Intertextuality in Joseph Hellar’s “Catch 22” and the film “The Thin Red Line”.

In the novel “Catch 22”, author Joseph Hellar utilises the power of language to challenge the absurdity of war through satire and an erratic structure, whilst director Terrence Malick uses cinematic devices in his film “The Thin Red Line” to explicitly portray the brutality of war with a much more serious tone, juxtaposing the harshness of war with the exquisiteness of nature. However, despite the contrasting manner in which their composers’ viewpoints are revealed, the texts are related by the fact that, essentially, they both convey the same image that war is an horrific aspect of human existence which should be avoided at all costs.
“Catch 22” was first published in 1955 and in an era where most texts glorified the American victory in World War II, this novel takes a much more critical approach, portraying the absurdity which is in fact the reality of war.
Through its many twists and turns, “Catch 22”’s unusual, non-sequential structure embodies the theme of a...