In Catch-22, Yossarian is a 28-year-old captain in the 256th Squadron of the Army Air Forces where he serves as a B-25 bombardier stationed on the small island of Pianosa off the Italian mainland during World War II.
A possible source for Yossarian's narrative adventure and efforts to be relieved of his combat duties is Lt. Julius Fish, another bombardier and wartime friend to both Francis Yohannan and Joseph Heller.
"[4] Throughout the novel, Yossarian's main concern is the idea that people are trying to kill him, either directly (by attacking his plane) or indirectly (by forcing him to fly missions) and he goes to great lengths to stay alive.
Yossarian is in continual conflict with the military policy "Catch-22," a circularly-reasoned bureaucratic trap which his superiors use to justify many of their illogical demands.
The bulk of Catch-22 concerns Yossarian's relationships with the other officers in his squadron, such as the neurotic Hungry Joe, the war profiteer Milo, the idealistic Nately and selfish Doc Daneeka.
He hates the majority of his superiors for putting him in harm's way, especially the sadistic Joe McCarthy-like careerist Captain Black and the egomaniacal Colonel Cathcart, who continually raises the number of missions required before the aircrews can rotate back home as well as volunteering his aircrews for the most dangerous missions, to make himself look good to his superiors.
Yossarian shows particular grief for the men that die during the novel, particularly Snowden, McWatt, Nately, Dobbs and Hungry Joe or those who disappear: Orr, Clevinger and Dunbar.
Korn explains this means the Army is "going to glorify you and send you home a hero, recalled by the Pentagon for morale and public-relations purposes."
It allows Yossarian to get out of the war, without any more contribution to the low morale which has been spreading through the Group because of him and to make the colonels look good to their superiors.
Yossarian finds this deal "odious" as it lets down all the others in the squadron who were relying on his dissent to force their commanders to treat them better and admits he did it "in a moment of weakness."
Throughout the book, Yossarian's main concern is the idea that people are trying to kill him, either directly (by attacking his plane) or indirectly (by forcing him to fly missions).
His suspicion develops into paranoia after his attempts to find answers by using logic and reason are thwarted by a combination of vague bureaucracy, transparent yet contradicting Army regulations and personality conflicts.
Yossarian boycotts flying missions as much as possible, either through feigning illness or inventing an excuse to return to base (like a busted intercom.)
The new tentmates call Yossarian "Yo-Yo" and are afraid of him and go out of their way to help him, always offering him the warmest expressions of goodwill and generally behaving with intolerable conviviality.
As Yossarian rips open the flak suit, a fatal wound beneath exposes Snowden's internal organs which fall out onto the floor.
Yossarian turns against the military and refuses to wear a uniform, his justification being he simply "doesn't want to," perhaps because he was traumatized and depressed by Snowden's death.
When Yossarian learns from Captain Black that Nately's Whore's kid sister has been evicted by the Military Police, he flies with Hungry Joe to Rome without leave to try to save her.
This gives a new lease on life to the Chaplain, Major Danby and more so to Yossarian who now sees the genius of Orr's plans and makes him determined to escape the war.
[5] The miniseries portrays Yossarian with his desire to leave the war intact, but stooping to various lows that harm his fellow soldiers as well as some of his superiors.
He has no qualms meeting Cathcart's demands when offered the chance to permanently leave the war and it is only Scheisskopf's intervention that forces him to stay.