Major Major

Discuss the Major Major Major Major's traumatizing childhood, and how it leads to who he is now.

Major Major Major Major is the way he is, because of his childhood. Major Major is a member of Yossarian's unit on Pianosa. He is the rank Major and his first, middle, and last name are Major. This is because of his father's sick sense of humor when Major was named and an error from an IBM machine that caused his rank to be so high. Major's name has caused him many problems in the military and in life. The narrator describes him as a very unimpressive, mediocre guy. “Major Major had been born too late and too mediocre. Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them. With Major Major it had been all three. Even among men lacking all distinction he inevitably stood out as a man lacking more distinction than all the rest, and people who met him were always impressed by how unimpressive he was” (475). Major Major lived a life of mediocrity and blandness. Throughout his whole life he has been questioned and judged. Major was only once close to making friends in his time in the army, and this was ruined when he was promoted to squad commander. Imagine of Major Major's name had been anything but what it is now. He wouldn't have been immediately promoted to major or have lived a socially awkward life. A life that can only lead to mediocrity caused by a father's joke. )