Life During Wartime

Joseph Heller portrays the men in the army hospital to be dishonest and deceitful (misleading) because he wanted to show the true image of the soldiers. Heller wanted others to see in their perspective that they're all not brave, courageous, and noble but he gave them more human traits that show that not everything is picture-perfect for the heroes. The fact that the actions that are being described are the opposite of satire (which is basically anger and resentment channeled into humor) shows that he sort of wants to change everyone's perspective on war and soldiers in general. In one example, Yossarian feels sorry that he and the chaplain have a mutual friend because that means that he actually has to continue the conversation and they have something that they can actually talk about -- and he doesn't really want that. This makes sense, in a way, because he criticizes and draws attention to something so that we can improve it (see the whole picture). Such as in situations where they're trying to pick up any of the nurses, getting out of their jobs, or just teasing and torturing each other for fun makes it all seem more authentic. The author includes dialogue that is mundane (ordinary) because he wants to portray it as a simple conversation that we're listening in on, and a lot of conversations can be awkward.