De La Salle Senior English / Sr. Pat

THE CATBIRD SEAT—NOTES

BY JAMES THURBER

JAMES THURBER
 BORN 1894 IN COLUMBUS, OHIO
 DIED 1961
 HE PRODUCED NOVELS, STORIES, PLAYS AND DOODLE DRAWINGS.
 HIS FAILING EYESIGHT FORCED HIM TO GIVE UP HIS DRAWINGS.
 FOR THE LAST YEARS OF HIS LIFE HE WAS TOTALLY BLIND.
THEMES AND MEANINGS
 HIS SHORT STORIES ARE AN ACCOUNT OF THE ONGOING WAR BETWEEN THE SEXES.
 THURBER’S WOMEN SEEM TO HAVE THE ODDS ON THEIR SIDE.
 THE ONLY THING THAT WILL BRING VICTORY TO THE MALE IS HIS IMAGINATION.
IN THE BATTLE BETWEEN THE SEXES EACH SIDE USES CHARACTERISTIC WEAPONS.

MRS. ULGINE BARROWS IS THE ANTAGONIST.
SHE HAS GOTTEN HER JOB THROUGH USE OF STRENGTH AND SEX APPEAL.

THE BOSS, MR. FITWEILER, IS COMMITTED TO HER AND GIVES HER COMPLETE CONTROL . HE IS COMPLETELY AT HER MERCY.
MR. MARTIN IS THE MAIN CHARACTER.
 AT FIRST HE THINKS TO DESTROY HER BY BRUTE FORCE.
 HE REALIZES VIOLENCE IS NOT HIS BEST WEAPON, HE CANNOT BEAT THE HEFTY, STRONG MRS. BARROWS.
 HIS IMAGINATION CAN DEFEAT HER
 HE BECOMES ANOTHER PERSON REVEALING THIS PERSONALITY ONLY TO MRS. BARROWS.
SHE IS TRAPPED WITHIN THIS LIE AND SHE IS INTERPRETED AS MAD.

MR. MARTIN’S SELF-DISCIPLINE WILL NEVER REVEAL HIS SECRET SELF.

TO THURBER WOMEN ARE THE STRONGER SEX.

MEN WILL TRIUMPH OVER WOMEN IF THEY USE CRAFTINESS, IMAGINATION, AND THE ABILITY TO KEEP A SECRET.

The author is a short story writer, cartoonist, wrote essays and dramas. He is also considered a humorist.

• He satirized the events of middle-class life and relations between the sexes.

• The stereotypical Thurber man is bewildered and beset by the world’s mundane woes.

• He sees women as winning the battle of the sexes—but sets out to achieve secretly a compensatory victory.

• In “The Catbird Seat” Martin, the main character, is considered an exception in Thurber’s world.

• “The Catbird Seat” explores the myth of the submissive man at the mercy of the dominating woman.

• Mrs. Barrows and Mr. Martin are contrasted throughout the story.

• She is athletic and loud—he is more submissive and less competitive.

• She attacks his very being by ridiculing his self-perceptions,frugality and efficiency in the filing department.

• His ultimate goal becomes how to get Mrs. Barrows out of his precious filing department.

• Mr. Martin feels that intellect will always overcome brute force.

• His mode of attack is based on his reputation and Mrs. Barrows reputations at F&S.

• When Mr. Martin goes to Mrs. Barrows house to kill her—she thinks he is there to seduce her and acts as if she is on a date.
• After his visit to Mrs. Barrows—Mr. Martin tells her that he sitting in the Catbird Seat.

• Mrs. Barrows, reporting all to Mr. Fitweiler, the boss, looks like she has lost her mind and is escorted out of the building.


HOMEWORK: DUE THE DAY AFTER WE COMPLETE THE STORY.

THE CATBIRD SEAT by James Thurber

A. Write a sentence using each of the following words. Sentences must reflect the story.


1. cunning
2. oxcart
3. rampage
4. edifice
5. substantiate

B. Briefly answer the following questions.

1. Thurber’s tone is set forth in the first two paragraphs of the story. How would you describe it? Why?
2. What is Martin’s job? Is he successful at it? How do you know? Quote the line.
3. Why does Martin dislike Mrs. Barrows?
4. Does he feel threatened by her? If so, discuss. (P. 325)
5. For what is Martin especially commended by his employer (p. 325)?
6. What does Martin mean when he says that if he couldn’t “rub out” Mrs. Barrows, he would have to place “the rubbing-out of Ulgine Barrows in the inactive file forever”?
7. What is Martin’s scheme when he goes to visit Mrs. Barrows’ apartment?
8. What actually happens, and what does Martin realize during their visit?
9. What comment does he make as he leaves?
10. What does his comment come to mean in terms of the story’s outcome? Explain.

C. If the italized word is used correctly, write “C”. If not, write “I”.

1. Mrs. Barrows screamed imprecations at Mr. Martin.
2. Some mushrooms are not to be edificed.
3. The storm last night was unruly.
4. She was appalled…
5. …by his obscene language.
6. Hot pink is a drab color.
7. Something that is ornate is not likely to be colorful or covered with decorations.
8. The angry boy went on a rampage and wrecked his room.

D. Write true or false for each of the following statements about the story.

1. Mr. Martin is head of the filing department at F&S.
2. Mrs. Barrows is a Dodger fan, according to an assistant.
3. Mr. Martin enjoys Mrs. Barrows’ visits to his office.
4. Before Mr. Martin visits Mrs. Barrows’ apartment, she appears to be “sitting in the catbird seat.”
5. His reason for visiting her is to discuss his filing system.
6. Mr. Martin enjoys drinking a Scotch-and-soda.
7. He also enjoys smoking Winston cigarettes.
8. Mr. Fitweiler fears that Mrs. Barrows suffers from a persecution complex.
9. At the end of the story Mr. Martin is dismissed from his position at F & S.

E. Briefly answer the following questions.

1. In one sentence, describe the main plot line of the story.




2. Describe Mr. Martin and his habits. What is unusual in his purchase of the pack of Camels? Why does he buy the cigarettes?




3. What qualities in Mrs. Barrows lead Mr. Martin to plot her murder? Why does he like the term “rub out”?





4. Describe Mrs. Barrows. What is the source of her strange verbal expressions that so annoy Mr. Martin, such as “Are you tearing up the pea patch”? and “Are you scraping around the bottom of the pickle barrel?”





5. Mr. Martin thinks of Mrs. Barrows, “She had begun chipping at the cornices of the firms’ edifice and now she was swinging at the foundation stones with a pickax.” What does he mean with this metaphor? Why does he see this as justification for murdering Mrs. Barrows?





6. Explain Mr. Martin’s movements on the day he plans to kill Mrs. Barrows. Why is he so careful to follow all of his usual routines?





7. Describe the humorous scene in Mrs. Barrows’s apartment. At what point during this scene does Mr. Martin think of a new way to eliminate Mrs. Barrows? What causes this change of plans?





8. Describe Mrs. Barrows’s reaction to Mr. Martin’s odd behavior. Does her behavior at the office the following day seem plausible to you?





9. What takes place in the interview between Mr. Martin and Mr. Fitweiler? Why is Mr. Fitweiler so nervous and apologetic?





10. What do we assume will be the fate of Mrs. Barrows at the end of the story? Why is the final sentence a fitting place to leave Mr. Martin?





11. Both Mr. Martin and Mrs. Barrows are one-dimensional characters who lack development and depth. They both possess only one or two prominent traits. One-dimensional characters are common in comedy. What trait does Thurber emphasize in Mrs. Barrows? In Mr. Martin? How do Mr. Martin’s habits complement these traits? In what ways are Mrs. Barrows and Mr. Martin opposites? Mr. Fitweiler is in some ways a stereotyped character, the typical boss. Explain how this is so.





12. The plot of “The Catbird Seat” turns on various clever ironies. In view of Mr. Martin’s character, what is incongruous about his decision to murder Mrs. Barrows? What is ironic and humorous about Mr. Martin’s behavior in Mrs. Barrow’s apartment? What is ironic about his language? Explain how the humor of the final scene of the story depends on incongruity. What is so ironic about the final turn of events?








13. Thurber liked to write humorously about the battle between the sexes. Often his pieces on this topic show a timid, contemplative man cunningly getting the better of an obnoxious, domineering woman. What does the expression “sitting in the catbird seat” mean? Explain how in the final scene Mr. Martin is sitting in the catbird seat. Why is his situation even better than what he had hoped for?