Masaryk University Faculty of Arts
Department of English and American Studies English Language and Literature Vojtěch Březík Post-War Capitalism and Ethical Flexibility in Joseph Heller's Catch 22 Bachelor ’s Diploma Thesis Supervisor: Stephen Paul Hardy, Ph. D. 2014
I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography.
…………………………………………….. Vojtěch Březík I would like to thank my supervisor, Stephen Paul Hardy, Ph.D., for inspiration and trust. Table of Contents
1. Introduction ...... 1
2. The Roots of Milo Minderbinder's Ethics in
Relation to Max Weber's Views on Protestant Ethos ...... 5
3. Milo, the Business Ethics and the Issues Regarding the Subjective
Character of Morality According to Patricia Carr ...... 21
4. Milo as a Mirror of the Negative Features of Modern
Capitalist Ethos as Presented by Richard Sennett ...... 28
5. Conclusion ...... 34
Works Cited and Consulted ...... 37
Resumé (English) ...... 39
Resumé (Czech) ...... 40 1. Introduction Joseph Heller's Catch-22 is a novel that has been subject to many interpretations and its critical reception has been ambivalent to say the least. A great number of criticism revolves around the fact that the book seemingly lacks a logical structuring.
However, this claim has been disproved by several authors, for example it is fitting to name Clinton S. Burhans Jr. who very adroitly deals with the intricate arrangement of the book. Another misconception stems from the notion that Catch-22 primarily an anti war novel, some authors, namely Sanford Pinsker in his essay “Reassessing Catch 22, ” even use the term “World War II novel” (Pinsker 608). This leads to probably undeserved criticism that Catch-22 , being one of the most famous works of American satire, lacks in not acknowledging the contribution of the American army in stopping the Nazis. Pinsker even raises a complaint that the novel “includes only a few stray mentions of Nazis and none of their concentration camps” (608). This notion appears to be superficial since the focus of the book is definitely not limited strictly to the Second
World War, and even Pinsker admits that the fact that “it wasn't until the Vietnam War that Catch-22 really took off” (606) probably was not a coincidence. Indeed, events in the novel take place during a war and the book definitely addresses many absurdities connected with this issue but to suppose that the novel points out solely to the description of the despicable nature of any war would deprive a reader of other aspects of social criticism that Catch-22 offers.
As was noted in Thomas Blues's essay “The Moral Structure of Catch 22,” regarding Catch-22 as being strictly an anti war novel proves itself to be most unfortunate especially considering the fact that Heller commented on his first novel three years after it had been published, saying that it is not about “the causes or results of World War II or the manner in which it was fought” (Heller qtd. in Blues 64) and that 1 “Catch 22 is about the contemporary, regimented business society depicted against the background of universal sorrow and inevitable death that is the lot of all of us” (Heller qtd. in Blues 64).
In view of this affirmation provided by the author of Catch-22 himself, this paper treats the novel in its broader aspirations, focusing on the implications it provides about how some of the aspects of the modern capitalist society work. This thesis therefore focuses on Milo Minderbinder and his syndicate, the development of which forms, according to Burhans's essay, one of the two sub plots of the novel, grafted onto the story of Yossarian which serves as a “trunk” (Burhans 240). Milo's character conveys the allegory of a successful entrepreneur driven by an ideology that is still relevant in the present day capitalist society. Although at times consciously driven by ridiculous logic, Milo's enterprise truly depicts the mechanics of a prosperous corporation which works according to social convention and seemingly follows all the rules yet kept under a lid, practices are performed that are at least questionable.
Morality is one of the main points of focus of the novel when it comes to Minderbinder, possibly because he regards himself as highly ethical human being with unshakeable ethical standing and unbreakable code of honour. That does not prevent him from bending the rules whenever the opportunity to make a profit offers itself and demands a slight shift of priorities. And justification is always safely within his reach. The major point of interest of this thesis is the depiction of the utilitarian values in the character of
Milo Minderbinder, their historical origin and ethical basis as well as the possible consequences aroused by the fact that the ethos of utilitarianism affects the way in which a member of the modern Western society forms his or her opinions.
The aim of the first chapter is to explore the roots of the ethos of the modern capitalist society and to discover the specific reasons that led to the creation of the 2 behavioural patterns that still govern the life of its members. The chapter finds support primarily in Max Weber's famous work The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of
Capitalism , which proves to be an excellent analysis of the origins of the present day form of capitalist society, still relevant today. Even though it was written in 1930, it is frequently quoted by contemporary scholars. For the purposes of this paper it is necessary to examine the circumstances that led to the rise of the model of capitalism known to the Western societies nowadays, the features of which are in Catch-22 represented by Milo Minderbinder.
The second chapter deals with the problems of morality connected with its subjective character. The source of major relevance to this chapter is Patricia Carr's essay “Revisiting the Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism: Understanding the
Relationship between Ethics and Enterprise.” Carr presents ideas necessary for this thesis, regarding the business ethics. In addition, some of her views contrast with the ones argued in this thesis and therefore it is useful to examine and possibly dispute their value. Since Milo's actions provoke the reflection of his morality, Carr's observation prove essential in its examination.
The third chapter employs the knowledge and opinions developed in the previous chapters and demonstrates Heller's appeal to beware of the negative tendencies of the society driven by the utilitarian maxims of the modern capitalism, represented by
Milo's final steps on his way to become an individual with unlimited power. The crucial work, relevant for this section, is Richard Sennett's book The Culture of the New
Capitalism which addresses some of the dangerous inclinations of the representatives of the present day Western society. Sennetts book also draws from the work of Max
Weber and relates it to the current capitalist ethos.
3 The analysis of the aforementioned issues should provide the reader with basic grasp of the origins, questions of morality and possible threats of the ethos that governs the life's conduct of the members of the Western capitalist society nowadays and how
Heller employed the character of Milo Minderbinder in order to demonstrate these motifs. Milo can be regarded as the concise illustration helpful for the reader's understanding of the behavioural patterns that determine Western lifestyle.
4 2. The Roots of Milo Minderbinder's Ethics in Relation to Max
Weber's Views on Protestant Ethos
In the character of Milo Minderbinder, Joseph Heller was able to draw a sketch of an entrepreneur who embodies and creates the values of the capitalist society which were not only present during and directly after World War II but which are still defining the Western world today. At first, Milo's actions quite possibly arouse admiration of the reader, but as the novel progresses they gradually appear more and more detestable.
Although it is tempting to label him as amoral, one has to bear in mind that his conduct is always driven by certain behavioural code. Heller emphasizes this aspect of the character even in the description of his outward appearance when he states that Milo has
“the face of a man of hardened integrity who could no more consciously violate the moral principles on which his virtue rested than he could transform himself into a despicable toad” (Heller 73). Although it is apparent that this depiction contains a strong sense of irony just as the rest of the novel, it points out an important idea. Milo does not reject morals as a whole, he is governed by a set of rules and to them he is faithful. Nevertheless, his ethics are established according to the situation which he is presented with. In order to be able to spot the features that reflect the contemporary capitalist society, one has to thoroughly examine Milo's behavioural patterns and search for their origin. This chapter therefore aims to point out the typical aspects of
Minderbinder's peculiar ethics and to trace the roots of this type of conduct in history.
Milo's idiosyncratic morality is very well represented in the episode with the
“thief with the sweet tooth” who stole the bed sheet of one of the characters, McWatt
(Heller 76). In order to get it back, Milo borrows a package of pitted dates from
Yossarian, presumably to trade them with the thief in return for the stolen sheet.
Surprisingly enough he is able to get it without having to sacrifice the dates, puzzling 5 both Yossarian and McWatt. Milo proudly explains: “I knew he [the thief] wanted the dates more than the bedsheet. Since he doesn't understand a word in English, I made it a point to conduct the whole transaction in English” (76). The thief thus saw the dates and thought that Milo offers them in exchange for the sheet while in fact Milo was able to negotiate the transaction without the necessity to pay anything. Yossarian, and the reader probably too, justly asks “why didn't you [Milo] just hit him over the head and take the bedsheet away from him” (76). Obviously, the result would be the same but
Milo is convinced that “force is wrong” (76). This arguably fraudulent behaviour is perfectly justifiable in Minderbinder's eyes because he did not disturb any of his own principles. Although his conduct is definitely not honest, he always makes sure that he proceeds according to personal regulations, however ridiculous they might seem.
However, this is not necessarily an act of deviousness regardless the fact that
Minderbinder certainly is a very cunning character. It can be argued that Milo truly believes that his conduct is exceptionally honest. This claim can be proven by examination of the passage in the novel where Milo is desperate about his devastating decision to buy the whole production of Egyptian cotton which almost ruins his business. He asks Yossarian for advice and he offers a simple solution. He suggests that
Milo should openly bribe the government to purchase the cotton from him. At first,
Milo is outraged and reminds Yossarian indignantly that “bribery is against the law”
(Heller 305). But immediately he is able to justify the idea. The following passage shows how he is able to accept the arguments, devised by Yossarian without any factual support, as his own to the point when it can be argued that Milo does not lie but sincerely trusts in their righteousness:
'I wish you'd come with me,' Milo remarked. 'I won't feel safe among
people who take bribes. They're no better than a bunch of crooks.' 6 You'll be all right,' Yossarian assured him with confidence. 'If you
run into trouble, just tell everybody that the security of the country
requires a strong domestic Egyptian cotton speculating industry.'
'It does,' Milo informed him solemnly. 'A strong Egyptian cotton
speculating industry means a much stronger America.'
'Of course it does. And if that doesn't work, point out the great
number of American families that depend on it for income.'
'A great many American families do depend on it for income.'
'You see?' said Yossarian. You're much better at it than I am. You
almost make it sound true.'
'It is true,' Milo exclaimed with a strong trace of old hauteur. (Heller
305)
Although it is possible that Minderbinder's reasoning is just an example of flagrant hypocrisy, there is an element of undoubted certainty in the manner in which he reproduces these obvious fabrications. Milo's confidence advocates the notion that for him the arguments are no longer the tools of deceit. They become the deepest conviction. Thus it is possible to note that the two situations, Milo's arguably fraudulent behaviour while trading with the thief with the sweet tooth and his solution to the unpleasant situation concerning the undesired production of Egyptian cotton, have a common denominator. They both illustrate Milo's tendency or rather ability to very effectively adapt his set of values according to the conditions that he feels obligation to deal with. Since his morals, however heatedly presented at every opportunity, prove to be highly unstable, it is inevitable to wonder why Milo insists to follow a code at all.
The resulting effect of the trade with the thief is the same as it would be if Milo took the bed sheet from him violently, as it is quite rightly remarked by Yossarian, and so it is 7 absolutely legitimate to ask why does Milo continue burdening himself with questions of morality if the implications forced upon his surroundings by his actions do not depend on them. To answer this inquiry, one has to search for the roots of Milo's ethos in the early history of the form of capitalism the spirit of which prevails to this day.
Quite an exhaustive analysis of the development that led to establishment of the variety of capitalism that shapes the contemporary Western society is provided by Max
Weber's famous work The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. As Weber remarks, in the sense of “an actual adaptation of economic action to a comparison of money income with money expenses … capitalism and capitalistic enterprises … have existed in all civilized countries of the earth, so far as economic documents permit us to judge. In China, India, Babylon, Egypt, Mediterranean antiquity, and the Middle Ages”
(Weber xxxiii). The business behaviour of the members of these societies was in many aspects similar or even identical to our own. To examine all the analogies is not desirable since the focus of this thesis is shifted elsewhere but to supply examples of the traits that those cultures shared with modern society, one can benefit from the depiction presented by Weber:
[Those cultures] have financed wars and piracy, contracts and building
operations of all sorts. In overseas policy they have functioned as
colonial entrepreneurs, as planters with slaves, or directly or indirectly
forced labour, and have farmed domains, offices, and, above all, taxes.
They have financed party leaders in elections. (Weber xxxiv)
However, “the emergence of this new bourgeois rational capitalism [the form the modern Western society is familiar with] Weber ascribes to religion, in particular the Calvinist puritan sects of the seventeenth century” (Carr 13). According to him
“Calvinistic diaspora [was] the seed bed of capitalistic economy” (Weber 10). 8 As Max Weber states, the principal change that Protestant asceticism introduced was that it freed “the acquisition of goods from the inhibitions of traditionalistic
[Catholic] ethics” (Weber 115). This means that accumulation of wealth was no longer considered a conduct worth disdain, quite the contrary, the opportunity to make a profit was regarded as a manifestation of God's grace and the suggestion was made that “the faithful Christian must follow its [duty towards God] call by taking advantage of the opportunity” (Weber 108). This peculiar ethos was supported by the Puritan idea that
God's hand can be seen in “all the occurrences of life” and that if God “shows one of
His elect a chance of profit, he must do it with a purpose” (Weber 108). To better understand what is meant by the traditionalistic approach to business, the following exemplary description of the lifestyle that was common for a setter of in this case textile industry business or, as he is called by Weber, a putter out and that survived as long as until the middle of the 19 th century:
… The life of a putter out was … what we should today consider very
comfortable. The peasants came with their cloth … to the town in which
the putter out lived … and after appraisal of the quality, received the
customary price for it. The putter out's customers … were middlemen,
who also came to him … and bought from his warehouse, or … placed
orders which were probably in turn passed on to the peasants … The
number of business hours was very moderate, perhaps five to six a day,
sometimes considerably less; in the rush season, where there was one,
more. Earnings were moderate, enough to lead a respectable life and in
good times to put away a little. On the whole, relations among
competitors were relatively good, with a large degree of agreement on
9 the fundamentals of business. A long daily visit to the tavern … made
life comfortable and leisurely. (Weber 29)
Surprisingly enough, this “leisureliness was suddenly destroyed” not by “any essential change in the form of organization, such as the transition to a unified factory,” but by the emerging Protestant ethic (Weber 30). Nevertheless, it would be a mistake to consider this transformation a progress since the involvement of the church in and its control over the life, professional and personal, escalated. The level of supervision of the entrepreneur over the peasants increased substantially, turning them into labourers.
Aside from that, effort was made to eliminate the middlemen and thus maximize the profit, in other words, going directly to the customer became the usual strategy. The income was “always reinvested in the business” and “a hard frugality” became the new model of lifestyle. This development corresponds with the establishment of the ethos of
Puritanism which looks upon the acquisition of goods as “directly willed by God”
(Weber 115) and this idea is supported by the Old Testament and particularly by the book of Job which suggests that “God would bless His own in this life … and also in the material sense” (Weber 110). This perception advocated the profit making of the business man and “the spirit of self righteous and sober legality” was characteristic for the Puritan forms of Protestant asceticism (Weber 110). However, the main purpose of the wealth accumulated was supposed to be to increase the glory of God, in other words to serve “the needs of the individual and the community” (Weber 115). This ethos condemned the “irrational use of wealth” and especially it despised any “outward forms of luxury” (Weber 115). Max Weber also makes an important discovery necessary to understand the origins of some of the impulses of the present day capitalism. He considers the contempt for vanity and especially “decoration of the person, for instance clothing” a sign of “that powerful tendency toward uniformity of life, which today so 10 immensely aids the capitalistic interest in the standardization of production” (Weber
114). The sanctification of the profit making in combination with the ascetic lifestyle lacking any form of luxury quite logically led to the accumulation of wealth by the middle class. And since the economic advancement was viewed as fulfilling the duty towards God, it often became almost compulsive behaviour. To designate this phenomenon, Weber uses the word “calling” which is a translation of German “Beruf”
(39). In present day German it is used as an equivalent of English “occupation” and therefore it is interesting to note that “a religious conception, that of a task set by God, is at least suggested (Weber 39). The phenomenon of obsessive circle of entrepreneurship is explained as a result of the fact that “the greater the possessions the heavier, if the ascetic attitude toward life stands the test, the feeling of responsibility for them, for holding them undiminished for the glory of God and increasing them by restless effort” (Weber 115). This way of life is one of the manifestations of what
Weber calls “the spirit of capitalism” and “its significance for the development of capitalism is obvious” (Weber 114, 115).
The above examined aspects deserve further attention in connection with the conduct of Milo Minderbinder, since it is possible to spot the aforementioned tendencies in his actions. The obsession with making profit for the business' sake is apparent in the dazzling string of Milo's trades revealed to Yossarian when he accompanies
Minderbinder on one of his runs. Milo always arrives at an airfield with a clear purpose to purchase a certain commodity but eventually always gives up to the attractions of the market and leaves with a plane full of goods that are only bought in order to trade them for another merchandise. The following section illustrates his complete absorption by the power of the market:
11 'Just think how happy the men back at the squadron will be when they
get these bananas.'
But the men back at the squadron never saw any of the bananas, for it
was a seller's market for bananas in Istanbul and a buyer's market in
Beirut for the caraway seeds Milo rushed with to Bengasi after selling the
bananas and when they raced back into Pianosa breathlessly six days
later at the conclusion of Orr's rest leave, it was with a load of best white
eggs from Sicily that Milo said were from Egypt and sold to his mess
halls for only four cents apiece so that all the commanding officers would
implore him to speed right back to Cairo for more bunches of green red
bananas to sell in Turkey for the caraway seeds in Bengasi. And
everybody had a share. (Heller 274)
In this passage, the Protestant ethic of all the profit being reinvested in another business conduct is well apparent. Milo relentlessly emerges into the vortex of incessant transactions that seem to go on without any particular objective. His actions truly reflect the notion of calling. It is an enterprise for its own sake. As Weber states, “man is dominated by the making of money as the ultimate purpose of his life. Economic acquisition is no longer subordinated to man as the means for the satisfaction of his material needs” (18).
Milo's market conduct also touches upon the concept of elimination of the middlemen in the way that he handles all the trade by himself, supervising his interest personally and not trusting anyone but himself with the exception of Yossarian whose integrity, possibly having origin in his lack of interest in business matters, is proven by
Milo's unsuccessful attempt for seduction in the following passage:
12 Milo turned to him [Yossarian] with a faint glimmer of mischief. 'I
have sure fire plan for cheating the federal government out of six
thousand dollars. We can make three thousand dollars apiece without any
risk to either of us. Are you interested?'
'No.'
Milo looked at Yossarian with profound emotion. 'That's what I like
about you,' he exclaimed. 'You're honest! You're the only one I know I
can really trust.' (Heller 267)
However, his form of elimination of the middlemen can also be viewed as a reflection of the unique new strategy of capitalism that only peaked in the 20 th century and does not fully correspond with the original Puritan motivation for expulsion of the unnecessary pieces of the chain of trade. What Milo does is in fact adding new cells in order to maximize his profit. In a way, he is creating additional number of mediators.
The secret of how such a model could bring him more substantial earnings than business without intermediaries is that he in fact is owns these middlemen, one can even say that he is them. Although this concept does not directly correlate with the model described by Max Weber, it certainly has roots in the Protestant ethos and therefore it is fitting to relate it in connection with this chapter. However, this business pattern is more typical for the recent development in the capitalist society and so it will be developed in detail in the fourth chapter of this paper.
Another aspect of the mindset that has roots in the Puritan ideology that can be observed in Milo's characteristics is his modest expression often emphasized by Heller.
Whenever Minderbinder is praised, which is indicated by the army officials' desire to know his name, he humbly states: “My name is Milo Minderbinder. I am twenty seven years old” (156). The Protestant contempt for vanity, reflected by their plain clothing, is 13 represented by Milo's “customary business attire – olive drab trousers, a fresh olive drab shirt and tie, and a regulation dress cap with a stiff leather bill” (Heller 299). It is indisputable that there is in fact no better example of the tendency toward uniformity, described by Weber, than an inclination to always wear a uniform.
Furthermore, the spirit of Protestant asceticism, in particular the aim to serve the needs of the community is represented by Milo's omnipresent formula: “Everybody has a share.” While the exact implications of this statement are overly complicated and are therefore examined in detail in the fourth section of this thesis, Milo's desire to provide for the society is represented by his zeal in the function of a mess officer which is demonstrated by the following passage:
'… You see,' he [Milo] confided earnestly, 'what I hope to do is give
the men in this squadron the best meals in the whole world. That's really
something to shoot at, isn't it? If a mess officer aims at anything less, it
seems to me, he has no right being mess officer. Don't you agree?'
(Heller 73)
It is questionable whether Milo's care for the community is genuine or not. On on hand he seems to be legitimately trying to deliver his promise to try to serve the soldiers from his squadron “the best meals in the world” (73). On the other hand, the way he convinces the men of position to support his cause, an organization that he calls the syndicate, by giving him at disposal all the planes he needs, raises the issue of bribery. He is able to take advantage of their desires and the choice of food as an object of craving is simple enough to present the problem of the possibility of foul play which is noticeable for example in the following passage in which Milo is able to negotiate the access to a plane that is essential for his business:
'I have a weakness for fresh eggs,' Major – de Coverley confessed. 14 'If someone put a plane at my disposal, I could fly down there [to
Malta] once a week in a squadron plane and bring back all the fresh eggs
we need,' Milo answered. 'After all, Malta's not so far away.'
'Malta's not so far away,' Major – de Coverley observed.
'You could probably fly down there once a week in a squadron plane
and bring back all the fresh eggs we need.'
'Yes,' Milo agreed. 'I suppose I could do that, if someone wanted me
to and put a plane at my disposal.'
'I like my fresh eggs fried,' Major – de Coverley remembered. 'In
fresh butter.'
'I can find all the fresh butter we need in Sicily for twenty five cents a
pound,' Milo answered. (Heller 155)
Although this situation is most of all comical, it very well reflects the strategy employed by Milo. The repetition demonstrates his power to implant thoughts into the minds of other men so that in the end it appears that he is merely following their orders but in fact they help him to achieve his own objectives and follow his personal ambition. In the chain reaction caused by envy, all the other squadrons furnish Milo with “the planes and pilots needed to ferry in all the other good food he promised to supply as well” (Heller 157). And thus they unconsciously help to increase Milo's influence and he quickly acquires a position of immense power.
So far it is unnecessary to have any concerns regarding Milo's behaviour. It seems that he truly represents the ideal of ethos of Protestant asceticism described by
Weber. He puts forth an extraordinary effort to serve the needs of the community and his conduct is Modest and reserved. However, it is soon revealed that his public image does not fully capture the true character of Milo Minderbinder. When Yossarian 15 accompanies him, he discovers that Milo is in fact worshipped in the towns where he conducts his business endeavours. There he does not feel the need to maintain the appearance of harmless modesty and sets loose his vanity. The following passage demonstrates Milo's unrestricted pride on the description of the portrait hanging in his office in Malta:
In a panel of the oak wall, between crossed British flags, hung a dramatic
arresting photograph of Major Sir Milo Minderbinder in the dress
uniform of the Royal Welsh fusiliers. His mustache in the photograph
was clipped and narrow, his chin was chiselled, and his eyes were sharp
as thorns. (Heller 272)
The description above also emphasizes the disunity between Milo's public image and his true identity in the way it contrasts with the characterization of his appearance provided by Yossarian earlier in the novel:
He [Yossarian] saw a simple, sincere face that was incapable of subtlety
or guile, an honest, frank face with disunited large eyes, rusty hair, black
eyebrows and an unfortunate reddish brown mustache. Milo had a long,
thin nose with sniffing, damp nostrils heading sharply off to the right,
always pointing away from where the rest of him was looking. (Heller
73)
This contrast and the notion of covert vanity definitely does not correspond with the ideals of Protestant ascetic mindset. But the situation that inflicts the fatal blow to the idea that Milo follows the Puritan ethos of helping the community is described in the following, harrowing passage:
They [Milo's planes] had freedom of passage everywhere, and one
day Milo contracted with the American military authorities to bomb the 16 German held highway bridge at Orvieto and with the German military
authorities to defend the highway bridge at Orvieto with antiaircraft fire
against his own attack. His fee for attacking the bridge for America was
the total cost of the operation plus six per cent and his fee from Germany
for defending the bridge was the same cost plus six agreement
augmented by a merit bonus of a thousand dollars for every American
plane he shot down …
Since Milo did have freedom of passage everywhere, his planes were
able to steal over in a sneak attack without alerting the German
antiaircraft gunners; and since Milo knew about the attack, he was able to
alert the German antiaircraft gunners in sufficient time for them to begin
firing accurately the moment the planes came into range. It was an ideal
arrangement for everyone but the dead man in Yossarian's tent, who was
killed over the target the day he arrived. (Heller 293)
Now the questions of morality and the business ethics that immediately arise when evaluating this situation will be investigated in the following chapter. From the point of view concerning the Protestant ideology, Milo's actions undoubtedly reject the idea of serving the community because whatever the profit, a man was dead, about the
German casualties the reader is not informed. The dead man in Yossarian's tent, speaking bluntly the items left there after his death because of the inability of the military bureaucratic apparatus, thus represent a monument, a reminder of Milo's greed and his tendency to value profit more than human lives. This does not fit in the
Protestant ethos since, as Weber states, “what was condemned as covetousness, was the pursuit of riches for their own sake” (116). Milo could therefore be regarded as a caricature of of the values based on the Puritan mindset but it would be more accurate to 17 state that he provides a perfect representation of the characteristics of the American capitalist society. His ethics appear to be a combination of two very contrastive elements – the morals of “the adventurers, who wanted to set up plantations with the labour of indentured servants, and live as feudal lords, and the specifically middle class outlook of the Puritans” (Weber 116). As was already mentioned, Weber emphasizes that the politics of incessant effort without spending the profit on purposeless luxury quite naturally leads to accumulation of wealth and thus increasing the economic power of an individual. This in turn results in focusing on the monetary aspects of this way of life rather than on the spiritual ethos. He notes that “the religious roots died out slowly, giving way to utilitarian worldliness” (Weber 119).
Milo's development thus evokes the idea of a fallen angel, a person who is in the beginning showing a great promise in following the Protestant ideal of fulfilling the wishes of the community only to dissolve this image entirely by his unscrupulous deeds, abandoning the religious origins completely and embracing the utilitarian mindset. This metaphor of lost soul is accentuates Milo's diabolical side, which is very well examined in W. K. Thomas' essay “The Mythic Dimension of Catch 22” where the parallel is being drawn between the unrestricted worshipping of Milo and the fallen angels in
Milton's Paradise Lost . Particularly interesting in this regard is the following passage from Catch-22 :
Milo was the corn god, the rain god and the rice god in backward regions
where such crude gods were still worshipped by ignorant and
superstitious people, and deep inside the jungles of Africa, he intimated
with becoming modesty, large graven images of his mustached face
could be found overlooking primitive stone altars red with human blood.
(Heller 273) 18 Thomas relates this passage to Milton's description of the adoration of devils:
This elevation and worshipping of Milo in many places, and throughout a
period of time evidently extending back through many generations, calls
to mind the passage in Paradise Lost in which various of the fallen
angels, become devils, are said to have been worshipped as gods in
various places. In particular the devil Moloch was said to have enjoyed
widespread worship, to the extent even of parents' sacrificing their
children on his altar in an effort to secure his favour (Milton 1. 392 405).
Milo's altar, it will be noted, is red with human blood, and it is also
remarkable that the children sacrificed to Moloch were burned alive, not
altogether unlike the fate of a nation's young sent to be burnt alive in
flaming aircraft. Milo, in his materialism, bears the characteristics of
another pagan god as well, also out of Paradise Lost : Mammon, the
supreme materialist who, when walking the streets of heaven, kept his
eyes on the roadway, delighting in the sight of the gold (Milton 1. 679
684). It is appropriate that the name of Milo Minderbinder' s commercial
company should have his initials only, with the ampersand between
them, for M & M Enterprises, with the vision of Milton's devils behind,
can be read as Moloch and Mammon Enterprises. And everybody has a
share. (Thomas 194 195)
Now the connection to Milo's abandoning the Protestant ethos is complete since
Weber states that in Puritan ideology, the “pursuit of riches for their own sake was condemned as covetousness, Mammonism” (Weber 116).
In conclusion, this chapter is by no means trying to advocate the positive image of any religion. However, it is necessary for the purpose of understanding of Milo's 19 morality to be aware of the roots of his mindset that dwell deep within the ascetic
Protestant ideology. Since Milo reflects the features of the present day capitalist society, it is fitting to recognize that “one of the fundamental elements of the spirit of modern capitalism, and not only of that but of all modern culture: rational conduct on the basis of the idea of the calling, was born … from the spirit of Christian asceticism” (Weber
123). Since the way of life of the Western society is nowadays mostly stripped of the direct influence, “the modern man is in general … unable to give religious ideas a significance for culture and national character which they deserve” (Weber 125). And so it is inevitable to keep the origin of Milo's and the present day capitalist society's ethos in mind whenever the parallel between the two is drawn.
20 3. Milo, the Business Ethics and the Issues Regarding the Subjective
Character of Morality According to Patricia Carr
The suggestion that the roots of the ethos that governs the modern capitalist society, reflected in the character of Milo Minderbinder, have their origin in the
Protestant asceticism has already been established. Since the main vehicle of presenting the negative features of the capitalist ideology is the description of Milo's entrepreneurship, it is fitting to discuss the issues connected with the business ethics.
However, to regard the morality that determines the behaviour of a businessman as an isolated phenomenon would be a mistake because the possibility not to be involved in some sort of market relationship is in the present day Western society almost non existent. Therefore it is conceivable to assume that the features characteristic for any form of business conduct following the principles of capitalism in turn infiltrate into the behavioural patterns of the modern society and its lifestyle and even the private interpersonal relationships of people who have seemingly no direct connection to the world of profit. The aim of this chapter is to reflect upon Milo's morality in connection with the business ethics and especially to point out the flexible character of the principles by which the thought process of the capitalist culture is governed. The focus rests on the consideration of the idea that the business behaviour needs to be regulated according to a set of morals and if so whether it is possible to impose such demand.
Heller's character serves as a perfect example of the behavioural structure typical for the present day capitalist society. Although it can be argued that as a fictional character,
Milo should not be regarded as an indisputable representation of the values prevalent in the real world, it is in fact the ability of fiction to comprise a number of traits of human nature in a single character to a degree that would not be imaginable in reality. This claim is also supported by the conviction of several scholars dealing with the business 21 ethics that “reading fiction dealing with business issues, conflicts, and dilemmas can enlighten and sensitize us to issues of business ethics in a way that generates insights that are perhaps different from those arising in the study of cases” (188), as presented by Ellen J. Kennedy and Leigh Lawton in their essay “Business Ethics in Fiction”.
In order to illustrate the dilemmas that this chapter is dealing with, it is appropriate to use an excerpt from Catch-22 which has been perhaps the most quoted passage in relation to the business ethics and morality in general. The following section describes the decision of Milo Minderbinder to bomb his own squadron in order to make profit, personally supervising the action from the control tower:
… One night, after a sumptuous evening meal, all Milo's fighters and
bombers took off, joined in formation directly overhead and began
dropping bombs on the group. He had landed another contract with the
Germans, this time to bomb his own outfit. … His crews spared the
landing strip and the mess halls so that they could land safely when their
work was done and enjoy a hot snack before retiring … A cluster of
fragmentation bombs exploded in the yard of the officer's club and
punched jagged holes in the side of the wooden building and in the
bellies and backs of a row of lieutenants and captains standing at the bar.
…
The loud speaker overhead began squawking. 'Milo, this is Alvin
Brown. I've finished dropping my bombs. What should I do now?'
'Strafe,' said Milo.
'Strafe? ' Alvin Brown was shocked.
'We have no choice,' Milo informed him resignedly. 'It's in the
contract.' 22 'Oh, okay then,' Alvin Brown acquiesced. 'In that case I'll strafe.'
(Heller 295 297)
Although the whole situation is so absurd that the initial impression it makes on the reader is probably humorous, Heller's choice of vocabulary is obviously very careful with the aim to illustrate the atmosphere of sheer terror and disbelief in addition to the one involving incredulous smile. The screams of the injured and the surreal quality of the scene makes it clear that this time Milo's endeavours are not an example of admirable resourcefulness and certainly not a laughing matter. It is made clear that “this time Milo had gone too far” (Heller 297). The reaction of the public opinion is ruthless and deprecatory:
Newspapers inveighed against Milo with glaring headlines, and
congressmen denounced the atrocity in stentorian wrath and clamored for
punishment. Mothers with children in the service organized into militant
groups and demanded revenge. Not one voice was raised in his defense.
Decent people everywhere were affronted, and Milo was all washed up
until he opened his books to the public and disclosed the tremendous
profit he had made. … Everybody, of course, owned a share. (Heller 297)
This passage represents a twisted mirror of the utilitarian mindset which Weber considers to be the posthumous child of the Puritan roots of the Protestant ethos. In the reasoning applied by the righteously indignant people, initially detesting Milo's conduct but soon enough willing to forgive him, the idea of ends justifying the means is clearly visible. While it is tempting to disregard this episode as ridiculous because such cold calculation would not stand in the real world, it is necessary to note that, even though slightly exaggerated, Heller's vision painstakingly captures a feature typical for the utilitarian character of the modern capitalist culture. Of course, the general tendency is 23 to condemn Milo's actions as immoral on the basis of the simple assumption that whatever the profit, his conduct cannot justify the fact that innocent people were harmed and thus the impulse to despise it seems natural.
Surprisingly enough, the general notion of right and wrong is frequently opposed and Milo's strategy based on the support of the utilitarian ethos of the society is often advocated by scholars who point out the subjective character of ethics, a claim supported by the notion that morals are an artificial construct. This viewpoint is represented in Patricia Carr's essay “Revisiting the Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of
Capitalism: Understanding the Relationship between Ethics and Enterprise.” In this paper, Carr formulates the following statement:
In much of the writing around business ethics there are unspoken and
unquestioned assumptions about 'good' business practice. … Our
understanding of 'good' business ethics is similar to how we understand
other concepts, such as … 'peace' i.e. nobody is against them per se and
everyone perceives them as inherently positive or beneficial. There is
little acknowledgement that there can also be a 'dark side' to these
apparently positive entities. For example 'community' can mean control,
'peace' can lead to 'turf wars' for control of the process, 'good' business
ethics may benefit one group positively and another group negatively.
(Carr 11)
The main point that Carr expresses would be that the notion of an act being ethical depends on the context. The validity of this statement is indisputable but at the same time it, perhaps unconsciously, may serve as a justification for the likes of Milo.
In the scope of this idea applied ad absurdum, by not killing the men belonging to his own squadron, Minderbinder would be guilty of not seizing the opportunity to make a 24 profit and thus help all the people who have a share in his corporation. Clearly, this type of reasoning is dangerous and potentially very harmful.
In this respect, Carr's views interestingly correspond with the advice of
Benjamin Franklin, used by Weber as a typical example to illustrate the flexible nature of the utilitarian morality which is part of what he calls the spirit of capitalism. Franklin suggests the following:
Remember this saying, The good paymaster is lord of another man's
purse . He that is known to pay punctually and exactly to the time he
promises, may at any time, and on any occasion, raise all the money his
friends can spare. … After industry and frugality, nothing contributes
more to the raising of a young man in the world than punctuality and
justice in all his dealings; therefore never keep borrowed money an hour
beyond the time you promised, lest a disappointment shut up your
friend's purse for ever. (Franklin qtd. in Weber 15)
It is interesting to note that Franklin, being an important figure in the American history, serves as a representative of the tendencies typical for the origins of modern capitalism which have prevailed to the present day. As is noted by Weber, it is possible to state that “all Franklin's moral attitudes are coloured with utilitarianism” (Weber 17).
Now this thesis does by no means wish to diminish Franklin's contributions to the humanity but it is more than fitting to use him as a representative example of an advocate of the values which are emblematic for the ethos of the modern capitalist culture. From the quoted passage it is apparent that the virtue of being trustworthy is not appreciated because of its moral merit but simply because it is useful for maintaining friendship which is in turn considered helpful in profit making. Franklin probably did not mean to advocate unscrupulous behaviour but in the character of Milo, Heller quite 25 successfully demonstrates the dangers of verbatim interpretation of his suggestions. In the episode with the thief with the sweet tooth, that has already been described, the utilitarian strategy of bending the morals is skilfully illustrated. Milo is only restricted by the moral values as long as it is profitable.
In view of the aforementioned, the need to develop “ethical codes which allow a
'good' order to be imposed on the chaos of enterprise activity,” (11). criticised by Carr, is understandable Although Carr presents a valuable observation that “ethical business practice is something that firms can only afford when economic times are good and is likely to be sacrificed if the bottom line requires it,” to abandon the idea of imposing morality on entrepreneurship would mean giving way to opportunism and hypocrisy.
Furthermore, a paradigm to oppose the utilitarian rhetoric has been developed by the philosopher Ross in his book The Right and the Good . The duties that he presents in his framework that prove to be the most relevant to this thesis are what he calls “the duties of non maleficence, duties not to injure others” and are mentioned in the essay
“Business Ethics in Fiction” by Kennedy and Lawton (189). Ross's propositions are meant as “the major ethical responsibilities facing any person” (Kennedy and Lawton
189). A framework developed “specifically with business managers in mind” (Kennedy and Lawton 189) was developed by Garrett in his book Business Ethics . He “specifies that the intentions and means cannot be justified by the ends” (Garret qtd. in Kennedy and Lawton 189). Carr's assumption that the behaviour of the firms depends on their situation is definitely relevant and this tendency of the entrepreneurs is demonstrated by
Heller when Milo first aims to serve the men “the best meals in the whole world”
(Heller 73) only to try to force them to eat chocolate covered cotton when his business ventures are threatened (Heller 300). But to use this argument to disregard the effort to develop a set of morals to control the chaotic world of modern enterprise, represented 26 by Garrett and Ross, would be a mistake since it does not oppose the demand for ethical norms, it merely legitimately questions human nature.
After discussing the problems connected with the subjective character of morality, this chapter dealt with the notion that in the utilitarian mindset the morals are flexible. This ideology stems from the spirit of capitalism and according to Weber still prevails in the present day Western culture, as has already been argued in the second chapter. In conclusion, the demand for a set of morals has been justified and exemplary moral paradigms, as suggested by Garrett and Ross, have been presented.
27 4. Milo as the Mirror of the Negative Features of Modern
Capitalist Ethos as Presented by Richard Sennett
Since the theory of the origin of the mindset governing the present day Western capitalist society has been established and the problematic character of morality has been presented, it is fitting to relate the already discussed observations to the mechanisms that keep the capitalist culture running and which are so brilliantly criticized by Heller, using the character of Milo Minderbinder as a platform necessary to demonstrate the absurdity of some of the negative features which have become commonplace phenomena of the modern society. This chapter therefore focuses on the systematic instruments employed by a person in power, represented by Milo, in order to prevent others from complicating his way to success. Furthermore, this section demonstrates Heller's ability to capture the essential characteristics of the establishment which is based on the principles of successful business ventures and how. This chapter also suggests the ways in which this ethos can be harmful to the thinking patterns of an individual.
The most immediate question that arises is how it is possible that the oppressed majority never protests against Milo's unscrupulous behaviour. In the beginning, of course, the satisfaction of the men serving with Milo is understandable. His success is approved because he is serving the needs of the community exactly as he is supposed to according to the maxims of Protestant ethos. His ventures are aimed towards the fulfilment of the wish to serve his fellow soldiers “the best meals in the whole world”
(Heller 73). Milo's questionable methods and morals are revealed in the episode with the thief with the sweet tooth and further on in the description of the machinations that he uses to make a profit by re selling eggs in spite of the fact that he “buys them for seven cents apiece in Malta and sells them for five cents” (Heller 265). He is able to 28 benefit from the trade because he is the people he buys them from, as he explains to
Yossarian (265). Nevertheless, the men from the outfit do not complain because they are not the ones who are being taken advantage of. What really puzzles the reader's mind is however the passivity of the soldiers after Milo decides to bomb his own squadron and yet another incident that involves Milo endangering their lives revolves around the life jackets. The crew of a wrecked plane is not able to use them “because
Milo had stolen the carbon dioxide to make … ice cream sodas” (353). As a justification, Milo replaced the carbon dioxide cylinders necessary to inflate the jackets with “notes that read: 'What's good for M & M Enterprises is good for the country'”
(353). One has to wonder what prevents the men from retaliation.
The answer is provided by Richard Sennett's book The Culture of the New
Capitalism. Sennett argues that the chain of command in the present day corporations resembles in its structure a pyramid rather than a string. This system was famously employed by Otto von Bismarck. At the top of the pyramid dwells an individual or a very limited group of people with supreme power whereas the bottom is formed by vast amount of ordinary workers. The further away from the top of this structure, the lesser the ability to actually influence the direction of the ventures of the corporation. The heftier the organization, the lesser the power of the individuals residing at the very base.
This arrangement represents a medium of control in the hands of the leader of such corporation. Sennett describes this strategy as follows:
The pyramid shape enables this promise: it permits a corporation to add
ever more people at the lower ranks, just as an army can absorb ever
more foot soldiers. Put fancifully, structures of this sort can become
obese for the sake of social inclusion. … Bismarck’s hard headed reason
29 for fattening up institutions was pacification—the avoidance of strife by
giving everyone a place. (Sennett 30)
This organizational structure is captured by Heller in Milo's repetitive proclamation that everybody has a share. Minderbinder is the only individual in his syndicate who enjoys any authority. But by including everybody in his organization he ensures that nobody ever complains. The men simply feel included and so they do not protest even when Milo decides to drop bombs at them. The reasoning seems absurd but is in fact very effective because it implies that since all the soldiers have a share in the syndicate, they de facto bombed themselves. The powerful verbal exchange between
Yossarian and Milo is very memorable:
'Do I have a share?'
'Everybody has a share.'
'Does Orr have a share?'
'Everybody has a share.'
'And Hungry Joe? He has a share, too?'
'Everybody has a share.'
'Well, I'll be damned,' mused Yossarian, deeply impressed with the
idea of a share for the very first time. (Heller 267)
And it is a very impressive concept indeed. On the surface, this formula attracts the men included in the syndicate by the promise of the future profit, but it also implies that every man has a share of the responsibility, however negligible in comparison to
Milo. Thus the men never feel entitled to complaints and follow his every order without question, believing Milo when he says: “The syndicate benefits when I benefit” (Heller
266).
30 However, functionality of this structure could not be guaranteed without seemingly unlimited patience of the soldiers. There is no single instance in the novel where Milo would literally share the profit with anyone. Why would the men suffer uncertainty of this extent is explained by Sennett who calls this phenomenon “delayed gratification” (Sennett 77). He states that it is characteristic for this principle the people immure themselves within fixed institutions because they hope finally to empower themselves in a future reward. Delayed gratification makes possible self discipline; you steel yourself to work, unhappily or not, because you are focused on that future reward”
(Sennett 77). This claim is based on the Protestant Ethic, as described by Weber, who according to Carr's essay identified the willingness “of the new capitalist entrepreneur to forego short term gratification in the interests of the long term rational pursuit of profitable enterprise” as an impulse for the thrift, so typical for the Puritan mindset
(Carr 13). Carr also emphasizes that there is no “separation between the world of work and the rest of social life” and focuses on “the connections between the two and how the emergence of a particular way of living one's life impacts significantly on how individuals behave in the business world” (13). It is possible to reverse the logic of this statement and say that the behaviour in business influences the patterns according to which one thinks about his or her private life. The danger of delayed gratification would in this case be that the individual immerses in futile effort, hoping for the future benefits that never come. This phenomenon can be observed in many aspects of culture of the modern capitalist society. In order to work, the phenomenon of delayed gratification
“requires a certain kind of institution to be creditable,” according to Sennett “it has to be stable enough to deliver the future rewards” (77).
However, both Sennett and Carr agree on what is characteristic of the present day capitalist culture. Carr captures the thought quite concisely and states that “the only 31 secure thing about modernity is insecurity, much of which emerges from revolutionary, chaotic enterprising activity” (Carr 9). After all, the men from Milo's squadron learn about this uncertainty the hard way. Towards the end of the novel, Milo's position is so influential that he dares to “raise the price of food in his mess hall so high that all officers and enlisted men have to turn over all their pay to him in order to eat” (Heller
423). When the men complain, he mentions “the law of supply and demand” (423). The discontent eventually culminates in the following incident, representing very well the fickle nature of the modern capitalist culture:
He [Milo] proved good as his word when a rawboned major from
Minnesota curled his lip in rebellious disavowal and demanded his share
of the syndicate Milo kept saying everybody owned. Milo met the
challenge by writing the words 'A Share' on the nearest scrap of paper
and handing it away with a virtuous disdain that won the envy and
admiration of almost everyone who knew him. (Heller 423)
By this theatrical act, Milo symbolically seals the transformation into diabolical figure and thus confirms the suggestion that he represents a fallen angel, introduced in the second chapter. Milo becomes one of the men of ultimate power. In his essay
“Formal Experiment and Social Discontent: Joseph Heller's Catch-22 ,” Brian Way deals with the creation of the modern structures of power as described in fiction. He states that Milo's case in the end becomes “the part of existence which contains all immoral action, all action which wilfully destroys or exploits man” (Way 268) In relation to
Weber's statement that the religious roots gave way to the utilitarian ethos, it is possible to view this last example of Milo's confident and arrogant conduct as a final step towards the ideology of ever shifting morality of continuous justifications which is one the negative features of the modern capitalist culture. 32 After introducing the organizational structure of the present day corporations according to Sennett, this chapter discussed the phenomenon of delayed gratification and suggested the possible consequence of this aspect of the modern capitalist culture.
This chapter also emphasized the insecurity which is so characteristic for modernity, concluding with Milo's complete transformation into the avatar of utilitarianism.
33 5. Conclusion
The focus of Joseph Heller's novel Catch-22 is not limited to the critique of the absurdities of war, as is often claimed, primarily it is a work of social satire that addresses the maladies afflicting the contemporary society. Novel's setting during the
Second World War is merely a tool used to illustrate the ailments that plague the
Western civilization. In the character of Milo Minderbinder, Heller was able to create an embodiment of the aspects typical for the capitalist ethos that determines the character of the modern Western society.
The origin of Milo's morality can be traced in the Protestant ethos of asceticism, especially in the mind set of the Puritan religious sects, as described by Max Weber.
This statement was supported by the analysis of the features of Milo's character that correspond with the development of the spirit of capitalism described by Weber. Milo's relentless pursuit of the profit only to reinvest the earnings in order to acquire more wealth is reminiscent of the idea of a calling and the conviction that the acquisition of wealth is directly willed by God, introduced by the Protestant ethos. In the beginning of the novel, Milo's behaviour is subjected to the needs of the community, in his case the men of his squadron, and he seems to genuinely strive to offer his fellow soldiers the best meals he can. As it was argued, this conduct coincides with the Protestant ethos which considered the acquisition of goods as a conduct pleasing to God but only as long as it was done to serve the needs of the community. However, from the very beginning it is quite clear that Milo’s morality, notwithstanding his self righteousness, is very unstable as was demonstrated by the excerpts from the novel. Another example that contributes to the conviction that Milo’s ethics originate in the Protestant mind set was provided by the observation of Minderbinder’s love of uniformity and his modest appearance, typical for the Puritan sects. However, later it was observed that Milo’s 34 modesty is only maintained among the men from his own squadron whereas in the areas in which he conducts his business ventures he fully embraces the vanity, a trait despised by the Protestant ethics. In this respect, Milo’s behavior seemingly denies the affinity to this mindset. But after Weber’s view was presented, that with the development of capitalism, the religious roots of the ethos of the modern society gave way to the utilitarian morality, the connection of the Protestant ethos with Milo’s set of values was complete. The notion of Minderbinder’s abandonment of the original values was also supported by the observation that in several excerpts of the novel, he brings to mind the vision of a fallen angel. The most general of the first chapter was that in order to understand the morality that governs the present day capitalist society, one has to bear in mind that the roots of what Weber calls the spirit of capitalism are of a religious character.
Furthermore, the issues concerning the subjective character of human morality were addressed. Carr’s view that the notion of right and wrong is context dependent was acknowledged together with some of her other observations useful for the assessment of Milo’s character. However, her suggestion that on the basis of subjectivity of morals, it is not fitting to impose fixed business ethics on any form of enterprise is contradictory to this thesis and therefore it was disputed with the maxims of general and the business, provided by Ross and Garrett. In addition, Milo’s inclinations towards the utilitarian ethos were presented with the focus on his ability to employ the utilitarian flexible approach towards morals. He is able to bend the rules in order to justify the means by the ends.
In the last chapter, the evidence developed in the previous sections was used to demonstrate that Heller was able to use the character of Milo to demonstrate the mechanisms that allow the modern capitalist ethos to control the actions of the members 35 of the present day Western society. To characterize these means of power, Richard
Sennett’s work was used and the term delayed gratification and the pyramid structure of the modern corporations were explained. The third chapter drew parallels between the mechanisms described by Sennett and Milo’s conduct, resulting in Milo forsaking the morality, making thus the last step towards a position of ultimate power, embracing the utilitarian ethos of flexible morality.
In conclusion, Heller was able to create a concise character that represents the origins, tendencies and the development of the ethos that determines the lifestyle of a member of the modern Western capitalist society. The character of Milo Minderbinder not only teaches the reader about the inception of the present model of life’s conduct, it also presents a warning against some of the tendencies of the utilitarian ethos that is an unthinkable part of the present day social paradigm.
36 Works Cited and Consulted
Primary Sources
Heller, Joseph. Catch 22 . London: Vintage, 2004. Print.
Secondary Sources
Blues, Thomas. “The Moral Structure of Catch 22.” Studies in the Novel 3.1 (1971): 64
79. JSTOR. Web. 5 January 2014.
Burhans, Clinton S. Jr. “Spindrift and the Sea: Structural Patterns and Unifying
Elements in Catch 22 .” Twentieth Century Literature 19.4 (1973): 239 250.
JSTOR . Web. 7 January 2014.
Carr, Patricia. “Revisiting the Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism:
Understanding the Relationship between Ethics and Enterprise.” Journal of
Business Ethics 47.1 (2003): 7 16. JSTOR . Web.
Garrett, Thomas M. Business Ethics . Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, 1966. Pdf.
Kennedy, Ellen J., and Lawton, Leigh. “Business Ethics in Fiction.” Journal of Business
Ethics 11.3 (March 1992): 187 195. JSTOR . Web. 9 March 2014.
McDonald, Paul. Humanities Insights: Reading Catch-22 . Penrith: Humanities Ebooks,
LLP, 2012. ProQuest . Web. 29 January 2014.
Milton, John. Paradise Lost . New York: Chelsea House, 1987. Print.
Pinsker, Sanford. “Reassessing Catch-22. ” The Sewanee Review 108.4 (2000): 602 610.
JSTOR . Web. 6 January 2014.
Ross, W. D. The Right and the Good . Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1930. Pdf.
Sennett, Richard. The Culture of the New Capitalism . New Haven: Yale University
Press, 2006. Digital File.
Swedberg, Richard, and Ola Agevall. The Max Weber Dictionary: Key Words and
Central Concepts . Stanford: Stanford Social Sciences, 2005. Print. 37 Thomas, W. K. “The Mythic Dimension of Catch-22. ” Texas Studies in Literature and
Language 15.1 (1973): 189 198. JSTOR . Web. 2 April 2014.
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38 Resumé (English)
The main aim of this thesis is to explore the contributions of Joseph Heller’s social satire represented by his novel Catch-22 , specifically by one of his most crucial characters, Milo Minderbinder. The main premise of this paper is that Milo serves as a unique probe that allows the reader to understand the origins and development of the capitalist ethos that still influences the modern Western society. Especially interesting are Milo’s inclinations towards utilitarianism and its ideology of flexible morals. The main body of this thesis is formed by three chapters, successively dealing with the origins, the development of the character and the threats of the modern capitalist ethics.
In relevance to this thesis, the most important of the number of the secondary sources employed by this paper are the works of Max Weber and Richard Sennett, crucial observations are also drawn from the essay by Patricia Carr. The most important point of this thesis is the claim that Heller provides the reader with the account of dangers connected with the utilitarian mentality that pervades in the present day society, represented by Milo Minderbinder’s transformation.
39 Resumé (Czech)
Hlavním cílem této práce je prozkoumat přínos společenské satiry Josepha
Hellera prostřednictvím jeho románu Catch-22 a především jedné z jeho nejdůležitějších postav, Mila Minderbindera. Hlavní předpoklad této práce je domněnka, že Milo slouží jako jedinečná sonda, umožňující čtenáři porozumět původu a vývoji kapitalistického étosu, který neustále ovlivňuje moderní západní společnost.
Obzvláště zajímavá je Milova inklinace k utilitarianizmu a jeho ideologii flexibilní morálky. Hlavní část této práce je tvořena třemi kapitolami, které se postupně zabývají původem, vývojem charakteru a hrozbami současné kapitalistické etiky. Z množství sekundárních zdrojů použitých v této práci jsou práce Maxe Webera a Richarda
Sennetta, zásadní poznatky jsou také vyvozeny z eseje Patricie Carrové. Nejdůležitějším bodem této bakalářské práce je tvrzení, že Heller nabízí čtenáři úvahu o nebezpečí, souvisejícím s prospěchářskou mentalitou, která prostupuje dnešní společností, tak jak je reprezentováno proměnou Mila Minderbindera.
40