If Yossarian's assault on Nurse Duckett, whom he barely knows at this point, is meant to be amusing, it presents a problem of interpretation unlike any other in the novel. Duckett is angular, ascetic, and proper. If Yossarian gave her a little tweak or even a pinch on the bottom, his behavior might be understood as that of a naughty little boy, an immature man who maybe needs to grow up a little. But what he does is, for many readers, disconcerting. As Nurse Duckett bends over to smooth the sheets, Yossarian slips his hand "stealthily into the narrow space between her knees and, all at once, brought it up swiftly under her dress as far as it would go." The nurse shrieks, squirms, vaults, and seesaws back and forth on what Heller calls "her divine fulcrum" for "almost a full fifteen seconds" before breaking free. With "an ashen, trembling face," she then backs into Dunbar who grabs her bosom from behind. Duckett breaks free but is again grabbed "by the snatch" by Yossarian, reducing the nurse to tears. Although Yossarian is a social rebel, this scene is a little hard to take. It sounds more like something that Aarfy would do. The assault gets Yossarian into analysis with Major Sanderson, resulting in some very funny exchanges; but it certainly has to alter our evaluation of the previously lovable protagonist. It is also disconcerting that Nurse Duckett proceeds to have an affair with Yossarian.
The dialogue between Yossarian and the psychiatrist plays on some of the stereotypes of Freudian analysis. Sanderson always is looking for some hidden meaning in what the patient says. The doctor offers Yossarian a cigarette. Yossarian declines. Immediately, Sanderson accuses Yossarian of having "a strong aversion to accepting a cigarette from me." The patient points out that he just finished one; it's still smoldering in the ashtray. "That's a very ingenious explanation," says Sanderson. "But I suppose we'll soon discover the true reason." Sanderson insists that the patient's name is Fortiori and that "Yossarian" and "Dunbar" are imaginary figures whom the patient blames for everything. Finally, the doctor believes he has his patient cornered. Sanderson asks if it has ever occurred to the patient that he is promiscuous because he is "merely trying to assuage [his] subconscious fears of sexual impotence.
"Yes, sir, it has," answers Yossarian.
"Then why do you do it?
"To assuage my fears of sexual impotence."
