How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
[Yossarian:] "Open your eyes, Clevinger. It doesn't make a damned bit of difference who wins the war to someone who's dead." (12.60)
Clevinger cannot see the big picture. He cares only for ideals, such as American victory. Yossarian reminds him that nothing will matter if he's dead.
Quote #5
"Vite! Vite!" he [Yossarian] scolded her. "Get your things on!"
"What the hell are you talking about?" she [Luciana] wanted to know.
"Fast! Fast! Can't you understand English? Get your clothes on fast!
"Stupido!" she snarled back at him. "Vite is French, not Italian. Subito, subito! That's what you mean. Subito!" (16.94-97)
Their communication fails for an instant because Yossarian mixes up languages. He thinks French is Italian, but calls it English.
Quote #6
[Doc Daneeka:] "I promise."
[Yossarian:] "What do you promise?"
"I promise that maybe I'll think about doing something to help if you finish your fifty-five missions and if you get McWatt to put my name on his flight log again so that I can draw my flight pay without going up in a plane." (17.97-99)
The integrity of language is so weak in Catch-22 that Doc Daneeka's promise means nothing. Usually a promise is the strongest form of language; it is a contract that is binding merely by its pronouncement. However, Doc Daneeka's promise here is full of conditionals like "maybe," "I'll think about it," "something," and "if." This weakens the promise to the point that it is hardly worth making the promise in the first place.