Chapter 23
Chapter 23 – Nately’s Old Man
In Rome, Nately has succeeded in tracking down the prostitute with whom he is in love. Unfortunately, she has no interest in him and will only spend time with him if he pays her. The girl leads Nately, Yossarian, Dunbar, Aarfy, and Hungry Joe to a house full of beautiful, naked prostitutes. While the rest of the men pair off with girls, Nately becomes involved in an argument with the lecherous old man who runs the brothel. The man suggests that America will lose the war because they are winning it. Whenever countries win wars, they only get into trouble; whereas if they lose wars, they will do well. As proof, he points out that while American and German soldiers are still dying, Italian soldiers no longer are. This, he says, is “doing well.”
Nately becomes enraged because he can’t fight this “Catch-22” logic, and because the man reminds him of his father (but is nothing at all like his father). Later in the argument, it becomes clear that the old man, trying to demonstrate his pro-American zeal when the city was liberated, threw a flower into the eye of Major ---------- de Coverly. This only enrages Nately more, because Major --------- de Coverly is now missing, having run off to Bologna as soon as Yossarian moved up the bomb line on the intelligence map.
Nately spends the rest of the time in Rome chasing after the prostitute who doesn’t like him, and buying her kid sister ice cream. He also reflects on the irony that his father placed him in the air corps so that he would not see combat, not get into trouble, and maintain the high standards of behavior that the Nately family stood for. Nevertheless, here he is in an Italian brothel drinking, smoking, and sleeping with prostitutes.
