Thurber with ample material for his work.

Irony

The term "irony" refers to a contrast between appearance and reality, between what is expected and what actually occurs. Often, as seen in Thurber’s work, irony emerges from a grim sense of humor to convey a serious message.

It is ironic that Martin’s established reputation as a timid, quiet man allows his outrageous plan to succeed. To his boss and colleagues, the idea of Martin drinking, smoking, and saying "I’ll be coked to the gills when I bump that old buzzard off" seems absurd.

The main irony of the story lies in the title. It appears that Mrs. Barrows is the one "in the catbird seat." She has the president's ear, possesses mysterious feminine charms, and uses a strange language that Martin cannot comprehend. Yet, as the story unfolds, her strengths ultimately lead to her downfall.

In the end, Martin uses the title phrase as a weapon against the woman who taught it to him. Mrs. Barrows accuses him of "sticking your tongue out, saying you were sitting in the catbird seat because you thought no one would believe me when I told it!" She recognizes Martin’s plan, but is powerless to stop it; Mr. Fitweiler is convinced that Martin would never use such a phrase. Ironically, it is Martin, not Mrs. Barrows, who ends up in the catbird seat.

Imagery

The term "imagery" refers to the use of descriptive language to create sensory experiences for the reader—but it can be much more than that. Images not only provide readers with a vivid picture of what something looks like but also convey a sense of what it is like.

For instance, Thurber employs vivid animal imagery to depict Mrs. Barrows. To Martin’s ears, she has a "quacking voice and braying laugh." She prances through the halls of F&S "like a circus horse." In her rage after confronting Mr. Fitweiler with her accusations, she brays, snorts, and bawls.

Thurber does not expect readers to consciously tally up the animal imagery and analyze which animal Mrs. Barrows most resembles. Instead, the intention and effect are subtle. Each animal image quietly follows the next, building in the reader’s mind, just as Mrs. Barrows’s numerous offenses build up in Martin’s. Subconsciously, the reader forms an impression of Mrs. Barrows as animal-like. By creating this distance between the reader and Mrs. Barrows, Thurber makes it seem less shocking—and more appropriate—that she should be "rubbed out."

In the Explicator (1982), Marilyn Underwood delves into the bird imagery within the story, highlighting how Thurber meticulously selects birds to enhance his characters. She notes that the catbird, a generally quiet bird that can be provoked, represents a specific character trait. Meanwhile, the sparrow (Mrs. Barrows) is known for intruding into the territories of other birds, and the martin, a variety of swallow, is linked to the formal and precise swallowtail coat that men used to wear.

This imagery supports and enriches the structures and meanings expressed more directly through the plot and dialogue. By layering these images, Thurber aims to provide a more immersive and nuanced experience for the reader.

The story also incorporates a series of football images to highlight scenes of conflict. Mrs. Barrows first encounters the company president at a party, where she assists him in escaping a drunken man who mistakenly believes Fitweiler is "a famous retired Middle Western football coach." By the end of this encounter, she has secured a position as a special advisor to the president. In the concluding scene, when an infuriated Mrs. Barrows charges at Martin, Thurber revisits the football theme: "Stockton, who had played a little football in high school, blocked Mrs. Barrows as she made for Mr. Martin." This scene culminates in Mrs. Barrows's dismissal.

Martin also has his moment of strength when he musters the courage to visit Mrs. Barrows's apartment. Upon hearing her loud greeting, "He rushed past her like a football tackle, bumping her." His initial plan is to kill her, relying on physical force to achieve victory. However, after only a few minutes in her apartment, he realizes that she appears "larger than he had thought" and decides to outsmart her instead of using brute strength.

By interconnecting these scenes with football imagery, Thurber highlights the contrast between Mrs. Barrows and Mr. Martin. Additionally, Mrs. Barrows's vivid expressions come from baseball, a sport Thurber avidly followed. While Mrs. Barrows appreciates baseball, Martin does not, underscoring the contrast between her "masculinity" and his "femininity."

Renowned for his humor, Thurber frequently uses irony to convey serious points in his fiction. "Irony" denotes a contrast between appearance and reality, or between what is expected and what actually occurs. For instance, in "The Catbird Seat," it is Martin's established image as a timid, quiet man that ironically enables his outrageous plan to succeed. To his boss and colleagues, the idea of Martin drinking, smoking, and saying "I'll be coked to the gills when I bump that old buzzard off" is absurd. The story’s central irony is also mirrored in its title. While Mrs. Barrows appears to be in a position of strength, having the president's ear and seemingly mysterious feminine charm, this very strength leads to her downfall. Ultimately, Martin uses the titular phrase against the woman who introduced it to him. Mrs. Barrows accuses him of "sticking your tongue out, saying you were sitting in the catbird seat, because you thought no one would believe me when I told it!" She understands Martin's scheme but cannot thwart it; Mr. Fitweiler is convinced Martin would never use such language. Ironically, it is Martin, not Mrs. Barrows, who ends up "sitting in the catbird seat."

In addition to irony, Thurber employs vivid imagery throughout the story. His adept use of this technique not only provides readers with a clear visual but also imparts a sense of experience. For example, he vividly describes Mrs. Barrows using animal imagery. To Martin, she possesses a "quacking voice and braying laugh." She moves through the F&S halls "like a circus horse." When enraged after confronting Mr. Fitweiler with her accusations, she brays, snorts, and bawls.

Thurber doesn't expect readers to consciously tally the animal imagery or analyze which animal Mrs. Barrows most resembles. Rather, the intention and effect are subtle. Each animal image quietly builds upon the previous one, forming in the reader’s mind as Mrs. Barrows’s numerous offenses accumulate in Martin’s. Subconsciously, readers perceive Mrs. Barrows as animal-like. By creating this distance between the reader and Mrs. Barrows, Thurber makes her eventual "rubbing out" seem less shocking and more appropriate.

In a 1982 article in the Explicator, Marilyn Underwood analyzed the bird imagery in the story and concluded that Thurber carefully selected his birds to enhance his characterizations. She noted that the catbird is typically quiet but can be provoked, while the sparrow (representing Mrs. Barrows) is known for encroaching on other birds' territories. Additionally, the martin, a type of swallow, is linked to the formal and precise swallowtail coat men used to wear. This imagery reinforces the story's structures and meanings, which are also conveyed more directly through the plot and dialogue. By incorporating multiple layers of imagery, Thurber enriches the reader's experience of the story.

The narrative also includes a series of football images, particularly in scenes where Thurber wants to highlight conflict. Mrs. Barrows first encounters the company president at a party, assisting him in evading a drunken man who mistakes Fitweiler for "a famous retired Middle Western football coach." By the end of this scene, she has become the president's special adviser. Near the story's conclusion, when an infuriated Mrs. Barrows charges at Martin, Thurber again uses football imagery: "Stockton, who had played a little football in high school, blocked Mrs. Barrows as she made for Mr. Martin." This scene culminates in Mrs. Barrows's dismissal.

Martin also experiences a brief moment of strength when he musters the courage to visit Mrs. Barrows's apartment. Upon hearing her loud greeting, "He rushed past her like a football tackle, bumping her." His initial plan is to kill her, relying on physical force to achieve his victory. However, after a few minutes in her apartment, he realizes not only that she appears "larger than he had thought," but also that he can outsmart her instead of using brute force.

By linking these three scenes with football imagery, Thurber highlights the differences between Mrs. Barrows and Mr. Martin. Notably, Mrs. Barrows's colorful expressions are drawn from baseball, a sport Thurber avidly followed. While Mrs. Barrows enjoys baseball, Martin does not, underscoring the contrast between her "masculinity" and his "femininity."

1. Conduct an interview with someone employed in a modern business office. How has the office environment evolved since Mr. Martin worked for F&S? What aspects have remained unchanged? Consider factors such as relationships between supervisors and staff, interactions among employees, and the procedures for hiring and firing.

2. Mr. Martin is unusual because he neither smokes nor drinks. Does the story ultimately depict Martin's abstinence as a weakness or a strength?

3. Research the psychological phenomenon known as the "persecution complex." Does Mr. Fitweiler's explanation for Mrs. Barrows's behavior seem credible?

4. Use two or three different Internet search engines to look up the phrase "catbird seat." How many distinct publication titles and product names include this phrase? Which of these uses appear to be based on an understanding of the phrase's origin?

5. If "The Catbird Seat" were set in the twenty-first century instead of 1942, who might take on the role of Red Barber? Identify a few well-known entertainment or sports figures who use distinctive language or have unique ways of expressing themselves. Provide an imitation of these unique traits.

First published in the November 14, 1942, issue of the New Yorker, "The Catbird Seat" was also included in Thurber's 1945 collection, The Thurber Carnival. Since its initial publication, the story has been featured in numerous anthologies for both high school and college students. The narrative follows a clash of personalities between the meticulous Erwin Martin, head of a filing department, and Ulgine Barrows, the firm's efficiency expert who poses a threat to Martin's orderly life. Using comic irony, Martin leverages his reputation as a meek and pleasant individual against the flamboyant Mrs. Barrows. Martin's character exemplifies what critics refer to as Thurber's "Little Man," an ordinary worker overwhelmed and worn down by life in twentieth-century America.

Thurber has often been compared to nineteenth-century humorist Mark Twain, but this comparison is more about their impact than any similarity in themes or styles. Nineteenth-century American humor typically featured rural or western heroes like Huck Finn, Davy Crockett, and Uncle Remus—shrewd country folk who compensated for their lack of formal education with "horse sense." A common trope in this humor was the embarrassment of the scheming "city slicker" who believed his education and sophistication would secure him victory in a contest or romance. When the New Yorker was founded in 1925, it aimed to present a new kind of humor that focused on urban life. The protagonists of this new humor were formally educated, spoke "proper" English, and worked in offices rather than on farms. This humor was distinct for another reason: whereas earlier humor celebrated the triumph of the pioneer spirit with its energy and cleverness, the new humor offered its heroes only hollow victories and isolation.

Though Thurber and his colleagues at the New Yorker did not create the genre of urban humor, they became its most significant contributors. Charles S. Holmes, in his introduction to Thurber: A Collection of Critical Essays, describes Thurber's protagonists as being lost in a modern world that lacks the stability of the past:

Trapped in a world of machines and gadgets that challenge his competence and threaten his sanity, a world of large organizations and mass-mindedness that threatens his individuality, and—most painfully—a world of aggressive women who threaten his masculine identity, he is forced to go underground, so to speak, and to fight back in small, secret ways.

Erwin Martin is more akin to the protagonists of Henry James's novels than to Mark Twain's wise folk heroes.

Another significant influence on writers in the early twentieth century was the growing understanding of human psychology, primarily derived from Sigmund Freud's work. Freud's writings, such as The Interpretation of Dreams (1900) and Three Contributions to the Sexual Theory (1905), were extensively read and discussed by both experts and the general public. Terms like "the unconscious" and "the Oedipus complex" entered American vernacular. Although Thurber dismissed many of Freud's ideas, including those in Wit and Its Relation to the Unconscious (1905) that suggest humor stems from uncontrollable impulses, he often used psychology and its misapplications as targets for his satire.

Thurber's first book, Is Sex Necessary? (1929), mocks Freud's theory—popularly interpreted—that an obsession with sex drives all human behavior. He also lampoons the numerous "pop psychology" books that emerged in the 1920s. In Let Your Mind Alone! (1937), Thurber parodies the self-help book genre. He suggests that the issue with modern popular psychology is its assumption that motivation and behavior are uniform across individuals.

In many respects, "The Catbird Seat" illustrates the shortcomings of popular Freudian psychology. Martin prevails because he is unique, his mind doesn't function as it supposedly should, and he knows he can rely on others to accept modern psychology as fact. When Mr. Fitweiler confronts Martin, his language is filled with pop psychology jargon: "Mrs. Barrows . . . has suffered a severe breakdown. It has taken the form of a persecution complex . . . It is the nature of these psychological diseases . . . to fix upon the least likely and most innocent party as the—uh—source of persecution."

Fitweiler has not reached this conclusion independently but with the assistance of his psychiatrist. After all, "these matters are not for the lay mind to grasp." The novelty of psychology and the rapidity with which people adopted it without fully understanding it provided Thurber with ample material for his work.

December 8, 1941: Following the unexpected Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States declares war on Japan, entering World War II. The conflict will persist until August 14, 1945.

Today: The United States is engaged in various international conflicts but has not officially declared war since 1941.

1941: The Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team wins the National League pennant but is defeated by the New York Yankees in the World Series. Red Barber serves as the baseball announcer for the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Today: The Dodgers now play in Los Angeles, having relocated in 1958. Most fans follow the games on television, which surged in popularity during the 1950s.

1940s: In metropolitan areas such as New York City, businessmen's outerwear typically includes gloves and formal hats, usually made of felt, featuring creased crowns and narrow brims that encircle the entire hat.

Today: Businessmen are generally seen without hats, except in extreme weather conditions.

1942: Despite women taking on manufacturing jobs previously held by men, relatively few work in office settings. Most of these businesswomen are unmarried, like Miss Paird and the seemingly single Mrs. Barrows. Women in influential roles are uncommon.

Today: Although sociologists have identified a ‘‘glass ceiling’’ that hinders many women from advancing to the highest ranks in large corporations, women are present at every business level.

As mentioned earlier, Thurber's writing is frequently likened to Mark Twain's. Although there are few stylistic resemblances between the two authors' works, their impact on American humor writing is commonly acknowledged.

Thurber delves into the dynamics between men and women in various other fictional pieces. One of his most renowned works on this subject is "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" (1939). This story revolves around Mitty, a meek man who escapes his wife's incessant nagging and other woes by fantasizing about himself as a hero. Another notable work by Thurber is The Thurber Carnival (1945), which is a compilation of over 100 stories and illustrations. This collection showcases the finest of his comedic creations from the 1930s and 1940s.

Wolfram Kandinsky narrated "The Catbird Seat," which was recorded on audiocassette in 1984. This recording is part of an unabridged version of The Thurber Carnival, produced and distributed by Books on Tape, Incorporated. In 1960, "The Catbird Seat" was adapted into a British feature film titled The Battle of the Sexes, with Peter Sellers playing the role of Mr. Martin. The film is not available on videocassette.

Narrated by Wolfram Kandinsky, "The Catbird Seat" was recorded on audiocassette in 1984. It is included in an unabridged reading of The Thurber Carnival, produced and distributed by Books on Tape, Incorporated.

"The Catbird Seat" was turned into a British feature film in 1960, titled The Battle of the Sexes, with Peter Sellers playing Mr. Martin. This film is not available on videocassette.

Sources

Benét, William Rose, "Carnival with Spectres," in the Saturday Review of Literature, February 3, 1945, p. 9.

Bier, Jesse, The Rise and Fall of American Humor, New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1968, p. 224.

Butcher, Fanny, "His Unique Art Reaches Wider Public," in Chicago Tribune Books, February 4, 1945, n.p.

Cowley, Malcolm, "James Thurber’s Dream Book," in the New Republic, March 12, 1945, pp. 362–363.

Dias, Earl J., "The Upside-Down World of Thurber’s ‘The Catbird Seat,’" in CEA Critic, February 1968, pp. 6–7.

Elias, Robert H., "James Thurber: The Primitive, the Innocent, and the Individual," in Thurber: A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by Charles S. Holmes, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1974, p. 97.

Holmes, Charles S., Introduction to Thurber: A Collection of Critical Essays, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1974, p. 4.

Kane, Thomas S., "A Note on the Chronology of ‘The Catbird Seat,’" in CEA Critic, April 1968, pp. 8–9.

Kenney, Catherine McGehee, Thurber’s Anatomy of Confusion, Hamden, CT: Archon Books, 1984, pp. 62, 148.

Morsberger, Robert E., James Thurber, New York: Twayne, 1964, n.p.

"On the Thurber Trail," in Times Literary Supplement, November 3, 1945, p. 520.

Underwood, Marylyn, "Thurber’s ‘The Catbird Seat,’" in Explicator, Summer 1982, pp. 49–50.

Further Reading

Bowden, Edwin T., James Thurber: A Bibliography, Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1968.
This essential reference catalogues every known piece written and illustrated by Thurber in books and periodicals, including translated works.

Kinney, Harrison, James Thurber: His Life and Times, New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1995.
Widely regarded as the definitive biography of Thurber.

Long, Robert Emmet, James Thurber, New York: Continuum Publishing, 1988.
Provides an overview of Thurber’s life and works, focusing more on common themes and contexts rather than individual pieces.

Morsberger, Robert E., James Thurber, New York: Twayne, 1964.
Published three years after Thurber’s passing, this was the first comprehensive study of his work and an initial serious effort to position Thurber among America’s literary greats.

Thurber, James, The Years with Ross, Boston: Atlantic Monthly Press, 1959.
A memoir detailing Thurber’s tenure at The New Yorker under the leadership of Harold Ross, who edited the magazine from its inception in 1925 until his death in 1951.

Toombs, Sarah Eleanora, James Thurber: An Annotated Bibliography of Criticism, New York: Garland, 1987.
A meticulously organized and comprehensive listing of over a thousand books, articles, and reviews discussing Thurber’s writings, illustrations, plays, and productions.