catch-22 #5

Aarfy is a mess officer who is building a produce/food distribution organization around the Eastern Hemisphere. He signs contracts with Germany and anyone since he sees that everyone has a part in the profit, so no man can be excluded. We see Aarfy in two views, a provider, yet a traitor. He provides for the squadron mess halls, allowing them to have fine cuisine and exotic pastries, desserts, and fruits. However, we soon learn that he contracts a deal with the German forces to attack them.

The reason the audience is so displeased and furious at this turn of events is that he is the mess officer. He controls the food and therefore one of our life sustaining forces. When we think of dinner or dining we see it as a peaceful time of merriment and joy and at first Aarfy brings that to the squadron and we are rooting for him. But he then destroys the traditional view of eating with disgust. Joseph Heller most likely chose Aarfy as the mess officer to portray that in war, nothing is sacred anymore.