FREE ESSAY ON THE CATBIRD SEAT

THE CATBIRD SEAT

The Catbird Seat
In "The Catbird Seat" Erwin Martin, a diligent employee of F & S for twenty-two years, is
driven insane by new co-worker, Ulgine Barrows. Mr. Martin is a very conservative man who
has never taken a drink or smoked in his life. Mr. Martin despises her "quacking" voice
and "braying" laugh. She is always asking him strange questions like, "are you lifting
the oxcart out of the ditch? Are you tearing up the pea patch?" He feels she is
attempting to destroy the efficiency and system of F & S. Another source of animosity is
that Mrs. Barrows is given the title of special adviser to the president of the firm, Mr.
Fitweiler. Mrs. Barrows is clearly not qualified for such a position, and only received
the job because Mr. Fitweiler likes her. Mr. Martin knows that Mrs. Barrows is about to
make some big changes to his department. He devises a scheme to kill Mrs. Barrows, and
mislead the investigation by leaving cigarette butts at the scene. On the evening that he
had planned to kill Mrs. Barrows, he walked to her house, very cautious of being seen by
someone who might recognize him. He rang the doorbell and she invited him inside. She
offered him a drink and he requested a scotch-and-soda. He searched for a weapon that he
could use to kill her, but he could not find anything that would get the job done. He was
a bit intimidated by the size of Mrs. Barrows and did not want to get into a physical
confrontation with her. Instead, he told her that he was a heroin user and had a plan to
kill Mr. Fitweiler. Upon her arrival at work the next day she immediately told Mr.
Fitweiler the whole story. Mr. Fitweiler assumed that she had lost her mind, and even
suggested that she see a psychiatrist. Mrs. Barrows was fired from her job and Mr. Martin
could not have been more pleased. Two important truths about life are illustrated in "The
Catbird Seat." From Mr. Martin we see that we do not really know a person unless we know
all of their thoughts. From Mrs. Barrows we see that if we make enough enemies someone
will eventually make us pay the price.