Catch-22 by SparkNotes

Author:SparkNotes [SparkNotes]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapters 22–26

Summary — Chapter 22: Milo the Mayor

The enigmatic references to Snowden’s death are finally cleared up; Snowden’s death is the moment at which Yossarian loses his nerve. Flying a mission after Colonel Korn’s extravagant briefing, Snowden is killed when Dobbs goes crazy and seizes the plane’s controls from Huple. As he dies, Snowden pleads for Yossarian’s help, saying he is cold. Dobbs is a terrible pilot and a wreck of a man; he later tells Yossarian that he plans to kill Colonel Cathcart before he raises the required number of missions again. Dobbs sees this action as the only way to respond to Cathcart’s foolhardiness. When he asks for Yossarian’s approval, Yossarian is unable to give it, and Dobbs abandons his plan.

The narrator then describes an episode in which Orr, Yossarian, and Milo take a trip to stock up on supplies. As they travel, Orr and Yossarian gradually realize the extent of Milo’s control over the black market and his vast international influence: he is the mayor of Palermo, the assistant governor-general of Malta, the vice-shah of Oran, the caliph of Baghdad, the imam of Damascus, the sheik of Araby, and is worshipped as a god in parts of Africa. Every region has embraced him because he has revitalized their economies with his syndicate, in which everybody has a share. Nevertheless, throughout their trip, Orr and Yossarian are forced to sleep in the plane while Milo enjoys lavish palaces, and they are finally awakened in the middle of the night so that Milo can rush his shipment of red bananas to their next stop.

Summary — Chapter 23: Nately’s Old Man

One evening, Nately finds his whore in Rome again after a long search. He tries to convince Yossarian and Aarfy to take two of her friends for thirty dollars each. Aarfy objects, stating that he has never had to pay for sex. Nately’s whore is sick of Nately and begins to swear at him. Hungry Joe arrives, and the group abandons Aarfy and goes to the apartment building where the girls live. Here the men find a seemingly endless flow of naked young women, and Hungry Joe is torn between taking in the scene and rushing back for his camera. Nately argues about nationalism and moral duty with an old man who lives in the building: the old man claims Italy is doing better than America in the war because, as Italy has already been occupied, Italians are no longer being killed. He then points out that even America probably won’t last as long as frogs, which have been around for five hundred million years. The patriotic, idealistic Nately argues somewhat haltingly for America’s international supremacy and the values it represents. But he is troubled by the fact that the old man reminds him of his father. Nately’s whore tortures Nately with her indifference, eventually abandoning him and going to bed while he argues with the old man. When Nately finally does get to sleep with his whore the next morning, her little sister almost immediately interrupts them.

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