Catch-22 Passivity Quotes

How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #10

Yossarian was unmoved by the fustian charade of the burial ceremony and by Milo's crushing bereavement. (24.114)

Yossarian has been so battered by fear in endless battle that he finds himself unable to sympathize with Milo's disappointing cotton crop or the pretentious funeral held for his friend Snowden.

Quote #11

Gus and Wes listened to Sergeant Towser with looks of stoic surprise and said not a word about their bereavement to anyone else until Doc Daneeka himself came in about an hour afterward to have his temperature taken for the third time that day and his blood pressure checked […]. The fixed, vacant, wooden stares of his two enlisted men were even more irritating than always. (31.3)

Gus and Wes show no reaction to news of Doc Daneeka's death, nor surprise at the fact that he comes to see them alive.. They are apathetic towards him and aren't interested in the conflicting news.

Quote #12

He [Yossarian] could not make them (the new roomies) understand that he was a crotchety old fogey of twenty-eight, that he belonged to another generation, another era, another world, that having a good time bored him and was not worth the effort, and that they bored him, too. (32.11)

Yossarian is indifferent towards having fun. He finds it boring or not worth the effort. War has rendered everything decidedly not fun and put Yossarian in a permanent state of paranoia and exhaustion.