Yossarian's struggle with personal integrity is the result of Colonel Korn's offer of a discharge under certain conditions. After Cathcart has raised the required number of missions once too often, Yossarian refuses to take part in any more combat flights. He goes AWOL to Rome, is arrested, and is returned to Colonel Cathcart's office where Korn presents him with the option of returning home if only Yossarian will become a team player and support his commanding officers: "Be our pal," says Korn. "Say nice things about us here and back in the States." Yossarian selfishly accepts the deal even though he knows that he is betraying the other airmen: "If they don't want to fly more missions, let them stand up and do something about it the way I did. Right?" Colonel Korn, of course, concurs. But Yossarian is forced to reconsider.
After Nately's whore severely wounds Yossarian as he exits Cathcart's office, the captain is once more in the hospital. While there, he believes that he sees a strange figure who says to him, "We've got your pal, buddy. We've got your pal." Yossarian reflects on all of his pals who have been killed or who have disappeared during the war. He has a change of heart. When Chaplain Tappman reports that Yossarian's former tent mate, Orr, survived his crash in the sea and escaped to Sweden, Yossarian decides to join him. He will first go to Rome and find Nately's girlfriend's kid sister; together, they will somehow flee to Sweden.
Yossarian has changed — grown — during the course of the novel, but he is still an antihero. If anything, he has grown to hate war and clichés involving "heroism" even more than he did initially. He has grown brave enough to admit that he is a "coward" in military terms. He doesn't care about medals or honor or glory. Yossarian just wants to live his life, make a separate peace, and maybe help one lost kid to have a life also. Although he could have accepted the easy road home, Yossarian feels that he would have lost himself if he had gone along with the establishment. The way to find himself is to escape the control of people like Cathcart and Korn: "I'm not running away from my responsibilities," he says, as he is about to flee the hospital. "I'm running to them." Dodging one last assassination attempt by Nately's whore, Yossarian takes off for Rome and a new life.
