Using Language and Dialogue Catch-22“Catch-22 is probably best discussed in terms of language. The prose style used by Heller is original and distinctive, appropriate and well implemented (Pearson 277).” One application of that prose style is dialogue; Heller uses dialogue to manifest the themes of the novel. Some of the themes best shown in the characters' dialogue are Heller's hatred of war and his perceived idiocy in the military and bureaucracy. Scattered throughout the book are several dialogues that share numerous characteristics. Some particular conversations are particularly demonstrative of these elements. Heller uses these dialogues to communicate his ideas to the reader. In Chapter XXXVI, several military police officers take the camp chaplain, take him to the cellar and interrogate him. The dialogue between the three MPs and the chaplain is typical of dialogue throughout the book in many ways, and the conversation reflects several central themes of Catch-22. The interrogation scene offers many insights into the meaning of Catch-22, and the dialogue contained therein is particularly important. The field Heller describes is bureaucratic in the worst way, and the conversation displays those characteristics of bureaucracy that Heller detests most: illogical operations, inability to act, lateral actions (in which no real gain is achieved), and a vortex of regulations that work against each other. One way in which the interrogation scene mirrors the book's themes is that the logic employed by the military police officers is completely illogical. Heller presents this as one of the main themes of his novel: throughout the book, the thought processes of the military agents make no sense and yet... in the middle of the paper... ph Heller": Copyright 1996 by Charles Scribner's and Sons New York, NY.Frank, Mike. "Enos and Thanatos in Catch-22." Contemporary Literary Criticism Ed. Roger Matuz. "Dramatic Tension in Catch-22." Contemporary Literary Criticism Matuz: Gale. 3. New York. Chelsea House Publishers, 1986. Heller, Joseph Catch-22: Dell Publishing, 1955, 1961 Kennard, Jean E. "Joseph Heller: At War with Absurdity." Ed. Roger Matuz Detroit: L Gale 1990. Pearson, Carol "Catch-22 and the Degradation of Language." Contemporary Literary Criticism (277) Detroit: L Gale 1990.