"Tell Him it ain't right for people to die when they're young. I mean it. Tell Him if they got to die at all, they got to die when they're old. I want you to tell Him that. I don't think He knows it ain't right, because He's supposed to be good and it's been going on for a long, long time."
pg. 186
Hmm. Simple, and true. The father's words to Yossarian (who he is halfway convinced is his dying son?) are part of a mystery that none of us will ever understand. I think it is also the author speaking out against the war in some way. He is speaking out against the death of young men. Yossarian cries because even though he is generally healthy, he thinks he will die as well someday soon, due to the war. It is so pointless, his work in the army. Obviously, he doesn't feel patriotism or duty. He feels scared, and he feels targeted. The only way for his sadness to end is for him to go home, if the silly major would stop extending his duty.
At the end of the chapter the mother said, "Dress warm" (pg. 186) and the narrator said "she seemed to know". I take this to mean one of two things. Either the mother knew that her son (not Yossarian) had sinned a good deal so was bound to end up in Hell, or she knew that this man really wasn't her son. If she knew this man really wasn't her son, she may have been speaking directly to Yossarian and telling him to dress warm because he (Yossarian) would be going to Hell for imitating her son on his death bed. I wonder.........
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