Monday, March 7, 2011

Syntax

In Catch-22 by Joseph Heller syntax plays a huge role. The sentences are interwoven through parallel structure. They are also connected by circular logic. This is often revealed through quick, back-and-forth conversations between characters. The sentences are short and fragmented in dialogue to make them snappy, fast-paced, and entertaining. Often pieces of dialogue are cut short, each character interrupting the other which adds to the realism and dynamism of the conversations themselves. Such as in one between Clevinger and Dunbar discussing the reasons Dunbar shot skeet, which he hated, in order to lengthen his life.
““Who cares?” Dunbar answered.
I really do. I'll even go as far to concede that life seems longer if--”
-- is longer if--”
--is longer if-- is longer? All right, is longer if it's filled with periods of boredom and discomfort, b--”
Guess how fast?” Dunbar said suddenly.
Huh?”
They go,” Dunbar explained.
Who?”
Years.”
Years?”
Years,” said Dunbar. “Years, years, years.””
This same cyclical and repetitive syntax is used all throughout Catch-22 and the brevity, incomplete thoughts, and never finished conversations support Heller's purpose of displaying the insanity and nonsense of war and its effect on those fighting it.

1 comment:

  1. Your analysis of the syntax and the complexity it truly portrays is spot on. The text itself is truly symbolic of the boredom and redundancy of life, as well as displaying the realism of the conversation among the soldiers in the hospital. It is almost as if the incomplete thoughts themselves define the soldiers for who they are, as the war has directly made them incomplete as well.

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