Lack of Meaning in Catch 22 Most of what we say makes no sense. This idea is supported on every page of Catch 22 by Joseph Heller. Almost every scene in the novel contains dialogue in which people speak aimlessly and have no explanation for why they are speaking. Colonel Cargill addresses his men saying: “You are American officers. . Officers of no other army in the world can make such a statement. » Even if the remark is true, it makes no sense. These types of random statements and dialogues occur throughout the book. Another situation in which two people are talking nonsense is when Clevinger is being questioned. “I didn’t say you couldn’t punish me,” Clevinger said. "When?" asked the colonel. “When what, sir?” “Now you’re asking me questions again.” "I'm sorry, sir. I'm afraid I don't understand your question." Later in the interrogation, the colonel is so twisted in his conversation that he no longer wants to know when Clevinger said he couldn't be punished. Now he wants to know when Clevinger didn't say he couldn't be punished. Clevinger quickly refutes and says, "I still didn't say you couldn't punish me, sir." Ultimately, the colonel is satisfied with this answer even though Clevinger's statement does not answer the question and makes no sense. Major Major often spoke without meaning. It just didn't make sense. For example, he told Sergeant Towser, his assistant: "From now on, I don't want anyone coming to see me while I'm here." " According to this statement, when would anyone be able to see him if they could only go to his office when Major Major was away? When Appleby went to see Major Major, he started talking to Sergeant Tows... middle of paper ... at wavelengths. This is evident when Clevinger is questioned. The Colonel and Clevinger then think so differently that they cannot understand each other. This book definitely raises awareness of the difficulty of communicating, of the problems people have trying to understand each other and realizing that sometimes what we say makes no sense. Works Cited: Frank, Mike. “Enos and Thanatos in Catch-22.” Contemporary literary criticism. Ed. Roger Matuz. Vol.11. (77-87) Heller, Joseph. Catch-22. Detroit: Gale, 1990. Kennard, Jean E. “Joseph Heller: At War Against Absurdity.” Contemporary literary criticism. (75-87) Ed. Roger Matuz. Detroit: L Gale 1990. Pearson, Carol. “Catch-22 and the debasement of language.” Contemporary literary criticism. (277) Matouz. Detroit: L Gale 1990.