American Literature / Unit 16 AML 1535 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Joseph Heller and *Catch-22*
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The idea
Heller cast the Second World War in satirical and absurdist terms in nineteen sixty-one, arguing, in the witness's phrase, that war is laced with insanity. The title names a rule that cannot be escaped, and the phrase entered the language as a term for that trap.
In practice
A rule designed to be inescapable.
Where people slip
The phrase left the novel and became general.
Your place on the trail
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