Yossarian and McWatt

Yossarian and McWatt form one of the most intense and contradictory relationships in the squadron. McWatt is Yossarian's regular pilot, the man he trusts most at the controls, yet McWatt's insouciant love of flying—his habit of buzzing Yossarian's tent in a low-flying B-25 and roaring over the beach where the men swim naked—fills Yossarian with a terror that borders on homicidal rage. McWatt is "the craziest combat man of them all probably, because he was perfectly sane and still did not mind the war." He whistles show tunes, sleeps between freshly pressed colored bedsheets, and treats each mission with a cheerful "Oh, well, what the hell." For Yossarian, who lives in constant dread of death, McWatt's carefree competence is both a lifeline and a provocation.

The Pilot and the Bombardier

McWatt flies Yossarian on the most dangerous missions, including the second bomb run over Ferrara where Yossarian kills Kraft and his crew, and the brutal mission to Bologna where the flak is so heavy that Yossarian screams evasive commands into the intercom. In the nose of the plane, Yossarian depends utterly on McWatt's reflexes: "Turn left hard!" he hollers, and McWatt responds instantly, flipping the plane over on one wing and wrenching it around in screaming turns. Yet even in these moments of shared survival, Yossarian resents McWatt's ease. After the Bologna mission, when Yossarian is trembling and exhausted, McWatt simply sings, "Oh, well, what the hell." The gap between their attitudes is unbridgeable.

The Training Flight and the Near-Murder

The breaking point comes on a routine training flight to break in a new bombardier. Instead of maintaining altitude after the practice bomb run, McWatt opens both engines and follows the falling terrain down, skimming over rocky rises and lashing branches of trees. Yossarian, petrified, crawls up to the flight deck and finds McWatt laughing joyfully. Yossarian slides both hands around McWatt's bare throat and squeezes. "Go up," he orders in a low, menacing voice, "or I'll kill you." McWatt cuts the motors back and climbs. Later, on the ground, McWatt looks at Yossarian with no friendliness and says, "Boy, you sure must be in pretty bad shape. You ought to go home." Yossarian, ashamed, creeps away. Yet McWatt's forgiveness comes quickly: he winks reassuringly and later digs his knuckles playfully into Yossarian's ribs, laughing, "Were you really going to kill me up there?" Yossarian grins and says no, but the question hangs between them.

The Beach and the Final Flight

Despite the tension, Yossarian and McWatt share a fragile peace on the beach, where McWatt occasionally joins Yossarian, Nurse Duckett, Nately, Dunbar, and Hungry Joe for cards. McWatt promises to stop buzzing Yossarian's tent, but he cannot resist buzzing the beach, roaring over the raft where Kid Sampson stands. One day, McWatt's plane comes blasting along the shoreline, and a propeller slices Kid Sampson half away. The plane circles and climbs. Yossarian runs shouting for McWatt to come down, but McWatt, knowing what he has done, flies into a mountain. Yossarian watches, helpless, as the plane disappears. McWatt's death is the final blow in a chain of losses that leaves Yossarian isolated and desperate.

Thematic Significance

The relationship between Yossarian and McWatt dramatizes the impossible position of the sane man in an insane war. McWatt is not a villain; he is a man who genuinely enjoys flying and does not understand Yossarian's terror. Yossarian, in turn, cannot make McWatt see that his joy is a form of death-wish. Their bond is a tragic mismatch: one man wants to live forever, the other does not mind dying. McWatt's suicide—a deliberate, graceful turn into a mountain—is the ultimate expression of his philosophy: "Oh, well, what the hell." For Yossarian, it is proof that the war will kill everyone he loves, one way or another.