A single wooden chess pawn stands among fallen dominoes on a brown tabletop against an olive background.

Original artwork, not a still

Joseph Heller

The question is: what is a sane man to do in an insane society?

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

The question puts an ordinary wish to act sensibly inside a world described as mad. It leaves the answer open, making the mismatch itself the problem. Being clear-minded may offer little comfort when the surrounding society seems to demand something quite different.

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