An Abortion

"I, the miserable and the abandoned, am an abortion, to be spurned at, and kicked, and trampled on" (Shelley, 165).

Walton writes to his sister about when the monster speaks to him over Victor’s dead body. The creature finally cries out in his own angry self-pity and we can see into his inner life, giving us a glimpse into the suffering that has motivated his crimes. He talks of the miserable months he spent between seeing Frankenstein and how he started to grieve for him, but knew he must kill each loved one and Frankenstein because no one would love and accept him. So this quote captures the idea of abortion, that the monster was an unwanted life, society rejected him, and his own creator abandoned and shunned him. This led to the creature not knowing acceptance, but only hatred from those closest to him.

'Seek happiness in tranquility

"'Seek happiness in tranquility and avoid ambition, even if it be only the apparently innocent one of distinguishing yourself in science and discoveries'" (Shelley, Chapter 24).

This is another warning to Walton of avoiding the same fate that he befell. Victor thinks men should not wade into waters outside of their nature and fall into deep passion and madness for it like he did. He greatly believes knowledge is dangerous, just as much as his own creation did too as he feared growing intelligent and correlating circumstances to mood and attitude. The two are similar and fear extremes, and Victor wishes he could have broken his passion and been happy where he was.

Magic Powers?

"Great God! If for one instant I had thought what might be the hellish intention of my fiendish adversary, I would rather have banished myself forever from my native country and wandered a friendless outcast over the earth than have consented to this miserable marriage. But, as if possessed of magic powers, the monster had blinded me to his real intentions; and when I thought that I had prepared only my own death, I hastened that of a far dearer victim" (Shelley, Chapter 22).

After threats of meeting with the monster on his wedding day, Victor thinks he has met his destiny and will face an end. He failed to connect all the other deaths though, and his beloved Elizabeth was killed. He feels such pain from all the loved ones around him dying, which is what the creature must have felt in the denial of any human acceptance, even from his creator. Victor married thinking he may have had to fight the creature and die, and accepted his fate, but it was not his time yet - he still believed his fate to be inevitable.

The Creature is Mad!

"'You can blast my other passions, but revenge remains -- revenge, henceforth dearer than light of food! I may die, but first you, my tyrant and tormentor, shall curse the sun that gazes on your misery'" (Shelley, Chapter 20, pg. 123).

Frankenstein decides to not create a female companion for the creature. The creature shows a gross lack of morals and is set on fulfilling his threats of revenge - he does this through killing the loved ones of Victory. He must long for that same love, and being denied it personally from his creator, and from being denied a companion, this is probably why he chooses to kill those dear to Victor, so he can feel the same pain. The creature finds its purpose in destroying good because Victor did not allow him any happiness.

An Eve to the Adam

"'I am alone and miserable: man will not associate with me; but one as deformed and horrible as myself would not deny herself to me. My companion must be of the same species and have the same defects. This being you must create'" (Shelley, Chapter 16).

The creature requests, or more so demands, Victor to create a female companion for him. He witnessed the De Laceys and realized he was lacking love and care from other beings, especially because humans feared him. He shared human feelings, wanting companionship just as much - so he went as far as threatening and following through on threats in order to gain a like companion. The creature exhibits human traits in its wants and desires, but lacks morality in its decision process.

Possible Suspects: The Daemon

"a flash of lightning illuminated the object and discovered its shape plainly to me; its gigantic stature, and the deformity of its aspect, more hideous than belongs to humanity, instantly informed me that it was the wretch, the filthy demon to whom I had given life" (Shelley, 60).

Victor's brother, William, is murdered and he goes home to his family. He saw the creature outside and believes it must be him who murdered William, because no human could do such a thing to such a person. He notes how he created life in this creature but is now disgusted with it and observes how it is ugly and not human at all. His own work and creation has seemingly deceived him and worked against him, and he turns to hatred for his own experiment.

Search for Knowledge

"Learn from me, if not by my precepts, at least by my example, how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge and how much happier that man is who believes his native town to be the world, than he who aspires to become greater than his nature will allow" (Shelley, 38)

He speaks of limiting his mind and dreams. This may be a statement made in retrospect through regret, but he may not have achieved scientific landmarks like he did if he did not seek out knowledge. The quote seems to touch on the thought of pride though, that staying in a native town and being content is safer than becoming so great to think one is greater than his town and the world and is possible of anything. Frankenstein gives warning of the dangers of pride but also of defying nature and the order of things.

Advantage to Mankind

"'The labours of men of genius, however erroneously directed, scarcely ever fail in ultimately turning to the solid advantage of mankind'" (Shelly, 34).

This quote is a foreshadowing of the whole idea of the book. The use of the word scarcely indicates the preparation to tell of his own personal exception. Or maybe it is preparation of his defense of his work. However it ends, Frankenstein clearly thinks he has clearing new paths and seems to realize he may have dabbled in places he should not have. Knowing the book is about reanimation, he may be worried he created life like God, and should not have. He seemed to think any endeavors into science ended in good, but somehow did not this time.

Pioneer

"So much has been done, exclaimed the soul of Frankenstein—more, far more, will I achieve; treading in the steps already marked, I will pioneer a new way, explore unknown powers, and unfold to the world the deepest mysteries of creation" (Shelly, 28).

This is the first mention of the man's name that they found stranded on the ice - Frankenstein. He recounts how his chemistry professor, M. Waldman, began his interest and desire to gain knowledge of the secret of life. He refers to himself in the third person which further illustrates how he spoke of his fate, how his passion drives him and he has no control over it from this point. This quote also shows a parallel between Frankenstein and Walton, as they both seek "to pioneer a new way," as Frankenstein seeks knowledge and scientific findings and Walton journeys northward for discovery.

Friendship

"I have no friend, Margaret: when I am glowing with the enthusiasm of success, there will be none to participate my joy; if I am assailed by disappointment, no one will endeavour to sustain me in dejection." (Shelly, 4).

These letters introduce the story and obviously he makes a friend when he recounts the man from the ice's story. However, before this R. Walton feels alone. He sets out on a journey to the pole by himself and feels his crew is a mere labor force. He wanted to connect on an intellectual and emotional level with a companion and somehow out in the wilderness he found someone. A fellow self-educated trail blazer of knowledge. Walton gives a different view on friendship, showing how powerful it is by noting the depression of the lack of a friend. His longing for a friend obviously foreshadowed the coming of his newly found friend Frankenstein.

Snowden's Secret

"Yossarian was cold, too, 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 entrails. Man was matter, that was Snowden’s secret. Drop him out a window and he’ll fall. Set fire to him and he’ll burn. Bury him and he’ll rot, like other kinds of garbage. That was Snowden’s secret. Ripeness was all" (Heller, 440).

This is the last time they talk about Snowden dying and it is described as his insides spilling out of his stomach and onto the floor. His death brought Yossarian to realization that, save for a spirit, man is nothing but matter. Yossarian has goosepumps so this cold feeling is him relating with Snowden. He could read a message in the guts, where he could see the prediction of his own death. Snowden's death is when Yossarian realizes he is afraid of death, and loses courage in the army. Although, death is inevitable, and the escaping the army will not help that. “Ripeness is all,” has some hope to it saying that for a short time he might be able to be truly alive. He holds onto that idea as he goes insane trying to stay alive in the army under catch-22, but eventually realizes no words can cause him to work against logic and put him in danger, so he deserts the army.

Prayer

“Haven’t you got anything humorous that stays away from waters and valleys and God? I’d like to keep away from the subject of religion altogether if we can.”
The chaplain was apologetic. “I’m sorry, sir, but I’m afraid all the prayers I know are rather somber in tone and make at least some passing reference to God.”
“Then let’s get some new ones”(heller, 192).

Colonel Cathcart and the chaplain talk about maybe saying a group prayer before each mission. Cathcart wants to start saying the prayers because he thinks it will get him mentioned in the Saturday Evening Post. He only finds out later on that the enlisted men would have to be mentioned along with officers so he gave up his idea. His exclusion showed he was only interested in religion for use in his own advancement and reputation. Religion for the chaplain, to Catchart, also has nothing to do with faith in God. The chaplain tries to keep his faith as men constantly try to use religion as a tool without understanding the value of real faith. The chaplain is the only sane and realistic character in the army's group in this book, and he even struggles. The insanity in the officers reasoning is evident through their understanding of religion as simply a tool.

Snowden of Yesteryear

"Yossarian lost his nerve on the mission to Avignon because Snowden lost his guts" (Heller,234).

This is the first reference to Snowden's death that starts to explain what happened. There were references earlier asking what happened to him, and talking about how the plane went crazy. Now we see that Snowden died on the plane when his guts were spilled out. Yossarian lost it from this and its a critical point in his realization of Catch-22 to be a debasement of language. He starts to despise war from this point and constantly wants to disobey authority that is in place simply because people will listen to their oddly constructed words and think they are following orders for a good reason, when it may be complete nonsense. This is what symbolizes life and death and what is really at stake for Yossarian and when he begins to perpetually try to avoid death thinking everyone is trying to kill him, because they are and he is sane enough to realize there's a war and that the authority is debasing language to trap them all in the army.

Inevitable End

"One of the things he wanted to start screaming about was the surgeon’s knife that was almost certain to be waiting for him and everyone else who lived long enough to die. He wondered often how he would ever recognize the first chill, flush, twinge, ache, belch, sneeze, stain, lethargy, vocal slip, loss of balance or lapse of memory that would signal the inevitable beginning of the inevitable end" (Heller, 173).

Yossarian faces the war everyday but instead of accepting the fear of death it made him much more aware of the value and fragility of life. He can't stop thinking about all the ways in which he could die. His plane could get shot down or he could die of plenty of diseases. Yossarian is also fixated on the inevitability of death. In the army, Yossarian must feel trapped in his fear, and Catch-22 prevents him from escaping it. Though, his logic is flawed, as death is inevitable and is a greater trap than the army and he can never escape from that.

How to (not) Grow Alfalfa

"His specialty was alfalfa, and he made a good thing out of not growing any. The government paid him well for not growing any. Thee government paid him well for every bushel of alfalfa he did not grow. The more alfalfa he did not grow, the more money the government gave him, and he spent every penny he didn't earn on new land to increase the amount of alfalfa he did not produce. Major Major's father worked without rest at not growing alfalfa. On long winter evenings he remained indoors and did not mend harness, and he sprang out of bed at the crack of noon every day just to make certain that the chores would not be done. He invested in land wisely and soon was not growing more alfalfa than any other man in the country" (Heller, 83).

Heller hilariously criticizes American Bureaucracy with his example of Major Major's father. This is another example of catch-22 in use, as it is illogic. Heller must be observing such actions of the government like paying farmers to grow less of a crop so the price will increase with lowered supply and make the crop worth growing for the high value. Obviously that does not make sense to not grow so they can grow, which is in line with how catch-22 works. Heller shows Major Major's father as an american who embraces the idea because authority used the catch to put their plans in action with obedience. Heller shows some of the redundant actions of bureaucracy while making it sound accepted as simple and logical, when really it is crazy and circularly illogic.

Hatred

"Clevinger recoiled from their hatred as though from a blinding light. These three men who hated him spoke his language and wore his uniform, but he saw their loveless faces set immutably into cramped, mean lines of hostility and understood instantly that nowhere in the world, not in all the fascist tanks or planes or submarines, not in the bunker behind the machine guns or mortars or behind the blowing flame throwers, not even among all the expert gunners of the crack Hermann Goering Antiaircraft Division or among the grisly connivers in all the beer halls in Munich and everywhere else, were there men who hated him more" (Heller, 81).

Clevinger has just faced a hearing where Lieutenant Scheisskopf and two other officers convict him of something that he didn't do and sentence him to punishment duty. He gets called Jewish and that his own friendlies will hate him; even after he denies being Jewish, he is told they will still hate him and Clevinger can see the hatred in their eyes. He wonders what compels armies to want to kill each other when they have no personal hatred, when the people in the war he can find that hate him more are his own allies.

Neverending Missions

"They were in a race and knew it, because they knew from bitter experience that Colonel Cathcart might raise the number of missions again at any time. They had nothing better to do than wait" (Heller, 27).

There was a required number of flight missions a soldier needed before he completed his service in the air. Each pilot was always short of that number because each time they would get close, the required number would increase. Yossarian himself was near every time and tried to get his doctor friend to help with letting a shy few flights fly, but he never would. Yossarian kept flying thinking he could reach the every increasing number, just showing more of his insanity he got from perpetually putting himself in danger on missions.

Catch-22

"There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one’s own safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn’t, but if he was sane he would have to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn’t have to; but if he didn't want to he was sane and had to. Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle. “That’s some catch, that Catch-22,” he observed. “It’s the best there is,” Doc Daneeka agreed" (Heller, 46).

This is the first explanation of the title. Here it can be observed how powerful a set of words are on Yossarian. He begins to believe the catch like its something to follow, when really it cannot be a real rule. Obviously, there is no way it can be legitimate, but Yossarian and all his comrades are actually driven insane by the circular illogic and crazy becomes normal.

Shanghaied By a Faulty Anode

"...and a bald and pedantic cetologist from the zoology department at Harvard who had been shanghaied ruthlessly into the Medical Corps by a faulty anode in an I.B.M. machine and spent his sessions with the dying colonel trying to discuss Moby Dick with him" (Heller, 15).

This is an obvious criticism of the draft process at the time and how unfair it was. Some were called to service for their professional skills, and it was shown in this quote that mistakes were made that did not utilize skills properly. Heller gives this example as one to expose a flawed system of selection, arbitrary and unfair at best.

The Solider In White

"The solider in white was encased from head to toe in plaster and gauze...sewn into the bandages over the insides of both elbows were zippered lips through which he was fed clear fluid from a clear jar. A silent zinc pipe rose from the cement of his groin and was coupled to a slim rubber hose that carried waste from his kidneys and dripped it efficiently into a clear, stoppered jar on the floor. when the jar on the floor was full, the jar feeding his elbow was empty, and the two were simply witched quickly so that stuff could drip back into him" (Heller, 10).

This quote early on in the story is an example of the sarcastic irony with which Heller so effectively incorporates into the text to satirize redundant practices such as this. This is a circle reuse of the jars, similar in thought to a circular trap of a Catch-22 that this book is all about. Early on, its obvious the book will be filled with hilarity in a subtle and drawn out form.