Themes of Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt vonnegut and Catch 22 by Joseph Hell

Themes of Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt vonnegut and Catch 22 by Joseph Heller In the books, Slaughter House 5 by Kurt Vonnegut and Catch 22 by Joseph Heller there are many themes that at first don’t appear to be related but once given a closer look have striking similarities. Both books are about one mans experience through World War II, one being a fighter pilot and another being a soldier. Each man is known as an anti-war hero. They do not agree with the war and do not find it appropriate to fight for it. Neither of the two men was the average â€Å"John Wayne† war hero that fights and dies for his country. This is what makes these two books stand out from other war books. Both of these books also were used during the Vietnam War as anti-war books denouncing the war. One major theme that comes up in both of these books is the theme of no free will. In Slaughterhouse 5 Vonnegut proclaims through the narrator that there is no such thing as free will and that all things in life are predestined. That no matter what we chose to do we really aren’t choosing to do it at all and that the choice was already made. In Catch 22 the theme is the same just brought to our attention in a different way. Catch 22 is a paradox, leaving no way of escaping from a dilemma. No matter what we do or say we can’t escape it thus leaving us with no free will. Catch 22 is best described in the book when Yossarian states, You don’t have to fly anymore missions if you’re crazy, but you have to ask first and if you ask than you’re not crazy because anyone that wants to get out of combat is not crazy (Heller 46). The utter simplicity of this â€Å"catch† at one-point makes Yossarian let out a whistle. So in essence both of these characters are plagued with the fact that they have no free will. Billy Pilgrim because everything in life is predestined so he has no say in what goes on and Yossarian because he has to keep flying more missions because of Catch 22. Another major theme that comes across in these books is the anti-war hero. Both main characters are the exact opposite of what we would consider war heroes. Yossarian has no intention of laying down his life for his country and thinks anyone that would is utterly stupid. He many times in the book tries to get out of flying more missions by admitting himself to the hospital although he is not sick and ... ...how the ridiculousness of war. They were written to share with everybody that sometimes it isn’t the soldier who kills the most enemy or the pilot who bombs the most targets that are the heroes of the war but it is those people that stand up and proclaim the utter stupidity of war. The heroes are those who stand up for what they believe is right even if that means disobeying an order. These books were written most of all to share with us that war is wrong and is a waste of valuable lives. They convinced us that all free will and sanity is lost in war and that it can destroy men not just physically but also mentally. I think Heller put it best when he described what Yossarian was going through when his friend was dying in his arms, â€Å"Yossarian was cold, and shivering uncontrollably. He felt goose pimples clacking all over him as he gazed down despondently at the grim secret Snowden had spilled all over the messy floor. It was easy to read the message in his entails. Man was matter, that was Snowden’s secret. Drop him out a window and he will fall. Set fire to him and he will burn. Bury him and he will rot, like other kinds of garbage. The spirit gone, man is garbage