Worthy

Why are books like Hamlet, or Waiting for Godot, or Brave New World of so much literary value? Why do they receive such endless praise?  Because they make the reader think about something that connects him or her to the novel.  The Stranger and Catch-22 both make the reader think about death, at some point, but the way that the motif is explored is very different.  The comparison of these two thematic expositions makes the reader realize that while both Yossarian and Meursault are facing death throughout much of their respective novels, the approach is different.

In The Stranger, Meursault— the narrator— accepts the inevitability of death and is at peace with what it entails; the narrator in Catch-22 portrays Yossarian as being afraid of death. Joseph Heller makes death collateral damage to the satiric nature of his writing.  Albert Camus envelops existentialism in death.  This can be seen when Meursault says that he “opened myself to the gentle indifference of the world. Finding it so much like myself—so like a brother, really—I felt that I had been happy and that I was happy again.”  Interestingly, Heller uses Yossarian’s wry honesty to make a similar point: “it wasn’t their fault that they were courageous, confident and carefree. He would just have to be patient with them until one or two were killed and the rest wounded, and then they would all turn out okay.”  While it is evident to the reader that Meursault has made peace with his execution and that death isn’t a threat to him, Yossarian’s ambiguous and fickle relationship with the war doesn’t allow the reader to completely grasp what he feels.  Camus explains the existentialist nature of life directly through the main character.  On the other hand, Heller uses the protagonist to show how in war death becomes a blurry theme.  What makes the novels worthy of comparison is that although Yossarian may not understand the connotation of death, he has thought about its absurdity enough to reach Meursault’s conclusion: death is not worthy of thought.

Meursault and Yossarian have very different lives and their experiences are exposed to the reader in very different ways, but they both touch upon something that the reader will inevitably reach, death.  It is because of this parallel structure to the reader’s life, satire or existentialism aside— that both novels are so critically acclaimed.