James Thurber’s, The Catbird Seat narrates a story about Mr. Martin, a man who is a loyal employee at the company F&S. Mr. Martin begins to notice the increased layoffs and begins to worry about his fate. He decides to take drastic measures against Mrs. Barrows, the new supervisor, whom he sees as the culprit for the layoffs. Mr. Martin is perceived as a quiet, sexist, and weak masculine figure. While Mrs. Barrows is described as independent and outspoken, a combination he finds frustrating. This major character foil, along with the fear of being fired, caused the tension that led to Mr. Martin fantasizing to “rub out Mrs. Ulgine Barrows”(1). Due to the depiction of Mr. Martin as a methodical, weak, wise man it is demonstrated that it was not in his character to kill Mrs. Barrows.
The changes that were brought by Mrs. Barrows irritated and annoyed Mr. Martin. He had a daily routine, a routine which he would not change. Mr. Martin feels Mrs. Barrows as a menacing presence. She had come to alter and change his organized and structured world. Mr. Martin considered that Mrs. Barrows’ “willful, blatant, and persistent attempts destroyed the efficiency and system of F&S”(2). He feels threatened by Mrs. Barrows’ abrasive personality and is disturbed by her erratic behavior. Mr. Martin blames Mrs. Barrows for the disorder being caused at F&S. For example, she had fired several employees and even caused some employees to quit. Mr. Martin starts to become increasingly miserable and displeased with the many modifications that were brought by Mrs. Barrows and rather than speak up about his discomfort he begins to imagine and plan Mrs. Barrows being “rubbed out”.
It was Mr. Martin’s weak character that led to his dependency on his job at F&...
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...hodical and efficient way, one that was more consistent with his character.
When Mr. Martin feels that his job, an important part of his life, is threatened he, decides to take action. Mr. Martin even fictionalizes a trial in his head. Through this trial Mr. Martin rationalizes Mrs. Barrows’ death as a justified homicide he states, “Gentlemen of the jury, I demand the death penalty for this horrible person”(2). The contemplation and planning that Mr. Martin put into getting rid of Mrs. Barrows reflects his systematic, wise and weak character, yet the intent of the crime does not. Mr. Martin is an introverted and submissive person therefore, he simply searched for an easier and keener way to correct Mr. Fitweiler’s error. Thus, it is confirmed that Mr. Martin did not intend to kill Mrs. Barrows, but rather wanted to prevent the destruction of the routine he lived by.
This examination will look at the short story “Killings” by Andre Dubus and the main characters in the story. The story begins on a warm August day with the burial of Matt and Ruth Fowler’s youngest son Frank. Frank’s age: “twenty-one years, eight months, and four days” (Dubus 107). Attending the funeral were Matt, his wife Ruth, their adult children and spouses. Matt’s family is extremely distraught over the murder of their youngest son/brother, in their own way. There are implications of wanting to kill Richard Strout, the guy accused of being the murderer: “I should kill him” (107), as stated after the service. This comment is considered a fore-shadowing of what is to come in the thought progression of Matt and Ruth.
In the court room Mr. Hooks makes a point with the evidence he is given and testimonies by witnesses to prosecute Mr. Miyamoto. Mr. Hooks takes some drastic measures by using personal attacks and being prejudice towards the defendant to convince the jurors that Mr. Miyamoto is a killer. During the trail Alvin hooks b...
In Henry Slesar’s classic story “The Right Kind of House”, an old widow named Mrs. Grimes puts her tattered home up for sale with an asking price far more than it’s worth. Her real estate agent assumes she needs the money, living alone and all, but in reality, Mrs. Grimes has a complex plan to locate the man who murdered her son Michael, using the family house as bait. She then hopes to due justice to her son by ending the life of his assassin. Throughout this tale, Mrs. Grimes is best described as willing and clever, as she used her unconditional love for Michael and unsuspected intelligence as motivation to find and kill his murderer, putting herself in danger to succeed.
As well as how Martin suffers from his own dilemma and fears that his wife might cause to his social life and children due to her life consuming addiction.
The protagonist, Martin is supportive, old-fashioned, and a hard worker. Firstly, Martin is supportive, “It was hard to believe that your own son was not like you wanted him to be, but Martin thought sadly you couldn’t make him see, if he didn’t feel that way…” (200). Despite his wish for David to grow up and live on a farm, he somewhat accepts David’s wishes with a strong effort and is supportive of David. Secondly, Martin is old-fashioned, “Martin listened with sick wonder to this stranger who had been his son. The city… It’s there the days are the same.” (197). Martin reveals his feelings toward the city and his preference of the farm life rather than the city life. Thirdly, Martin is hard working, “The plowed land was here before us and it will last after us and our hands should be proud to work in it.” (194). Martin works hard like any other farmer, maintaining the farm and livestock everyday despite his old age. Therefore, the protagonist Martin is supportive, old-fashioned, and hard
The high ground is always desired in battle and serves many advantages as such. This location of benefit provides vision, command, and valor to its holder. Yet, regardless of the means of attaining this position, the owner rests easy in the chair of the catbird seat. Knowing full well that they may relieve some thought of agony over the upcoming battle. No throne of ease is described more vividly than James Thurber’s “The Catbird Seat”. And no means of revealing the deceit utilized to sit in the catbird seat is projected in a more uncanny way than Mark Twain’s “The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg”. Literary pieces as these, whose similarities and differences, reveal more than a humorous story. A symbolic life lesson about authority, deceit, and appearance are prevalent throughout both these works. Yet to the untrained eye, the average reader misses key insights that can apply to any power struggle.
William’s job as a salesman consisted of always leaving his family behind, and constantly going on business trips for weeks on end. William was the true definition of a workaholic. Sherman described, “He hated to leave, but he loved his work. He was a man, and men needed to work” (16). With him constantly leaving his family he knew he was an adequate husband, but he often wondered if he was a bad father to his child. Sherman describes, “During these mornings, he felt generic and violent, like some caveman leaving the fire to hunt animals in the cold and dark. Maybe his hands were smooth and clean, but he felt bloody” (26). These types of feelings led ...
In the play “Inherit the Wind” by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, the defense faces numerous societal injustices, which is why they never had a chance to win the case. One example of the town’s bias is presented through the town’s love for Matthew Harrison Brady. A second example is the extreme conformist and pious attitude of the town’s people. The last instance is the narrow-mindedness of the judge and the jury, which resulted in an unfair trial. In conclusion, the defense suffered through many unfair circumstances throughout the drama “Inherit the Wind.”
The saying “it’s a cruel world out there” is not far from reality in John Steinbeck’s, Of Mice and Men. The plot in the novel carries the reader through the world of two friends, Lennie and George, who have come to work as field hands at a ranch. Lennie, unfortunately, has a mental handicap, which forces George to keep a close eye on him. When Lennie accidentally kills Curley’s wife, the spouse to the boss’s hot-tempered son, George must put an end his friend’s life, in Lennie’s benefit. Steinbeck exposes the cruelty in the human existence through his use of the rhetorical devices foreshadowing, symbolism, and characterization.
The struggle the other characters face in telling Mrs. Mallard of the news of her husband's death is an important demonstration of their initial perception of her strength. Through careful use of diction, Mrs. Mallard is portrayed as dependent. In mentioning her "heart trouble" (12) Chopin suggests that Mrs. Mallard is fragile. Consequently, Josephine's character supports this misconception as she speaks of the accident in broken sentences, and Richards provides little in the way of benefiting the situation. In using excess caution in approaching the elderly woman, Mrs. Mallard is given little opportunity to exhibit her strength. Clearly the caution taken towards Mrs. Mallard is significant in that it shows the reader the perception others have of her. The initial description the author provides readers with creates a picture that Mrs. Mallard is on the brink of death.
Martin becomes frustrated knowing that he is not able to trust his own wife with any responsibilities around the house because of her intoxication, "If you could only realize how sick I am - how bad it is for all of us." He pleads with Emily and tries to calm her often, but underneath his calm and passive mask Martin’s fear and worry for his children causes him to despise Emily’s behavior. "His youth was being frittered away by a drunkard’s waste, his very manhood subtly undermined." Two events that worried Martin the most were when Emily was making cinnamon toast for the children, she accidentally used cayenne instead of cinnamon. Their son, Andy, took a bite of the toast and cried because it burned his mouth. The other mistake that Emily made was while bathing her baby, she dropped Marianne and cut the child’s fragile head on a table.
He stems from a relatively stable family but unfortunately struggles with many external factors that could explain his deviant behaviour. He is a reasonably good child with no past criminal history or contact with the police before this incident. However, He does have his moments of rebellious behaviour towards his father and his family. His father described him as being a rebellious youth at home when compared to his brother and sister, he often failed to obeyed house rules and acted in a manner which was both unacceptable and disrespectful. To further add to his bad behaviour he was heavily influenced by his peers. His father also stated that he was far more focused on his friends around his neighbourhood as opposed to his studies. In summary, Martin was severely affected by his external factors such as his family disagreement, peers, and community influence had a considerable impact in shaping his current attitude towards law an
Chinese novelist Mo Yan once said the following: “One of the biggest problems in literature is the lack of subtlety.” But trends tend to prove otherwise. In Harper Lee’s novel “To Kill A Mockingbird”, which is often regard the best american novel ever written, subtlety is found rarely throughout. Whether it be in her characterization or allegory she fails to leave the reader with a shred of doubt about what or who she is talking about, through her incessant circumlocution, if it can be called that, she delivers a vivid and redundant recount of events through the eyes of a young Jean Louise “Scout” Finch. If a section of the story (which encompass numerous almost unrelated shorter stories) were to be taken and examined, The Trial (chapters 17-22) would prove the most fruitful, and so it will serve as the subject of this essay.
Along with remarriage and the responsibility of a daughter, Henchard also adopts a work associate. Donald Farfrae, a young Scottish man, is appointed manager of Henchard’s dwindling corn business. In this point of the novel, the character development of Michael Henchard is proved through every outwardly observable aspect. Henchard holds postion of mayor, rekindles his marriage, and gains a friend. Alas this prosperity for Michael Henchard is not permanent. Although the managing skills of Donald Farfrae allow for a revival of Henchard’s corn business, Farfrae’s interest in becoming mayor drive the two apart. Henchard displays immense insecurity as he reverts to old habits and dismisses his colleague, Farfrae, despite the tremendous help he has provided Henchard with both his business as well as his well-being. This tendency is not odd though, Henchard also disowns his daughter, Elizabeth-Jane, for a similar reason. When Henchard is given the upsetting news of his daughter’s biological origins, he can no longer tolerate her presence in his household. Feeling as if he holds no importance in Elizabeth-Jane’s life, he lets insecurity and self-pity take control. Although Elizabeth-Jane was all Henchard had left after his wife’s death, the thought of caring for another man’s daughter was too much for Henchard to bear. Elizabeth-Jane eventually slipped out of Henchard’s life just as she had before that night at the furmity
...fe permission to have an affair the only person in his life that paid any attention to him was Mrs. Bolton. He began to feel a genuine connection with her but from her perspective she despised everything Clifford represented because of the death of her husband. Hoping to change Clifford’s interest in the miners she began to share gossip about the town and hoped Clifford to begin to feel entitled to help out. Unfortunately that backfired because it reinforced the fact that Clifford had power all along. “Clifford began to take a new interest in the mines. He began to feel he belonged. A new sort of self assertion came into him. It was a new sense of power, something he had till now shrunk from with dread” (Lawrence 110). With industrialism there can never be two people from two distinct opposite classes being able to relate, there is always one that has more power.