Catch-22

Catch-22, a novel (1961) by Joseph Heller. The title of this dark satire relates to the skewed military logic that entraps the protagonist, Yossarian, a pilot serving in Italy during World War II. He tries to get himself grounded by being pronounced insane, but is told that only an insane person would want to fly, and his desire not to fly proves that he is, in fact, sane, and so must continue to fly. The term Catch-22 eventually came to have a more general meaning of a situation in which somebody is trapped by illogical conditions and restrictions.