| “If we don’t go crazy once and while, we’ll all go crazy.” Hawkeye Pierce was known for his split-second jokes and uncanny ability to do the right thing in the worst of situations. He was a first-rate surgeon and a dedicated best friend. He was one person no one could live with, but they couldn’t live without him. He knew how to make someone laugh and how to make someone cry. Hawkeye was a fictional character, but most people felt like he was real. People felt Hawkeye’s pain. He was their everyday hero who they could relate to. Hawkeye was they undisputed leader of the 4077th M.A.S.H. Unit. Every time he said something people would listen. Though he was a bit demanding, and had a raging temper, he knew how to move people and gain their appreciation. Being chief surgeon, he had the operating room under his control and almost always knew what to do when no one else did. He never followed regulations and was about as far away as you could get from Regular Army. He hated to see people die and the war made him angry. He was a perfect figure for the antiwar movements during the Vietnam Era. I know Hawkeye was a great leader, but I don’t think he ever wanted to be. He was always trying to convince people he was worse than he really was. Hawkeye Pierce was a leader, a friend, a doctor, and a mentor, but I think there was something different about him. Hawkeye always had this strange aura about him. He always had this misty look in his eyes, like his mind was never there. His eyes were always darting about, too, like he was always thinking about something else. Maybe it was because he could never shake the fear of death. This fear plagued him so much that it caused him to go insane once. Hi head was always clouded with blood, with blood that covered his fingers everyday. With blood that spilled out forth from the wounded that he operated on. Hawkeye once said, “Everyone here is a cipher.” Everyone was except him. Hawkeye could never quite get into that “cipher” mode. Everything hit him hard. Every single bad thing that happened to him hung in his head and always sat there, ready to come back and haunt him. Most of the time he could hide behind the joking drunk that everyone knew and loved, but the war tormented human that he really was sneaked out a few times. Sidney Freeman always brought out the real Hawkeye, but could never quite understand him. “Anger turned inwards is depression. Anger turned sideways is Hawkeye.” I think that’s a pretty good description of Hawkeye. He always had contained anger, but he could never let him get depressed because he wouldn’t let the wounded die. That would be the last thing he would want to do. “Ours is not to question why, ours is not to let them die.” He may seem crazy, and maybe he is, but he’s probably the sanest one out of the bunch. He always seemed to see both sides of every situation and always did the best he could for the sake of everyone. He hated the war, but what same person didn’t? If only each one of us had a little Hawkeye in us. We could all be better people. (Though, we would also probably have to bring prohibition back into effect due to the amount of martini drinkers there would be.) “I'm not here for you to admire. I'm here to pull bodies out of a sausage grinder -- if possible, without going crazy. Period.” |
 |
| Hawkeye: The Unforgettable Character By Trapp |
 |