Catch-22

The narrative jumps two months back in time: The squadron’s preparations for the Bologna mission are interrupted by heavy rain. The men pray that the weather continues to delay their suffering. When the rain finally stops, Yossarian alters the maps on which his commanding officers are planning the mission. With his alterations, he hopes that the officers will believe that Bologna is no longer part of their mission and will send the men elsewhere. To doubly ensure the Bologna mission’s termination, Yossarian poisons the food, and the squadron suffer terrible diarrhea. The rain begins again.

At the same time, Wintergreen begins to compete with Milo on the black market. He makes his start by trying to sell some Zippo lighters to Yossarian. To Wintergreen’s shock, Milo appears to have taken over the world’s supply of Egyptian cotton. However, Milo cannot sell any of his cotton.

With the men’s morale low ahead of the impending Bologna mission, Yossarian and Clevinger argue about their duty, echoing earlier comments by Wintergreen that Yossarian is a “chronic complainer” (106). Clevinger accuses Yossarian of hindering the war effort; Yossarian reiterates that his true enemies are “anyone who’s going to get you killed” (107), including his commanding officers.