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Catch-22 was published in the end in hardback in 1961 to mixed reviews, with the Chicago Sun-Times calling it “the best novel in years”. In the following years, Catch-22 has been identified with the novel’s anti-war sentiments. Nowadays, the title of the novel became a buzzword for a dilemma with on way out, and United States Air Force Academy uses the novel to “help prospective officers recognize the dehumanizing aspects of bureaucracy”.
Catch-22 has received both criticism and praise at the same time since its publication in 1961. And maybe as a result of which, it has been the focus of the critics and researched by many people.
Many people have made different comments on the Catch-22 from the angles of different aspects. Most of critics pay their attentions on the novel’s thematic intensity, unusual structure and its unique blend of laughter. “There have been numerous essays in the novel’s structure, its debt to other works of literature, its humor and logic, its moral and ethical values, and its religious themes and mythical overtones”(Nagel 4). What’s more, still many people focus on the angle of existentialism. Catch-22 is taken as an example by Alan R. Pratt to stand for the style of black humor to compare existentialist with black humorist.
In China, many well-known experts have done research on the novel, as well. It is used by Cheng Aiming to expound from the angles of black humor and the social significance. And also, the novel is regarded to be the masterpiece of black humor by Wu Zeqing (63).
However, people who focus on the analysis of typical characters and their symbolic meanings are comparable fewer.