How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #19
Yossarian went to bed early for safety and soon dreamed that he was fleeing almost headlong down an endless wooden staircase, making a loud, staccato clatter with his heels. Then he woke up a little and realized someone was shooting at him with a machine gun. A tortured, terrified sob rose in his throat. His first thought was that Milo was attacking the squadron again, and he rolled off his cot to the floor and lay underneath in a trembling, praying ball, his heart thumping like a drop forge, his body bathed in a cold sweat. (34.2)
Yossarian's first reaction to fear is to curl up into a ball and pray for help. He has been victimized for so long that he no longer has the willpower or bravery to respond constructively to such terror.
Quote #20
Yossarian blazed with hatred and wrath when he saw he was the victim of an irresponsible joke that had destroyed his sleep and reduced him to a whimpering hulk. He wanted to kill, he wanted to murder. He was angrier than he had ever been before, angrier even than when he had slid his hands around McWatt's neck to strangle him…Yossarian felt resentment boil like acid inside him; they were endangering his life, the bastards! (34.3)
Yossarian's initial reaction to fear turns into implacable anger when he realizes he's become the butt of a joke. Shame of his fear blazes through him and becomes anger, enough to force him to desire blood. In his rage, he even punches his friend Nately in the face.
Quote #21
"Please make yourself comfortable, Chaplain, invited the colonel cordially, switching on a blinding spotlight and shooting it squarely into the chaplain's face. He placed a set of brass knuckles and a box of wooden matches on the table. "We want you to relax."
The chaplain's eyes bugged out incredulously. His teeth chattered and his limbs felt utterly without strength. He was powerless. They might do whatever they wished to him, he realized; these brutal men might beat him to death right there in the basement, and no one would intervene to save him…(36.29-30)
The colonel's words are at odds with his actions. Though he tells the chaplain not to fear, he lays out instruments of torture that inspire fear in him.