Abstract

Joseph Heller’s description of American airmen’s lives in Catch – 22 is the observation and critique of the American society in the 20th century. He describes in this famous novel a power field—Air Force squadron, which can be regarded as a micro totalitarian regime. All the soldiers here are woven in a big network by the power. They are monitored by an intangible eye all the time, just like the prisoners in a Panopticon, where the surveillance is permanent in its effects. Panopticon is one of the cores in Foucault’s Power Theory. Catch-22 can be considered as the tower in the panopticon which monitors the soldier consistently, and it also can be seen as the medium between authority and soldiers, and this relation reflects the second core of Foucault’s Power Theory—discourse. Panopticon and discourse, main points of power theory, together with institution, exert a great influence upon the soldiers. 

Keywords: power; Panopticon; discourse; institution; Catch-22

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1. Introduction 1

2. Literature Review2

3. Panopticism.3

3.1 Definition of Panopticism.3

3.2 Panopticism and Power.5

3.3 Panopticism and Catch-226

4. Discourse.8

4.1 Definition of Discourse.8

4.2 Discourse and Power9

4.3 Discourse and Catch-2210

5. Institution.11

5.1Definition of Institution .11

5.2 Institution and Power.12

5.3 Institution and Catch-2213

6. Conclusion15

Works Cited16