Catch 22 Character Checklist

Character Planning Chart Heller’s Characters Character Planning Chart http://library.rwu.edu/Catch_22/chart_out.html Joseph Heller

What’s the Catch?

Yossarian John Yossarian is a 28-year-old Captain and B-25 bombardier in the 256th Bomber Squadron. Yossarian wants to “live forever, or die trying.”

Aardvark Captain Aardvark (Aarfy) is the navigator in Yossarian’s B-25 bomber.

Tappman Chaplain Tappman is a caring minister to the members of the squadron who is able to offer little comfort in the hell that is war.

Colonel Cathcart Colonel Cathcart is the group commander at the U.S. Army Air Corps base in Pianosa. His obsession with becoming a general causes him to up the number of missions his men must fly.

(Doc) Daneeka Dr. Dan Daneeka is the squadron flight surgeon and a friend of the novel's protagonist, Yossarian. Doc Daneeka's main motivation is for his own welfare,.

Milo Minderbinder First Lieutenant Milo Minderbinder is the mess officer at the U.S. Army Air Corps base and he becomes obsessed with expanding mess operations and trading goods for the ”syndicate’s” profits.

Nately Nately is a naïve officer sent to war because of his friendship with Yossarian and Dunbar during training. Identified with an Italian prostitute, who is referred to as “Nately’s whore” by the men in the squadron.

Sheisskopf Lieutenant Scheisskopf is the training unit commander for Yossarian and Clevinger who takes a particular dislike to Clevinger

Hungry Joe Hungry Joe is noted for constantly trying to photograph women nude, claiming to be a photographer for Life Magazine. The only pilot to complete the required number of missions, he flies the “milk run.” “Yossarian reached out instinctively for balance and then launched himself forward in a prodigious dive that crushed the three combatants to the ground beneath him.  He emerged from the melee with the scruff of a neck in each hand-Hungry Joe’s neck and the cat’s.

General Dreedle General Dreedle The commander of the U.S. Army Air Corps base in Pianosa. Blunt and ill-tempered, he is an archetypal military man who does not care what the men under his command do as long as they fight and die unquestioningly.

Colonel Korn The assistant to Colonel Cathcart, Korn is sadistic, sarcastic and cynical

Captain McWatt The pilot of Yossarian's plane. After accidentally killing Kid Sampson, he commits suicide by crashing his plane into a mountain.

Major Major Major Major Major Major’s name and rank are attributed to to his father’s and an IBM machine’s senses of humor. Also remembered for the absurd jokes created by his bewildering resemblance to Henry Fonda.

Captain Orr A bomber pilot in the squadron who is continually being shot down and having to crash land in the sea. Described as "a warm-hearted, simple-minded gnome," Orr is the only one in the group considered crazier than his good friend Yossarian, with whom he shares a tent.

Sergeant Towser Major Major's assistant; he prevents anyone from seeing the Major while he is in his office, and only allows them in when the Major is gone, leaving him in charge of the squadron.

Colonel Moodus General Dreedle's hated son-in-law, who follows the general around like a puppy.

Leiutenant Dobbs Excessive combat missions have shot Dobbs' nerves, and when the narration of the book begins he is emotionally unstable and physically spent. Described as being one of the worst pilots in the corps, his mid-air panic leads him to snatch the controls of the plane away from Huple, when Snowden is killed.

Major Danby A college professor and intellectual who sees himself as a poor match for the armed services. He briefs the airmen on upcoming missions.

Nurse Duckett At the start of the novel Nurse Duckett does not like Yossarian but later on she has a relationship with Yossarian which jeopardizes her friendship with Nurse Cramer. She breaks off her affair with Yossarian when she decides to marry a doctor, and realizes she should not jeopardize her chances by carrying on openly with Yossarian.

Luciana A woman whom Yossarian briefly dates in Rome. He throws away her number and spends the rest of the book looking for her.

Dunbar An airman stationed at the same base as Yossarian, on the island of Pianosa. He and Yossarian seem to have similar personalities, and so they make fast friends. Like Yossarian, Dunbar's chief goal is to prolong his life to whatever extent possible, often by cultivating boredom.

Major --- --- De Coverley He is so imposing that no one dares ask his first name. He is Major Major's executive officer, but at the squadron base in Pianosa his only official duties are pitching horseshoes, renting two-room apartments for the soldiers on rest leave, and kidnapping Italian laborers. His frequent appearance during the fall of major cities makes him an object of interest to intelligence agencies on both sides, neither of which can identify him.

General Peckam A personification of bureaucracy, General Peckem wants to replace General Dreedle as the head of combat operations in Pianosa.

Pilchard and Wren Two captains in charge of squadron operations that are always mentioned in tandem. They are sympathetic towards Yossarian despite his desire to avoid missions.

Ex-PFC Wintergreen Ex-P.F.C. Wintergreen An ex-P.F.C. because of his constant urge to go AWOL, Wintergreen has been demoted so many times that he entertains hopes of becoming an ex-general. Due to his position in charge of mail distribution, he wields a great amount of power in the novel. By forging documents and destroying mail, he becomes more powerful than the generals.

Chief White Halfoat Chief White Halfoat An American Indian whose family was forced to move from wherever they settled because oil was always discovered. He is Captain Black's assistant. During the Siege of Bologna, he decides that he will eventually die of pneumonia.

Snowden Snowden is a member of Yossarian's flight crew during a mission, and acts as catalyst for the fundamental change in Yossarian's mental state and outlook.. When their plane takes heavy anti-aircraft fire, Snowden is mortally wounded. It is Yossarian who attempts to come to Snowden's aid by treating his visible wounds with bandages and sulfa powder. Snowden’s death is at the very heart of the novel.

Kid Sampson Kid Sampson An underaged soldier killed by the propeller of McWatt's airplane. The event drives McWatt to suicide and causes Doc Daneeka's bureaucratic "death."

Lieutenant Mudd The “dead man in Yossarian’s tent.” Killed before he had officially become part of the squadron. His belongings remain in Yossarian’s tent as a result.

The Soldier in White An unnamed soldier wrapped completely in bandages. He is connected to two bottles of unidentified and similar looking liquid, one which pumps the liquid through an IV into the soldier, and the other which drains the liquid from the soldier through a zinc catheter. When the bottles are respectively empty and full, they are switched around. Dunbar claims there is actually no one under the bandages.