Major Major

Maj. Major Major Major was the commander of Yossarian's squadron at Pianosa during World War II. He was named jokingly by his father as a young boy Major Major Major. When he was shipped overseas to Pianosa, he was promoted to Major, making him Major Major Major Major. He has been noted for being socially troubled and generally disliked by his peers, he has little to no friends and requested for his assistant, Sergeant Towser to only let people in his office when he wasn't there, and not let people in when he was there.

Early life
"Major Major had been born too late and too mediocre. Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them. With Major Major it had been all three."

- Catch-22, Ch. 9 Major Major has had “a difficult time from the start.” His mother died shortly after his birth, and his father named him Major Major Major. Major Major resembles Henry Fonda, a famous actor, and his father was a lazy farmer interested only in maximizing profit and minimizing work. Major Major has been a mediocrity all his life.

Major Major was an awkward child, disliked by other children and even by parents, who found he made them uncomfortable.

Education and Enlistment
Major Major majored in history in college, distinguishing himself in no way, then entered the Army, where he was promoted to Major through a glitch in a computer system. Once promoted, he remained a major, even though he had no military experience—no one saw fit to demote him. Major Major was thus a major even before he completed boot-camp with Lieutenant Scheisskopf, whom he outranked. When Major Duluth of the 27th Squadron was killed in action, Major Major was assigned by Cathcart to take his place, despite the fact that Major had only just arrived to Pianosa.

Squadron commander in Pianosa
Major Major, after hearing of the soldier forging “Washington Irving” at the bottom of censored letters, begins doing the same, to alleviate his boredom in his new position. Major Major is confused by his interactions with Major ___ de Coverley, a strange officer, neither his superior or inferior, whose only skills are playing horseshoes and booking rooms for officers’ rest-leave in foreign cities.

It is revealed, through one of the documents on Major Major’s desk, that a young soldier, assigned to group for only two hours, was killed in a mission over Orvieto. This soldier, it turns out, is the “dead man” in Yossarian’s tent—his things remain in the tent because he was never officially added to the group’s rolls before his death, thus he is not truly “dead” and his items cannot be removed.

Major Major realizes that the documents he has signed with the name “Washington Irving” do not return to him for further review. This makes less work for him, even though it means he has to lie to his superiors. A series of CID men, investigating Washington Irving, come to Major Major’s office, asking about the signatures. Major Major says he does not know anyone named Washington Irving or Irving Washington. It turns out that the CID men are also investigating each other, wondering if the other is in on the Washington Irving plot. Major Major, however, escapes their detection. The CID men believe Tappman, whose name was forged by Yossarian on one document, might be the true culprit.

Major Major begins wearing a disguise—large glasses and a fake mustache—in order to avoid detection when he is signing fake names to documents. He also wears this disguise to play basketball with other officers, who nevertheless recognize him and, in a scrum, beat him to the ground. Major Major returns to his office and cries at this mistreatment. He orders his assistant, Sergeant Towser, only to admit people to his office when he is not in; if he is in, no one may visit. Major Major tells Milo he wishes to take all meals in his trailer. When Flume attempts to tell Major Major about his fears regarding Chief White Halfoat, Major Major tells him he wants to slit Flume’s throat, and Flume, frightened, flees into the woods.

Yossarian manages one day to tackle Major Major while the major is briefly outside—otherwise no officers ever see him. Yossarian complains that the dead man’s items have not been removed from his tent. Yossarian also complains that Cathcart keeps raising the required number of bombing missions. Although Major Major seems to understand that Yossarian merely wants to avoid battle and protect himself, he repeats there’s nothing he can do to help Yossarian or thwart Cathcart’s orders.

Personality
"Even among men lacking all distinction he [Major Major] inevitably stood out as a man lacking more distinction than all the rest, and people who met him were always impressed by how unimpressive he was."

- Catch-22, Ch. 9 Major Major is stuck for life at a rank and in a role for which he is totally unsuited. His father gave him the odd name of Major Major Major, and an army computer was unable to see his name as anything but a rank. It promoted him to major while he was still in training camp. He was an embarrassment to Colonel Cathcart until a vacancy at the rank of major occurred in Cathcart's command. Timid and unable to relate to others, the major is not much of a leader. He doesn't know whether he is Major de Coverley's superior or de Coverley is his. He doesn't understand why Captain Black hates him so much that he won't even let him sign a loyalty oath. Once he disguises himself to hide his "sickly" resemblance to Henry Fonda so he can play basketball with the men who used to be his friends. But they batter him unmercifully to express their hatred of all officers. Finally the major becomes a recluse. He refuses to see anyone unless he is out, and he sneaks through a ditch to reach his trailer unseen. He finds relief in signing documents "Washington Irving," lying to government investigators, and then adopting the signature "John Milton." Only Yossarian is inventive enough to speak with him by blocking his usual exit--the window of his office. But the major will not help Yossarian because he cannot.

Trivia

 * Maj. Major was portrayed by Bob Newhart in Mike Nichols' 1970 film adaptation of the novel.
 * Maj. Major was portrayed by Lewis Pullman in the 2019 miniseries based on the novel. His promotion was to enable his attendance at the Group Leaders' Allocation and Requisition Procedural Advisory Board (GLARPAB) meetings.
 * Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Professor of Literature Alan Nadel observes that Maj. Major is "perhaps the exemplary null set in the novel". Everything about the character, he states, signifies nothing: The character's name is an empty repetition of "the name of authority". The character's promotion to squadron commander is meaningless. ("'You're the new squadron commander,' Colonel Cathcart had shouted rudely across the railroad ditch to him. 'But don't think it means anything, because it doesn't. All it means is that you're the new squadron commander.'")