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Doc Daneeka's overall purpose is to create satire on the corruption of medical profession and satire on bureaucratic depersonalization, as well as a theme of the overwhelming power of the bureaucracy.
There is an obvious fault in how Doc Daneeka's wife reacts to her husband's "death". Once she starts receiving money from the insurance company, Mrs. Daneeka turns a blind eye to her husband's pleading letter, caring more about the money and the attention she starts to receive from her friends' husbands.
According to CliffNotes, the situation is more comic than tragic, stating that "Doc Daneeka's 'death' is humorous but even closer to serious events; it also extends the satire beyond the war zone and into civilian life" (Catch-22).
"Doc Daneeka snorted scornfully. 'He thinks he's got troubles? What about me?' Doc Daneeka continue slowly with a gloomy sneer. 'Oh, I'm not complaining. I know there's a war on. I know a lot of people are going to have to suffer for us to win it. But why must I be one of them? Why don't they draft some of these old doctors who keep shooting their kissers off in public about what big sacrifices the medical game stands ready to make? I don't want to make sacrifices. I want to make dough" (Heller 41).
Heller uses Doc Daneeka to express satire on two different topics throughout the novel:
Doc Daneeka's conflict in the story is dealing with his "death". Doc Daneeka doens't deal very well with his situation, and besides writing a few letters to his wife, just gives up on himself. After a while, the doctor just comes to accept his "death", coming to believe that he really is dead. By doing this, he essentially admits that he is, after all, just another puppet of the bureaucracy.
Heller uses this satire to establish the theme of the seemingly overwhelming power of the bureaucracy.
According to SparkNotes, "One of the most terrifying aspects of Catch-22 is the fact that the lives and deaths of the men in Yossarian’s squadron are governed not by their own decisions concerning dangerous risks but by the decisions of an impersonal, frightening bureaucracy" (Catch-22).
The officials choose to ignore the fact that Doc Daneeka is right in front of their eyes, rather than having to deal with the paperwork.