The Catbird Seat

997 Words4 Pages
I. In, “The Catbird Seat” by James Thurber, brilliant man is presented by the name of Mr. Martin. Mr. Martin is known to be a hardworking man that does not smoke or drink. He is a trusted individual who has work for the F&S firm for 22 years. Therefore, his boss Mr. Fitweiler has a lot of confidence in Mr. Martin. However, situations change when a women, by the name of Mrs. Barrows, is hired by Mr. Fitweiler. Mrs. Barrows is portrayed as an annoying person that keeps getting into Mr. Martin’s business. Her persistent annoyance leads Mr. Martin to plan out a way to rub her out. Morally, Mr. Martin’s plan is not correct but he does it anyways. Mr. Martin then pretends to be a smoker, drinker, and drug abuser in front of Mrs. Barrows to try to deceive her. Although his plan is clever his actions are not morally justified. Because Mr. Martin knows that if he pretends to act as a drug abuser, alcoholic, and smoker in front of Mrs. Barrows, she will go tell on him to their boss. Mr. Martin, however, is aware of the trust his boss has on him and knows that no one would believe her and in return his boss would think she needs psychological help and fire her. Even though Mr. Martin’s mischievous scheme is a success; it is not a moral action to use one’s good reputation to hurt an individual. II. Mr. Martin is constantly irritated by Mrs. Barrows and in return he wishes to get rid of her annoyance. A. A new staff member is added to the company by name of Mrs. Barrows. She is constantly annoying Mr. Martin by saying direct silly quotes which irritate Mr. Martin and in exchange he plans to get rid of her. B. "Are you lifting the oxcart out of the ditch?" (Thurber 192) C. Mrs. Barrows is constantly annoying Mr. Martin with bizarre unnecessary quotes. In this particular quote, Mrs. Barrows is criticizing Mr. Martin’s messy desk which is full of papers. These criticizing

More about The Catbird Seat

Open Document