Mr. Erwin Martin, James Thurber's file clerk protagonist in The Catbird Seat, fits the stereotype of his occupation well. As head of the filing department at F&S, he is a well-respected and efficient employee. He is meek, introverted, socially isolated (he does not understand the current sports jargon of his day), and a teetotaler. In other words, he is a typical example of a Thurber protagonist: a submissive male who lets others, especially domineering women, walk all over him. It is just because he is a living stereotype that the story works so well. No one at F&S would ever guess that Mr. Martin has murder in his soul. Shortly after Mrs. Ulgine Barrows comes on board F&S as "a special adviser" to the president, Mr. Martin realizes that the
