American society has been directly affected and influenced by the effects of the Cold war, changing the way it has percieved nationalism, patriotism, and heroism in the 20 th century. The American people have become mere sceptical about the honour that supposedly comes with sacrifice and selflessness for the sake of the country. The citizen's disillusionment also led to the development of black humour in American society. One of the most reowned authors of this genre is Joseph heller. This essay demonstrates how Heller uses this technique of black humour to reinforce the themes in his two novels,Catch 22 and Something Happened. The essay also discusses how the author by using this technique ilustrates the prevalence of immorality and irrationality as one of the feutures of his characters in the two novels. Heller's characters are created in order to mirror and entice readers to contemplate the path which American society is going.