by Adrit Batra 4 years ago
268
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Yossarian uses his unique skills of trickery and deception in order to not fly missions and protect himself from being killed on the battlefield.
Often times, tricksters will go to any length to be able to accomplish what they desire
This is similar to the character Fred and George, who go as far as to put on an indoor fireworks when they are trying to force an evil professor out of Hogwarts
Yossarian fakes that his communication systems are not working, he moves the bombing line to indicate that other squadrons have already bombed the target and gives his squadron food poisioning just to avoid having to fly his airplane
It is common for certain tricksters to use their tricks out of desperation and/or the situation that he/she is in.
This is similar to the character of Aladdin who uses his trickery in order to steal food so that he can survive and not starve to death
Yossarian has to use trickery and deception because he is paranoid about dying and tries to avoid taking missions for this reason. Additionally he is made to fly much greater number of missions that he wants to, instead of being able to go back home, which he wants to do.
In this case, the wise old man who meets Nately in Rome tells him that the US will lose the war, and that Italy would win instead, the man tells him that Italy is winning the war because fewer Italian soldiers are dying as compared to soldiers elsewhere. Proves to Nately that Italy has always been weak and so it has been taken over, without a fight, and so lesser people die and Italy continues to survive
It is common in movies, television shows and literature that the wise old man is only there for a short period of time, after which he is no longer there as he serves no purpose in the story.
This is similar to the character of Master Oogway in the movie series "Kung Fu Panda", who appears for a limited amount of time as he convinces his counterpart Master Shifu to have faith in Poe the Panda to be the so called "Dragon Warrior" and defeat the antagonist of the story.
The old man is only present in the story when Nately is in Rome, taking time off, after which he isn't seen again
The archetype of a"wise old man" is such that the advice or guidance that he offers is sometimes unwanted or not acted upon, the first time when they receive it.
This is similar to the character of Gandalf in the book "The Hobbit" who tries to force the Hobbit to come on an adventure due to his family heritage. The Hobbit however, chooses not to at first.
In this case Nately thinks that the old man is crazy because of the blind patriotism he has for his country and what it stands for. Additionally, the old man reminds Nately of his own father who thought that America was weak and that they would lose the war
This is similar to the story of Elton John in the movie "Rocketman" where Elton has very few actual friends once he has become one of the biggest stars on the planet. Elton becomes unhappy and becomes an alocholic.
This is similar to the story of the main character in the movie, "The Greatest Showman", where he goes from being the son of a handyman to the CEO of a large circus, making a lot of money.
