Comparison between Catch 22 and The Bridge On the River Kwai
Both Catch-22 and The Bridge On the River Kwai are anti-war in their philosophy. ... Joseph Heller, author of Catch-22, portrays the corruption that takes place in the military “business” and the insanity of war. The Bridge On the River Kwai is set in a Japanese prisoner of war camp. ... One of the most frightening aspects of Catch-22 is the fact that the lives and deaths of the men in Yossarians squadron are not governed by their own decisions. ... The Bridge On the River Kwai deals more with the insanity of war. ... The prisoners are being forced to build a bridge connecting a railroad. ... He intends to make his men work as hard as they possibly can, just so he can have great pride of building a bridge. He wants to make a perfect bridge and he intends to use all of the manpower that he can get. ... Nicholson is totally in-charge to build a bridge, which will prove superior British capability. The characterization of “Commander” Shears and Lieutenant Joyce in The Bridge On the River Kwai echo the characterization of Captain Yossarian and Nately in Catch- 22. ... Major Warden takes this as an opportunity to get Shears to help him to blow up Colonel Nicholson’s bridge. Warden traps Shears into accepting an assignment to return to the camp to destroy the Kwai Bridge. ... For example, Joyce volunteers to blow up the bridge. ... Colonel Nicholson and Major Warden are different from the commanding officers of Catch-22. ... Colonel Nicholson is ambitious and his primary goal is to build a perfect bridge that would last for six hundred years. ... His main motive is to blow up the bridge. ... At the end of the movie, Warden kills his own men in the process of blowing up the bridge. ... He is in control of the men who are helping him to blow up the bridge.