Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: When Yossarian is recuperating from being stabbed by Nately's whore, a strange, thin man appears in front of him and says, "We've got your pal, buddy." We never find out who he is, who he's referring to, or if he was even real or an anaesthetic-induced hallucination.
Hilarious in Hindsight: The inclusion of a character named Snowden, after Edward Snowden's leaking of the NSA's phone tap practices.
[...] and then there was Yossarian with the question that had no answer: 'Where are the Snowdens of yesteryear?' [...] Group Headquarters was alarmed, for there was no telling what people might find out once they felt free to ask whatever questions they wanted to. Colonel Cathcart sent Colonel Korn to stop it, and Colonel Korn succeeded with a rule governing the asking of questions. Colonel Korn's rule was a stroke of genius, Colonel Korn explained in his report to Colonel Cathcart. Under Colonel Korn's rule, the only people permitted to ask questions were those who never did.
Ho Yay: The first two lines of the novel: "It was love at first sight. The first time Yossarian saw the chaplain he fell madly in love with him."
Magnificent Bastard: Milo Minderbinder may be a mere mess officer, but he has connections all over the world and is—among other titles—mayor of an Italian city and imam of a Middle-Eastern country. Due to mastery of international import and export, including goods from Germany, and blatant pinching of various army supplies, even leaving stylish notes, he makes himself ludicrously rich, and becomes gradually even more of a capitalist wonder by turning his eye to private contracting with both the Allies and Axis. He eventually pulls off the amazing feat of bombing the regiment's own airfield for the Germans but easily avoids getting court-martialed due to his seemingly-unlimited funds. His only mistake is buying too much cotton from Egypt, but he takes care of that by convincing General Cathcart that the troops should be fine eating his excess cotton, provided they cover the cotton in chocolate sauce first.
Aarfy's rape and murder of Michaela, which is then ignored by the police.
Milo Minderbinder crosses it by trading the squadron's parachutes and replacing them with IOUs.
Vindicated by History: The book's anti-war and anti-bureaucratic tone was not relatable in the more conservative nature of 1961 America. It wasn't until the resistance towards The Vietnam War happened later in the decade did the subject matter begin to resonate among readers.
The Woobie: Major Major Major Major and, at some points, Yossarian. Also the Chaplain — poor worrywart.
The film
Cult Classic: The movie, which was not well received in its day.
Spiritual Adaptation: Despite being directed by noted director Mike Nichols, the movie felt more like it was directed by Stanley Kubrick, with a mix of the anti-war satire of Dr. Strangelove and the vulgarity in terms of dark satire, violence and sexual content of A Clockwork Orange. It's further helped by the film's use of Also sprach Zarathustra (which was famously featured in Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey) in one scene and the fact originallyGeorge C. Scott was offered the role of Colonel Cathcart, only to turn it down as it felt too similar to his past work on Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove.
Vindicated by History: The film was a box office failure, but has since become a cult favorite.
