Absurdity of War in Joseph Heller's Catch 22 and in Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse 5
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: In ancient wars, people who were not on the front lines were not affected much by the war and they were in a safer environment. However, in the wars of modern times, there is no longer much difference between being a civilian behind the front lines or a soldier fighting at the front because with the modern warfare methods and machines, war and terror are everywhere now. During World War II, thousands of people died because of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima, Nagasaki or the bombing of Dresden. Unfortunately, similar war disasters have happened many times and they still continue to happen. As a result of all, death and pain increasingly lose their meaning and become ordinary. Considering the thousands who died in the wars, there being children and babies among them. This means that birth and death occur almost simultaneously. So, war disrupts the normal flow of events and facts and destroys the concept of time. From this point on life becomes absurd. In this paper, Joseph Heller's Catch 22 and Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse 5 are examined in terms of the absurdity of war and bureaucracy. The protagonists of these two works suffer in the absurd loop of war and seek a way out.
Author: ASLAN, Feyzullah
Institution: Van Yüzüncü Yıl Üniversitesi
Language: English
Subfield: Literature and Literary Theory
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W6968465371
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