Summary — Chapter 11: Captain Black
Captain Black is pleased to hear that Colonel Cathcart
has volunteered the men for the lethal mission of bombing Bologna.
Captain Black hates the men and gloats about their terrifying, violent
task. He is extremely ambitious and had hoped to be promoted to
squadron commander, but when Major Major is picked over him, he lapses
into a deep depression, out of which the Bologna mission lifts him.
Captain Black tries to get revenge on Major Major by initiating the
Glorious Loyalty Oath Crusade, during which he forces all the men
to swear elaborate oaths of loyalty before doing basic things like
eating meals. He then refuses to let Major Major sign a loyalty oath
and hopes, thereby, to make him appear disloyal. The Glorious Loyalty
Oath Crusade is a major event in the camp until the fearsome Major
—— de Coverley puts an end to it by hollering “Gimme eat!” in the
mess hall without signing an oath.
Summary — Chapter 12: Bologna
It rains interminably before the Bologna mission, and
the bombing run is delayed. The men all hope it will never stop
raining. When it does, Yossarian moves the bomb line on the map
so that the commanding officers will think that Bologna has already
been captured. Yossarian also gives the entire squadron diarrhea
by poisoning the food so that they won’t have to fly. The rain then
starts again.
In the meantime, ex-P.F.C. Wintergreen
tries to sell Yossarian a cigarette lighter, going into competition
with Milo as a black-market trader. He is aghast that Milo has cornered
the entire world market for Egyptian cotton but is unable to sell
any of it. The men are terrified and miserable about having to bomb
Bologna. Clevinger and Yossarian argue about whether it is Yossarian’s
duty to bomb Bologna, and, by the middle of the second week of waiting,
everyone in the squadron is as emaciated as Hungry Joe.
One night, Yossarian, Nately, and Dunbar go for a drunken
drive with Chief White Halfoat; they crash a jeep and realize that
it has stopped raining. Back in the tents, Hungry Joe is trying
to shoot Huple’s cat, which has been giving him nightmares, and
the men force Hungry Joe to fight the cat fairly. The cat runs away,
and Hungry Joe is satisfied. When he goes back to sleep, however,
he has another nightmare about the cat.
Summary — Chapter 13: Major —— de Coverley
Major —— de Coverley is a daunting, majestic man with
a lion’s mane of white hair, an eagle’s gaze, and a transparent
eye patch. Everyone is afraid of him, and no one will talk to him.
His sole duty is traveling to major cities captured by the Americans
to rent rooms in which his men can take leave; he spends the rest
of his time playing horseshoes. Major —— de Coverley always manages
to be photographed with the first wave of American troops moving
into a city, a fact that perplexes both the enemy and the American
commanders. He seems to be a force of nature, and yet Yossarian
is able to fool him by moving the bomb line: Major —— de Coverley
has traveled to enemy-controlled Florence and has not yet returned. The
narrator relates that Milo once approached —— de Coverley on the
horseshoe range, successfully requesting authorization to import
eggs on Air Force planes.
We also learn that Colonel Cathcart had attempted to give
Yossarian a medal some time earlier. When Yossarian was brave, he
had circled over a target twice in order to hit it, and, on the
second pass, Kraft, a younger pilot from the division, had been
killed by shrapnel. Not knowing how to rebuke Yossarian for his
foolhardiness, the authorities decided to stave off criticism by
giving him a medal.
