The Catbird Seat

     The Catbird’s Seat is a short story written by James Thurber. This story talks about Mr. Erwin Martin, the head of the filing department in an F&S firm and developing protagonist of this story. Mr. Martin is described as a reliable, infallible, and polite man, but as the conflict of the story is revealed, his true character is uncovered. The climax of this story takes place in a city in the year, 1942. Mr. Martin believes that his employment position at the F&S firm could be at risk and so he decides to do whatever is needed to “rub out” the person who appears as a threat, Mrs. Ulgine Barrows. Mrs. Barrows appears to be the antagonist with an individual personality. Mr. Martin describes Mrs. Barrows as a woman with a “quacking voice and braying laugh” (p 207). Mr. Martin is also convinced that Mrs. Ulgine should be “charged with willful, blatant, and persistent attempts to destroy the efficiency and system of F&S” (p 208). Therefore Mr. Martin decides to scheme a plan to get rid of Mrs. Barrows once and for all.

     This story presents an external, Man vs. Society conflict. Mr. Martin clearly believes that Mrs. Ulgine “baits” him and he believes that she is not good for the firm. The angle from which this story is told is a third person limited omniscient perspective. The mood seems to be humorous as the obsessive compulsive Mr. Martin wants to rub out Mrs. Ulgine, without being caught in the act. 

     I really enjoyed this story, not every day roles are changed and we see an “old and frail” man taking over a “young and strong” woman. Mr. Martin is so determined and focused that he evens sounds childish in his attempts of getting rid of Mrs. Ulgine. I liked the way Thurber presents his story, as if it is a normal every day thing to scheme against one of your coworkers. I also liked how he makes his characters appear stereotypical although they are really developing.