Effective Characterization in Catch-22
The large cast of characters in Heller's Catch-22 is what makes the novel so memorable. The experience of each character makes the "catch" more believable to the reader. Each character symbolizes a different attitude and reaction to the system in which he is trapped. Oftentimes, the characters are stereotypes rather than actual "individuals." There is no obvious division in intelligence between the authority characters and those governed by the authority.
Milo Minderbinder, Colonel Cathcart, and General Peckem are all excellent representatives of the military bureaucracy. Heller's portrayal of these characters makes a solidified statement about the way the army works. These characters do not see the men under their command as human beings, but as tools to further their careers. Milo uses his manipulative powers to improve his "syndicate" and his personal wealth. Pearson notes,"...by the time his[Milo's] activities have taken over Europe and North Africa in one vast syndicate and he has bombed his own men, he has become little more than a personification of greed"(277). Milo's tactics are often outrageous, and they even endanger the physical and emotional well-being of his fellow soldiers. According to one critic, "For Milo, contract, and the entire economic structure and the ethical system that it embodies and represents, is more sacred than human life"(Frank 266).
