Summary General Peckem is a pseudo-intellectual pedant who cares more about his own career than he does about his men or the civilians who sometimes fall victim to war. Colonel Scheisskopf, formerly Lieutenant Scheisskopf, whose wife entertained Yossarian one memorable Thanksgiving, joins Peckem’s command and seems to fit in well. […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 29-30Summary and Analysis Chapters 27-28
Summary Nurse Sue Ann Duckett is a tall, spare, able, prompt, strict, intelligent, and responsible young woman who keeps her composure under almost any circumstance. Yossarian, therefore, cannot resist making a crude pass at her. His friend Dunbar joins in. They succeed in upsetting Nurse Duckett as well as the […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 27-28Summary and Analysis Chapters 25-26
Summary For some time, now, Chaplain Tappman has been struggling with faith — faith in himself, certainly, and even faith in God. As an Anabaptist, he is supposed to be a pacifist, opposed to military service. Being a minister in the American Army is difficult enough for him; without his […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 25-26Summary and Analysis Chapters 23-24
Summary Lieutenant Nately is an ingenuous nineteen-year-old, from a privileged background, who is in love with a Roman prostitute whom he hopes to marry. For her part, the young woman is, at this point in the novel, indifferent toward her suitor and interested only in her profession. Nately spends a […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 23-24Summary and Analysis Chapters 21-22
Summary Despite being named for General Dreedle, Chapter 21 opens with seven more pages on Colonel Cathcart, primarily examining events he sees as favorable to his career (“feathers in his cap”) or damaging to his ambitions (“black eyes”). Among the damaging experiences, the name of Yossarian keeps popping up. Two […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 21-22Summary and Analysis Chapters 19-20
Summary Colonel Cathcart is a “slick, successful, slipshod, unhappy man of thirty-six” who lumbers along when he walks and wants, most of all, to be a general. He is a package of contradictions: dashing but dejected, poised but chagrined, daring but insecure, physically handsome but oddly unattractive. The narrator tells […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 19-20Summary and Analysis Chapters 17-18
Summary When he hears that the number of missions has been raised to forty (he has thirty-two after Bologna), Yossarian goes directly from Rome to the base hospital on Pianosa. These two chapters consider several of his hospital stays — including the one that opens the novel — but not […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 17-18Summary and Analysis Chapters 15-16
Summary Captain Piltchard and Captain Wren are the squadron’s “inoffensive . . . mild, soft-spoken” joint squadron officers. They love the war: “Nothing so wonderful as war had ever happened to them before.” The two are responsible for combat assignments; they joyfully volunteer themselves for every mission and have flown […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 15-16Summary and Analysis Chapters 13-14
Summary Yossarian’s movement of the red satin ribbon, which indicates how far the Allies have advanced, does not fool the Germans; but it does fool Major _______ de Coverley. He thinks that Florence has now been captured, so he flies there to rent apartments for officers and enlisted men who […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 13-14Summary and Analysis Chapters 11-12
Summary Captain Black is delighted when he hears that Colonel Cathcart has volunteered the squadron for an apparently treacherous raid on Bologna, which terrifies most of the airmen. The whole affair reminds Black of the fun he had scaring people with the Glorious Loyalty Oath Crusade. The airmen who must […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 11-12