the war you are still going to be fighting in it. The idea that even legitimate reasons for leaving the war are flawed is rather terrifying. Faith is belief that is not based on proof and in this case it is belief in God. Occasionally, some define faith as 'believing something in spite of the facts'. True faith is based upon evidence; it is not believing something in spite of the evidence (cf. Luke 1:1-4; John 20:30-31; Acts 1:2-4). In the simplest ways, faith is the idea of trust. In the Bible, when someone accepts the evidence of God and the Scriptures then faith is demonstrated (Jas. 2:14ff). Clearly, this does not mean that one can proves God's existence through science, but it does mean that the available evidence is valid enough to believe in God. Furthermore, God does not have to be involved to have faith. When someone puts trust in their beliefs, then 'faith' or 'trust' is involved, whether or not God is a part of the system. To an extent when someone puts 'trust' in a particular world view, then this person is exercising faith. The point being that whichever world view is chosen becomes the person's religion and faith. This influences many foundational questions of life such as "who are we, where did we come from, why are we here, and where are we going" (Doy Moyer). Faith in Catch-22 is rather complex with all of the different characters. Yossarian's belief in God is quite strange and confusing. For example, when the Chaplain asks him "I thought you didn't believe in God" Yossarian replies saying, "I don't. [...] But the God I don't believe in is a just God, a merciful God [...]" (6). Similarly, Colonel Cathcart does not take religion seriously; most notably, when he asks the Chaplain to say a prayer before they go on flights. However, when the Colonel does not get the prayer that he thinks is most suitable than he tells the Chaplain that **"we will be fine without it".** Undoubtedly, war affects peoples faith and in this situation it actually causes two characters, Yossarian and Colonel Cathcart, to completely disregard it.
The two religious characters in both Generals Die in Bed and Catch-22 have a lot of faith in God. In Generals Die In Bed, faith is seen on a minor scale with Anderson, a older soldier. Anderson believes that he will be saved from death because of his prayers to God. Throughout the novel, Anderson is always praying to try achieve what is merely a goal. On the other hand, the Chaplain in Catch-22 represents the loss in faith. In the beginning, the Chaplain has a strong belief in religion and God. However, his strong support for God is tainted after he has a life-experiencing moment. Unquestionably, the two religious characters, the Chaplain and Anderson, faith in both Generals Die in Bed and Catch-22 has no impact on their outcome and the Chaplain even comes to the realization of this undeniable problem.
The Chaplain's character found in Catch-22 by Joseph Heller is most crucial in proving religion and faith surely are altered as a consequence of war. The abominations of war cause the Chaplain to doubt God, and he has a very hard time to keep his faith with all of the senseless fighting taking place around him. One of the hardest things for the chaplain to deal with is the way that religion is constantly being co-opted for reasons having nothing to do with God or even with the comfort of the men. For example, the chaplain's atheist assistant, Corporal Whitcomb, wants to send form letters home to the families of men killed and wounded in combat. The chaplain does not approve because the letters are insincere, but Colonel Cathcart insists on the form letters because he believes that they will bring him recognition. Such events force the chaplain to realize that religion is not valued on its own levels with war, but only as a tool that the officers can use to further their own causes. The chaplain also represents one of the most decent characters of the novel. Even though he is always a good friend to Yossarian, Yossarian manages to completely disregard this excellent friendship and preach things totally against the Chaplain's beliefs, something that a good friend would not do. For example, Yossarian criticizes God saying that there really is no God:
And don't tell me God works in mysterious ways," Yossarian continued [...] "There's nothing mysterious about it, He's not working at all. He's playing. Or else He's forgotten all about us. That's the kind of God you people talk about, a country bumpkin, a clumsy, bungling, brainless, conceited, uncouth hayseed
(pg. 432)
The most life-changing moment for the Chaplain is when three men drag the chaplain into an secluded cellar and accuse him of unknown crimes without proper evidence, he realizes that, because they have the power to kill him, his innocence is no longer a part of the question. Shortly afterward, the chaplain fakes an illness and checks into the hospital. The Chaplain afterwards learns that trying to live within the rules is impossible; having accounting for his sins, he feels much better. The chaplain's character is a reminder of yet another way in which war upsets moral and ethical codes. Correspondingly to how Doc Daneeka is confused about the role of a doctor in a world where man's main goal is to cause injury and death, the chaplain is disoriented by a world where killing has become a virtue.
Anderson in Generals Die in Bed by Charles Yale Harrison shows us that in war there are absolutely no rules, consequently religion has no effect. From the outset, Anderson is defined in terms of his fundamental religious convictions. Anderson is a Methodist lay preacher, someone whom is occasionally called upon to preach the sermon in church, so Anderson willingly criticizes on things that he sees as immoral and wrong. For example, Anderson comments on a group of the soldiers recent visit to some prostitutes saying, "some of you men would put your bodies where I wouldn't put my swagger stick" (pg. 14). Ironically, later on he says, "well, God didn't make your bodies for that" (pg.14). It is ironic that Anderson would say something like this because in the context that it is in right now he is directing this statement towards using your body for prostitutes; however, after completing the novel it has a double-meaning that God did not intend for your bodies to be used for war. The small criticisms and comments made from Anderson about the squads immoral and unjust actions only seems to annoy the other soldiers, so Anderson ends up having no meaning until the end of the novel. Even though Anderson practices and preaches religion very closely throughout the entire war in the end he ends up dying like the rest of the soldiers. Anderson's death reveals that neither religion nor faith protects people from the inevitable ending in war, death.
In comparison, Anderson and the Chaplain have similar values, thus making it even more probably that they have the similar endings. In the Chaplain's situation, he becomes completely demoralized and loses a lot of his faith in religion. The Chaplain even ends up being pleased for sinning. On the other hand, Anderson believes in religion until the end, but he still dies just like the rest of the soldiers, as a result, neither his faith or religion protects him from death. Unmistakably, both the Chaplain and Anderson are changed from their past moral and ethical codes from the horrible conditions and extremes of war.
Post-war trauma is undeniably an awful consequence for protecting and fighting for your country. Obviously, most soldiers who manage to come free of the war alive with be traumatized for the rest of their life. More particularly, the Chaplain manages to survive the war and this will likely affect him for the rest of his life. Sadly, destroying all of the Chaplain's past beliefs, religion and faith, is merely not enough damage caused by a war, so post-war trauma will replace his other option of death. Horrifying it may be but it is the sad reality that wars do not solve any problems. Joseph Heller makes an excellent analysis about the approaching apocalypse:
Either the world is ending or it's not. Chaplain doesn't know what he'll find when he goes outside, and I don't know either. Whether the end is taking place right there on that page, or whether it will take place in a week or two when the missiles come back, or whether it will take place in a billion years when the sun explodes, it's going to take place.
(Joseph Heller Interview)