Satan has little authority in Paradise Lost, which may cause the audience to feel sympathetic towards him. He and God are in a power struggle, although Satan is in a no win situation, he refuses to back down. The only authority Satan has is in hell and he is superior to the fallen angels. However, he is only allowed this authority because God has allowed it to happen. For God, Satan and hell represent a place where rebels decent. In a sense it is more punishment than death as in hell one will always suffer. As Satan began a war, he will be surrounded with hatred and pain for eternity.
In Paradise Lost, the rebel angels are equally as evil as Satan, each one lusting after some level of power. After being cast down from heaven, Moloch agrees that the war in heaven is the only way to achieve power. He believes that their fury and hatred is enough to overpower God’s authority. However once again it has to be recognised that it is God’s authority that allows them to live in the pits of hell. In contrast, Belial recognises the power of God and does not agree that raising war in heaven would achieve anything. Mammon presents Satan with the idea to make a ‘heaven out of hell’; this reinforces the idea that Satan and the rebel angels are inferior as they are settling for second best. Mammon desires richness and believes that in hell they can make wealth. This is similar to Milo in Catch 22 as he sees the war as a financial endeavour and is always attempting to make a profit in spite of the destruction it may cause.
The plan to corrupt God’s creation, humankind is presented by Beelzebub. He suggests that if they tempt Adam and Eve to commit an evil sin then God will have to punish his beloved creation, thus destroying humankind and God’s intentions. However, it is not that Satan and the rebel angels have any authority; it is that they have meticulously manipulated situations. Their sneaky traits make them believe that they are winning and have power, but infact it is only through God that they exist. The evil plan to corrupt man did not prove well, as the evil sin committed by Adam and Eve was not innate. They chose to seek forgiveness from God, which again conveys God’s authority, as he is able to disseminate punishment and forgiveness.
In Catch 22, the hierarchy of the military system is rather simple. However there is dishonesty and corruption within the army, thus complicating the recognition of authority. Like Paradise Lost, Catch 22 displays a huge amount of rebellion against authority with the focus on Yossarian. Yossarian rebels against the war as he despises everything it represents. His main focus is to get out alive and attempts to get out of the missions in any way he can see possible.
A frightening aspect of Catch 22 is that those in power rule the lives of the soldiers. The soldiers risk their lives knowing that the missions they complete are futile. Greed for authority is a huge theme in Catch 22 and Colonel Cathcarts’ hunger for power makes him raise the number of missions to impress the generals. He uses his authority to gain respect and power without any concern for the lives of his men. Cathcart does not care that he is increasing the chances of death; his only focus is on gaining a promotion. The bureaucracy refuses to listen to the men and avoid reasoning with them as much as possible. There are many examples of people in authority using their powers for self-gain, the Chaplain is accused of a crime, but the men interrogating him do not what that crime is. This conveys a distorted version of authority, where those who should have the necessary knowledge do not. It is evident that those who hold power will maintain it and use it to their advantage and the consequences do not affect them but those who are inferior.
Yossarian’s rebellion against authority is interesting; it is courageous to stand up for what he believes in but he is also defying authority. In the first chapter of Catch 22, we see Yossarian playing with language and ‘attacking the names and addresses on the envelopes’ (pg8). This appears that Yossarian is using his authority to censor letters to entertain himself. The fact that this is the men’s only form of communication makes it seem evil, however, the fact that the letters have to be censored conveys that the bureaucracy are using their authority to invade one’s privacy. Yossarian wants to be declared insane but Doc Daneeka views his case and results that he must be sane to even consider insanity. Doc Daneeka is a depressed man and will not help anyone else because he believes his situation is of much more concern. This is another example of one using their authority to keep as many men in the war as possible.
Milo’s character is one full of sin and corruption and driven by greed. He sees the war as a financial endeavour, thus using his authority to gain profit. He goes to the extreme and bombs the squadron to dispose of the Egyptian cotton. He takes away vital supplies to sell them, thus conveying a selfish man who will go to any extreme to make money. Milo risks the lives of the soldiers and is not concerned. When Orr’s plane crashes, the life jackets do not work because Milo has used the carbon dioxide to make ice cream.
In conclusion, both Paradise Lost and Catch 22 explore the representations of authority. God holds supreme power in Paradise Lost, whilst the bureaucracy rules in Catch 22. The difference between the two is that God uses his power for goodness and attempts to dispose of evil. God believes in forgiveness and shares his power amongst those who do not defy him. In Catch 22, the bureaucracy uses their power to manipulate those below for self-gain. Satan can be compared to those in power in Catch 22 as he also manipulates good and tries to enforce evil upon those with less power. Colonel Cathcart is power hungry like Satan and raises the missions to gain a promotion in the same way Satan raises war in heaven to overpower God’s authority.
