The Catbird Seat

Mr. Martin is the main character in “The Catbird Seat,” and while the story has a third-person narration, it is filtered through Mr. Martin’s perspective. Even so, it is hard to tell whether Mr. Martin’s loyalty is to Mr. Fitweiler, the company, or simply to the neurotic filing system he has created. What is certain, however, is that he must have things his way, and Mr. Fitweiler confirms more than once that Mr. Martin’s way is the best. Fitweiler describes Mr. Martin as “infallible.” In contrast, after Mr. Martin ousts her, Mrs. Barrows describes him as a “drab, ordinary little man” (4).

While the story is predominantly rendered through concrete detail—there is never any musing on abstract principles or emotion—the narrative derives its essential form and character from the inner life of Mr. Martin. Both the story’s comic spirit and the action of the plot depend on the protagonist’s abnormal interiority; the high-stakes war exists entirely inside Mr. Martin’s head. A significant portion of the story even takes place within the character’s protracted fantasy of himself as an attorney reviewing damning evidence. Counterintuitively, however, it is Mr. Martin’s lack of true imagination that defines him.