Essay, Research Paper: Joseph Heller's Works And Life

Versatile Craftsman

It is not every author who is able to mimic human interaction while critiquing society. Shakespeare is one. Joseph Heller is another. Heller's wit and social commentary in such works as Catch-22, Closing Time, Something Happened, and God Knows sparks interest in the reader and successfully creates a reality which the reader is transported to. Heller's versatility also astounds, from writing war novels to describing the adverse affects of corporate society. He also satirizes the lunacies and humors of war and the military, concentrating most of his works on the effort of bureaucratic institutions to destroy the human spirit. Heller's works are characterized by a satirical sense of the absurd, speaking out against the military-industrial complex and those organized institutions which seem to manipulate people's lives in the name of reason or morality. Heller's diverse writing style enables him to successfully have works of differing content showing his literary diversity through absurdum, subtle imagery, real life situations, and drawn out interior monologues to stimulate the reader and conveying humor and truth.
Heller's writings are very diverse, ranging from the "metafiction" of Catche-22, which critic Nelson Algren has labeled as "the best American novel to come out of World War II", and Richard Locke has called "the great representative document of our era, linking high and low culture" to Good as Gold, the humorous portrayal of Jewish family life and a satire of national politics, including attacks on real people such as Henry Kissinger. Great satirical exchanges occur in Heller'dialogs, where he incorporates quick lines shot back and forth between characters, such as in Catche-22 when Yossarian's and Doc Daneeka's repartee
"I can just picture his liver."
"Picture my liver."
"There's nothing wrong with your liver."
"That shows how much you don't know." (p. 40)
making it easy to skip over the humorous irony and allegoric references which are interwoven into these dialogs. This in particular states to how America doesn't see a problem with it's military policies, and thinks that it's organized institution is successful yet still subjugated. Rhetorical questions are also often asked by characters to point out faults in the human predicament and how at times, the characters take a step back and view their present position objectively. This usage of real characters effectively creates a real world for the reader to enter. Heller also uses much humor and irony in his faintly ludicrous names. Some of the humor in the names used is in the phonetics, such as Yossarian having a phonetic suggestibility of sedition and subversion, as noted by one of his paranoid superiors in Catche-22, or Major Major, a man with a need for respect. Heller also uses names such as Milo Minderbender (conjuring up an image of a kind of entrepreneurial mesmerist who also happens to be mentally ill) to describe a character's mental quirks, or using physical imagery names such as Havermeyer to suggest confusion and dull brute strength.
Another peculiarity of Heller's writing style is to inject "games" into his stories to emphasize the games which society is constantly engaging itself in. An example of this is the crazy policies of the war in Catch-22, or the games which Bob Slocum of Something Happened plays in his own mind relating to his environment, and how fear is the predominant factor of his life. This fear is described in Something Happened as a "network of tremors I experience coming alive inside me like a wicker basket of escaping lizards. Or a gale of colorless moths beating their wings.", employing vivid, absurd imagery to make fear a real theme for reader. This use of imagery to furnish an example for real life situations for the reader to observe. Fear is a basic fear, stemming from the id and it is apparent that Heller has made lots of use of his observations of Freudian psychology. Fear and rebelling against nonsensical societal norms are a common theme in all of Heller's works, addressing the question of "What does a sane man do in an insane society?" This same game aspect can be a parable for Shakespeare's line, "life is but a stage, and we are it's players" suggesting that free will plays a small role, and fate is the predominate force. The different characters in this game often mirror the different personalities of people and how these different personalities react to various situations. This is how Heller effectively portrays to his reader how his character's work through absurdism, and rebellion against society.

Although Heller is an excellect writer and excels in many forms of humor, imagery, and stylistic ability, his voice seems to be weak and drone at times, describing bland tangents and then fumble back onto his original banter. Heller has an unusual style which fluctuates from sparse detail, leaving much to the reader's imagination to a focused and puritanical attention to minute detail. Also, his plots are predictable, when present, and suprise is scarce with Heller's predictable plot movements. He seems to have a difficulty expressing himself as he seems to use more words than necessary to get his point across. Heller's works are characterized by a satirical sense of the absurd, speaking out against the military-industrial complex and those organized institutions which seem to manipulate people's lives in the name of reason or morality. Heller's second novel, Something Happened (1974), an expose of the capacity of the business world to crush the individual, is a pessimistic statement about the effects of prosperity on the human condition.
Heller's absurdum in his diverse writings explains literary diversity and effective portrayal of real characters offering the reader an accurate mirror to society and truth. Heller first emerged as the definitive voice of the post-World War II era, yet his rebellious ideas convey universal sentiments and social questions which continue to be relevant to society. Heller's humor "black'' but his ultimate effect is to enlighten. Joseph Heller may not be as well know as Shakespeare, but his works are just as enduring.