Blog post no. 1: Character Analysis: Major Major and Milo Minderbinder

The book that I have elected to read for first quarter is Catch-22, by Joseph Heller. It happily follows Captain Yossarian and the other men of the fighting 256th squadron as they are plagued by the inescapable Catch-22 during WWII. The enigmatic Catch-22 imposes rules like "the only people allowed to ask questions are those who never do", or "asking to be grounded because of questionable sanity is proof that you're sane enough to not be grounded". The questionable sanity of every single character and the ridiculousness of Catch-22 itself provides many hilarious situations. However, going deeper that just that reveals that Heller had more in mind than a few laughs when he wrote this iconic book.

In the ninth chapter, we're introduced to a character named Major Major Major Major. First name: Major, middle name: Major, last name: Major, rank: Major. After a brief history of how he got his name, Heller writes that "Even among men lacking all distinction he inevitably stood out as a man lacking more distinction than all the rest" (83). Because of his name, his nature, and his resemblance to Henry Fonda, almost everyone shuns him. Through no fault of his own, he is forced to the fringe of the camp. Because of the forceful expulsion by his peers, and even his subordinates, he embraces his solitude, telling his secretary to only allow people in his office when he isn't there.

Because of his forced isolation, then self imposed isolation, Major Major is a symbol for loneliness and alienation. He tries very hard to become friends and have positive social interactions at first, then he goes to great lengths to avoid any sort of contact with anyone.

Milo Minderbinder is an interesting character who's main characteristic is greed. Our first introduction to how he got his position as chief mess officer proves that he is one hundred percent money motivated. To secure his position, he approached a major and told him a plan to sell supplies to other squadrons. He even bombs his own squadron because a deal that he made with the Germans would result in too good of a profit to pass up. He is almost punished by the military for it, but when they find out what huge profits he has reaped, they agree that he made the correct decision.

Milo's character is a big symbol of capitalism, he is all about money all the time. He is willing to almost poison his fellow soldiers in order to gain a profit. At one point, he actually takes vital safety equipment out of bombers to use for his benefit, claiming that "what's good for the syndicate is good for everyone". The fact that the military doesn't prosecute him because of the massive profits that he reaps proves that even entire countries will bow to money if there's enough of it.