When he hears that the number of missions has been raised to forty (he has thirty-two after Bologna), Yossarian goes directly from Rome to the base hospital on Pianosa. These two chapters consider several of his hospital stays—including the one that opens the novel—but not in chronological order. Although the soldier in white has been thoroughly discussed in Chapter 1, the character is brought back as an important element in Yossarian’s hospital experience; the warrior precipitates a discussion of “justice” among several of the patients. As a recruit in training at Lowery Field in Colorado, at the beginning of Chapter 18, then-Private Yossarian discovers the possibilities for refuge in a military hospital as he enjoys Thanksgiving there. He vows to spend every Thanksgiving in a hospital but breaks his promise the next year (1943) when he engages in intellectual conversation, among other things, in a hotel room with Lieutenant Scheisskopf’s wife. Time returns to the previous year as he considers lengthening his hospital stay by emulating a soldier who sees everything twice; he ultimately decides that this is not such a good idea.
