Although the core of this chapter is serious, even grim, Heller still has some fun with military procedure and ironic hypocrisy. The operating room is in chaos, but the clerk and the gruff Colonel insist on proper regimen, no matter how meaningless. The system has also found an acceptable way to explain the attack on Yossarian. Chaplain Tappman reports that Yossarian is officially credited for risking his life to save Colonel Cathcart and Colonel Korn from a Nazi assassin. Yossarian tells the chaplain about the "deal," as well as the identity of the stalker, snickering sardonically at the irony of the official report's hypocrisy. Throughout the novel, the question of what is real — and what isn't — persists, especially in this chapter.
Ghosts of the past catch up with Yossarian after his own life is threatened. Some critics suggest that Nately's whore embodies Yossarian's conscience and that the assault, coming immediately after the captain sells out to Cathcart and Korn, is meant to symbolize an attack of guilt.
