Chapter 25 - 27
The chaplain is terrified of everyone, from his own assistant to the enlisted men he is sure are laughing at him. Nonetheless, he wants to help Yossarian, who, along with Dunbar, goes with him to the officers' club and treats him like a normal person. He is a normal person who misses his wife and children, but he is also a chaplain, so the men are awkward with him. Now, he is losing his faith in God, and that makes him feel even more lost and meaningless. The only thing that retains his faith is the vision he had of a naked man in a tree at Snowden's funeral, which might just be a revelation. He also thinks he might have heard a prophecy when he met Flume, who is patiently living in the woods while waiting for Chief White Halfoat to die of pneumonia.
The text finally explains how Nately met his prostitute. She came to the officer's apartment in Rome to offer her services, but they had a lot of women who were free around and turned her down. Nately fell in love with her then.
Yossarian is wounded because Aarfy gets lost and they are hit with anti-aircraft fire. While he is in the hospital with a leg wound, he convinces a psychiatrist that he is crazy and should be sent home. Unfortunately, the psychiatrist thinks he is someone else and sends the other man home. Yossarian goes back into battle.
Analysis
The chaplain's faith in God is only maintained by his belief that he has seen a vision and heard a prophecy. But the prophecy is just Flume being afraid of Chief White Halfoat. The vision is actually Yossarian, who is naked because he has lost all belief in the army. The chaplain's faith is built on two ridiculous incidents, showing that faith in an abstract God or any other abstract ideal is silly.
The chaplain's faith makes him a good man. He wants to help. However, in this book, it is the self-serving and ambitious men who get ahead and succeed. Yossarian's comment about ex-PFC Wintergreen underscores this point. "He won't help anybody. That's one of the reasons he'll go far" (312).
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