历史并不要求Yossarian的过早灭亡，如果没有它，正义就无法满足，进步并没有取决于它，胜利并不依赖于此。男人会死是必要的问题。但是，男人会死的是一个情况问题，而Yossarian愿意成为情况以外的任何事物的受害者。但这是战争。他几乎可以找到的是，它的薪水很好，使孩子们摆脱了父母的有害影响。
(History did not demand Yossarian's premature demise, justice could be satisfied without it, progress did not hinge upon it, victory did not depend on it. That men would die was a matter of necessity; WHICH men would die, though, was a matter of circumstance, and Yossarian was willing to be the victim of anything but circumstance. But that was war. Just about all he could find in its favor was that it paid well and liberated children from the pernicious influence of their parents.)
在“ catch-22”中，角色Yossarian与战争中死亡的任意性质斗争。他意识到，尽管冲突不可避免地生命是不可避免的，但谁将死的决定通常取决于随机的机会。 Yossarian不认为他自己的死将在正义或进步方面达到任何关键目的，这使他决心逃避这种命运。通过这种镜头，他反思了战争的荒谬，特别拒绝了仅由情况决定的伤亡观念。
根据Yossarian的观点，战争对其残酷性几乎没有理由。他发现的唯一感知好处是经济利益和使孩子摆脱父母的负面影响的可能性。这突出了所作的牺牲和对所涉及的个人的毫无意义的毫无意义，促使人们对与此类牺牲相关的价值观进行了更深入的质疑。最终，尤萨里安（Yossarian）的斗争说明了军事冲突中固有的混乱和愚蠢，以及内在的生与死决定的任意本质。