That's Some Catch
I often listen to the conversations of strangers. It is rather more out of curiosity of hearing what there is to be said, and not what specifically is taking place in the lives of the speakers.
This is a dangerous occupation.
However, I assure you, there is no malice on my part; merely curiosity. One never knows what one will hear. And often, I am amazed--no, frightened--at the interchange.
Just this week I overheard a discourse between two college-aged girls regarding college-aged things that I had little interest in. But, then it came, as if it knew I was listening: the misusage of one of my favorite concepts--the Catch 22. It went something like this:
G1: "Bobby's parents were out of town last week, so we had a party at their place. He just told me that they know all about it."
G2: "How did they find out?"
G1: "Who knows? But now, he's got to go home this weekend and do chores or something for his dad to make up for it. But if he goes home then he'll miss the party at [name removed to protect the innocent]'s on Saturday. So he's thinking about telling them 'No' because he's an adult, and yeah, he made a mistake, but I'm telling him he should just go and get it over with."
G2: "Yeah, that's a tough decision. A real Catch-22."
G1: "I know."
What?
Unfortunately, this is not the first time I've heard this misused. Well then, rather than criticize (as if that is not what this really is), I will educate.
The concept "Catch-22" was born from the Joseph Heller novel of the same name, published in 1961. The novel is largely about the absurdities of both war and life, played out through the lives of some of my favorite characters of 20th century literature.
The phrase sees its first usage in early in the book when the main character, Yossarian, is trying to convince the staff physician to relieve him of his duty of flying bombing missions, to no avail.
"There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one's own safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr [another character] was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn't, but if he was sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn't have to; but if he didn't want to he was sane and had to. Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle.
"'That's some catch, that Catch-22,' he observed.
"'It's the best there is,' Doc Daneeka agreed."
--Joseph Heller, from Catch-22, 1961.
What we've witnessed here is birth of concept. Not that Heller invented the conundrum, but he did popularize a phrase that for over forty years has been giving apparent usage trouble to many--including two specific college-aged girls.
Comments
The misuse of the phrase Catch 22 is a reflection of a common phenomenon that is a form of "pastishe" practiced in real life as opposed to literature. In literature, pastishe is using a famous character or style in a new work. The Star Wars series of films by George Lucas is often considered to be a pastiche of traditional science fiction television serials (or radio shows) (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pastiches for more examples and full definition).
However, I think pastishe has been taken to a new level in our culture. People refer to things - such as Catch 22, without knowing either the original source or the true meaning of the phrase.
It's everywhere I tell ya', everywhere.
Posted by: Kirsten Smith | October 11, 2006 10:03 AM