In a paper that consists of five pages Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five and Joseph Heller's Catch 22 are compared and contrasted in terms of how the alienation theme is depicted in each novel. There are four sources cited in the bibliography.
Name of Research Paper File: D0_JAkvonne.rtf
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or symbolically, alienation came to be known as what the twentieth century novel was all about. Comparing two major works, this paper will discuss how the theme of alienation
fits into those pages. Catch 22 by Joseph Heller and Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut are the two novels that will be compared as we see how they deal
with the theme of alienation. CATCH 22 The phrase catch 22 is familiar to most people and was obviously put into general use after the publication of this book.
The main protagonist Captain Joseph Yossarian is trying desperately to get out of flying any more missions in the war. Based on a small island with the other
soldiers, Yossarian feigns mental illness so that he can be sent home from the war. When told by the doctor that if he were truly crazy Yossarian would
be volunteering for more missions, but on the other hand being told that if he were well he would be flying more missions, this is where the catch 22 comes
in. In fact, many of the characters within this quirky but well-read best-selling novel are trying to get out of flying missions. We are told that
"alienation has especially come to signify the difficult relation between the individual and his sense of difference and distance from others" (Mooney PG). This is a very appropriate description
for the unfolding of the plot in Catch 22. Heller has quite an amazing cast of characters in this book, not unlike those on the television show M.A.S.H.; most
of them are trying to get out of being in the military war effort. An understanding of each of these characters underscores just how different one person is from