This is the darkest chapter in the novel, a descent into hell that the author presents through an oppressive series of vivid descriptions. The scene with the old woman sets the tone of desolation and hopeless loss. (Heller especially liked the way that the 1970 film version depicted her conversation with Yossarian.) The madness of war has become terribly personal here. The prostitutes were turned out into the streets and the bordello wrecked because of a law called "Catch-22." Of course, the police did not have to show anyone the law called "Catch-22." Who says so? "Catch-22," the old woman says.
Yossarian is forced to proceed alone when Milo hears that there are sales of illegal tobacco in Rome. The entrepreneur is off to gather profits.
In a long, moving passage, Heller describes Yossarian's search through the city. He finds the horrors of man's inhumanity at every turn:
Nothing warped seemed bizarre any more in his strange, distorted surroundings. The tops of the sheer buildings slanted in weird, surrealistic perspective, and the street seemed tilted. . . . What a lousy earth! He wondered how many people were destitute that same night, . . . how many homes were shanties, . . . how many children were bullied, abused or abandoned."
