Why was Dunbar Disapeared?

[Holden]

So, why was Dunbar disappeared?

[Adam]

I can only tell you if you already know, if you don't know, I'm not allowed to tell you.

[JinSoo]

That Joseph Heller disappeared him must be the best answer I can give.

[Raphael]

Adam wrote: "I can only tell you if you already know, if you don't know, I'm not allowed to tell you."

lol exactly!

[Holden]

Okay... all jokes aside, was there something he was doing that made him worthy of being disappeared? What does it add to the story?

[JinSoo]

I was not joking. By not adding the reason, Heller added frustration. For the sake of the theme, someone had to disappear from Yossarian with another reason. So, Dunbar had to go; instead of an original reason, with no reason, which was actually very effective. Regarding the relation with the whole plot, I guess Dunbar surely did something that would get him disappeared. I cannot pick what it is, but he surely did.

[Philip]

There was a catch!

[Xiang]

I couldn't find an obvious reason either. I think that was a kind of deliberate absurdist writing by Heller. Just as in Kafka's Castle, bad things happened to them for no reason at all. In this case we can just interpret it as a senseless and ridiculous decision by the military, in the same vein as many other things they've done. That highlights the absurdity of the whole affair pretty well, maybe even better than giving an actual reason.