Yossarian Plight Of Women Analysis

This research seeks to relate the plight of women in American war and literature. As it can be seen from the novel, women play an insignificant role in the war though their presence in the storyline makes the story interesting as well as diverting the reader from the monotonous actions of war. There are a number of women that has been discussed in this novel which will generally reveal the entire story that women face in every war torn country or in time of war. This novel is therefore a good simulator of the real plight of women during the time of war (Heller 1-249). Since all the enlistees in Yossarian's squadron are male, women play only a minor role in the novel (Heller 73). They therefore act as barometers which measure the qualities of men who interact with them. In the novel, Yossarian passionately falls in love with every woman that he meets. This is a symptom of his desperate desire to seize as much of life as before his death. One instance of this desire occurs at the Avignon briefing, where he starts an epidemic of moaning as he realizes he will never get the chance to sleep with General Dreedle's beautiful assistant. Dreedle's assistant is allegedly a nurse who follows General Dreedle wherever he goes. She is very attractive and Dreedle keeps her around to torment his son-in-law, Colonel Moodus, hoping to catch him in adulterous situation for which he can punish him (Heller 73). This is an indication of how during war time women are viewed as objects for sex and pleasure. It therefore outlines the moral decay of the society in times of war as evidenced by the riotous living, that is, soldiers taking girls and having intercourse in the tall grass across the road from an open-air movie theater. Another incident of immorality can be seen in Hungry Joe who is constantly noted for photographing nude women (Heller 73). This is a clear evidence that when he is not in duty, he picks up girls to have relationship affairs with them. On the other hand, the novel revolves around soldiers and their daily experiences in war and out of war (Heller 73). Orr is beat on his head by a whore in Rome in the motive of becoming unconscious to be grounded (Heller126-130). The incident with the unnamed prostitute in a hotel in Rome, is puzzling and elusive and therefore not entirely explained to the reader. The whole apartment watched as the whore jumped up and down naked and hitting a giggling and equally naked Orr on the head with her heeled shoes. She does this repeatedly, each time Orr giggling louder making her angrier. She at last knocks him cold with a good whack that leaves him with a concussion that kept him out of combat for twelve days. This just explains how women have been used in the times of war to ground the soldiers (Heller 126-130). Luciana is another female character whom Yossarian briefly dates in Rome and whom he spends a great deal of the second half of the book looking for without success. Yossarian had been found sleeping with Luciana by Hungry Joe who ran for his camera to snap a photograph of them. According to Heller (72), Yossarian had recurring dream of having the "nude milk-white female bodies of both these beautiful …show more content…
It is true that in any country that is in war the women and young girls suffer the blunt of dehumanizing actions such as rape and murder. From the novel, some women were raped and murdered by the soldiers. In addition, immorality is evidenced with soldiers living riotously with many lovers and sleeping with women that have been married. Prostitution has also been discussed with many women posing as hookers in Rome to attract the attention of the soldiers. Beauty and attractiveness have been viewed as some of the contributing factors leading to immorality in the story. Yassarian describes Dori Duz as fair, needing to have a second opportunity to lie with her. On the other hand, Dreedle used his young beautiful assistant to tempt his son-in-law to adultery in order to punish him. There has been also a contrast between the ill-famed women and the virtuous ones thus depicting the immorality in the war