Yossarian's behavior is outrageous, because he (and everyone else in the camp) is insane or is trying to act insane. Yossarian is a pilot, who doesn't care about completing the mission or the safety of others. Yossarian only cares about staying alive, because he believes someone is always trying to kill him. In a way, Yossarian is correct because he is in a war. Yossarian and the others are always trying to out crazy each other. In many parts in the book, Yossarian and Clevinger argue about whether they are insane or not, when in reality are just contributing to the fact that they are both insane. According to this quote from Catch-22, there is a logical reason for why everyone in the camp is so crazy, "There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one's own safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn't, but if he was sane, he had to fly them. If he flew them, he was crazy and didn't have to; but if he didn't want to, he was sane and had to. Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle" (247). This Catch in the military's rule code basically says that insane people must fly, because if they ask to be grounded (kept from flying) they must be sane. This is because asking to be grounded is a rational decision, meaning that you must be able to think rationally. On top of this to get out of the war you have to fly a specific amount of missions, but everytime someone gets close to completing their missions, the amount of missions is raised. This makes it impossible to keep from flying, unless you are sick or injured. How can you keep from going crazy when you get put involuntarily into the military, and you don't even have an option to go back home?
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