A Lawyer Looks at Catch-22: The Best Catch There Is Is Not Much of a Catch

by Kenneth Bresler

          Because the novel Catch-22 states variously that Catch-22 is a law, regulation, and rule, a legal analysis of Catch-22 is appropriate.  This article examines Catch-22 as a lawyer would, ultimately recognizing that Joseph Heller was referring to a social law, not a legal one.

          The novel presents seven explicit applications or scenarios illustrating Catch-22, and six implicit applications or scenarios.  The sequel to Catch-22, Closing Time, presents four Catch-22s, two of them new.  This article is the first to discuss the Catch-22s in both Catch-22 and Closing Time, as far as can be determined. 

          This article tries to answer three key questions: What is Catch-22?  What does it say?  What does it mean?  Along the way, it discusses how the most famous Catch-22, the one that keeps both sane and insane airmen flying combat missions, relies on contrivances, contains loopholes and exceptions, has a modified version, and is ultimately not “the best catch there is.” It concludes that the Catch-22s in Catch-22 might be rational after all.

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