UnitCatch学习课程

1、Life story (1) Joseph Heller was born in Brooklyn in 1923. He served as an Air Force bombardier(投弹手） in World War II and enjoyed a long career as a writer and a teacher. His best-selling books include Something Happened, Good as Gold, Picture This, God Knows, and Closing Time, but his first novel, ,

2、 remains his most famous and acclaimed work. He died of a heart attack in December 1999.第1页/共24页第一页，编辑于星期日：七点 九分。 Life story (2) The title of this work (Catch-22)entered the English lexicon to refer to absurd, no-win choices, particularly in situations in which the desired outcome of the choice is a

3、n impossibility, and regardless of choice, the same negative outcome is a certainty /any illogical or paradoxical problem or situation is widely regarded as one of the best post-World War II satirists. 第2页/共24页第二页，编辑于星期日：七点 九分。 Anti-war Black humor Serious Absurd “People go to fight wars because the

4、y dont understand the seriousness of what theyre doing. Joseph Heller第3页/共24页第三页，编辑于星期日：七点 九分。Thematic Concern Institutionalized Absurdity of the Society Vs. Integrity of the Individual Anti-hero第4页/共24页第四页，编辑于星期日：七点 九分。第5页/共24页第五页，编辑于星期日：七点 九分。Catch-22 One of the most influential book in modern lit

5、erature . Huge impact on popular culture and literary circles It introduced the post war world to the concept of Black Humor, also This book also gives us the first true 第6页/共24页第六页，编辑于星期日：七点 九分。Black Humor It is a term applied to a large group of American novels beginning in the 1950s. Although the

6、 writers of black humor did not intentionally form a school or literary movement, there is in their novels a common core of which is directed against hypocrisy, materialism, racial prejudice, and above all, the dehumanization of individual by a modern society. 第7页/共24页第七页，编辑于星期日：七点 九分。Black Humor In

7、 their opinion, the society is full of institutionalized absurdity. Therefore, all of them hold a cynical attitude toward society and the conventional moral values which support that society. This despondency is reflected in their novels, not by angry protest, but by the use of exaggeration as a veh

8、icle for . The satire is based on the exposition and exaggeration of the abnormal and the seamy side of both people and society to the point of ridiculousness and absurdity. It is humor out of despair and laughter out of tears. 第8页/共24页第八页，编辑于星期日：七点 九分。Black Humor In literature, drama, and film, gro

9、tesque or morbid humor used to express the absurdity, insensitivity, paradox, and cruelty of the modern world. Ordinary characters or situations are usually exaggerated far beyond the limits of normal satire or irony. Black humor uses devices often associated with tragedy and is sometimes equated wi

10、th tragic farce. 第9页/共24页第九页，编辑于星期日：七点 九分。Black Humor A kind of humor in which disturbing or sinister subjects such as death, disease, or warfare, are treated with bitter amusement, usually in a manner calculated to offend and shock. It is strongly evident in modern American fiction from Nathanael W

11、ests A Cool Million (1934) to Joseph Hellers Catch-22 (1961) and Kurt Vonneguts Slaughterhouse-Five (1969).第10页/共24页第十页，编辑于星期日：七点 九分。 A central character in a dramatic or narrative work who lacks the quality of nobility and magnanimity expected of traditional heroes and heroines in romances and epic

12、s. Unheroic characters of this kind have been an important feature of the Western novel, which has subjected heroism to parody since Cervantess Don Quixote (1605). Flauberts Emma Bovary (in Madame Bovary, 1857) and Joyces Leopold Bloom (in Ulysses, 1922) are outstanding examples of this antiheroic o

13、rdinariness and inadequacy.Anti-hero第11页/共24页第十一页，编辑于星期日：七点 九分。 The anti-hero is also an important figure in modern drama, both in the theatre of the absurd and in the tragedies of Arthur Miller, notably Death of a Salesman (1949). In these days, as in many modern novels, the protagonist is an ineff

14、ectual failure who succumbs to the pressure of circumstances. The anti-hero should not be confused with the antagonist or the villain.Anti-hero第12页/共24页第十二页，编辑于星期日：七点 九分。Catch-22-plot It is about the story of Captain Joseph Yossarian and his attempt to avoid ser ving in World War II by feigning insa

15、nity. However, Yossarian is thwarted by the doctors argument that if he were truly mad then he would endanger his life and seek to fight more missions. On the other hand, if he were sane, then he would be capable to following orders to fight more missions. Thus the phrase catch-22 came to mean a pro

16、viso（限制性条款） that trips one up（绊倒） no matter which way one turns.第13页/共24页第十三页，编辑于星期日：七点 九分。Catch-22 “There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for ones own safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was craz

17、y 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 didnt, but if he was sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didnt have to; but if he di

18、dnt want to he was sane and had to. 第14页/共24页第十四页，编辑于星期日：七点 九分。第二十二条军规 疯子才能获准免于飞行，但必须由本人提出申请； 同时又规定，凡能意识到飞行有危险而提出免飞申请的，属于头脑清醒着，应继续执行飞行任务。因为如果一个人真的神志不清，他会主动执行飞行任务，因此便没有人能获准免于飞行。 第二十二条军规还规定，飞行员飞满上级规定的次数就能回国，但它又说，你必须绝对服从命令，要不就不准回国。因此上级可以不断给飞行员增加飞行次数，而你不得违抗。如此反复，永无休止。第15页/共24页第十五页，编辑于星期日：七点 九分。Catch-22-

19、Characters Yossarian Colonel Cathcart Milo Minderbinder Orr Chaplain A. T. Tappman Dunbar Nately Snowden第16页/共24页第十六页，编辑于星期日：七点 九分。YossarianThe protagonist and hero of the novel. Yossarian is a captain in the Air Force and a lead bombardier（投弹手） in his squadron（空军中队）, but he hates the war. His power

20、ful desire to live has led him to the conclusion that millions of people are trying to kill him, and he has decided either to live forever or, ironically, die trying. 第17页/共24页第十七页，编辑于星期日：七点 九分。He avoids flying combat missions by all means possible: by moving the bomb line on the map of Italy preced

21、ing the Bologna mission, by poisoning the squadrons potatoes, by dismantling his intercom and ordering his plane to turn back, and by feigning a liver condition to pass the time safely in the hospital. Yossarian第18页/共24页第十八页，编辑于星期日：七点 九分。Colonel Cathcart The ambitious, unintelligent officer in charg

22、e of Yossarians squadron. Colonel Cathcart wants to be a general, and he tries to impress his superiors by bravely volunteering his men for dangerous combat duty whenever he gets the chance. As he tries to scheme his way ahead, he considers successful actions “feathers in his cap”（功绩） and unsuccessf

23、ul ones “black eyes.” （失败）第19页/共24页第十九页，编辑于星期日：七点 九分。Milo Minderbinder A fantastically powerful mess officer, Milo controls an international black-market syndicate（辛迪加 /财团） and is revered in obscure corners all over the world. He ruthlessly chases after profit and bombs his own men as part of a cont

24、ract with Germany. Milo insists that everyone in the squadron will benefit from being part of the syndicate and that “everyone has a share.” He also takes his job as mess officer very, very seriously; as a result, the troops in Yossarians division eat better than any others. 第20页/共24页第二十页，编辑于星期日：七点

25、九分。Orr Yossarians often-maddening roommate. Orr is a gifted fix-it（故障检修员） man who is always constructing little improvements to the tent that he shares with Yossarian. He almost always crashes his plane or is shot down on combat missions, but he always manages to survive. He asks Yossarian to fly wi

26、th him, but Yossarian refuses. Everyone things Orr is simple-minded because he stuffs his fat cheeks with apples. His pretend ignorance is actually a cover and the frequent crashes are really practice for his escape to Sweden. He wanted Yossarian to join him, but his roommate never took the hint. 第21页/共24页第二十一页，编辑于星期日：七点 九分。Yossarian：anti-hero The hero of Catch-