Catherine Called Birdy, By Karen Cushman

George A. Sheehan once declared, “Success means having the courage, the determination, and the will to become the person you believe you were meant to be.” Believe in yourself and don’t let anyone change who you know you are.. In the novel Catherine Called Birdy, by Karen Cushman, a 14 year-old girl, Catherine, tries to escape her life to live as she pleases; instead of escape she uses courage and determination to make the best of it.

Catherine is taught to become a proper lady, but she does not feel the need to learn lady-tasks. Trying to become someone she is not, “I am thinking to run away and be a puppeteer at a fair” (99). Clearly, Catherine does not enjoy her life because she tries to be someone she is not. These lady-tasks are making

Catherine crazy; she does not even want to become married to one of her father's suitors. Tired and desperate to escape her chores, Catherine, “With my pricked fingers and tired eyes and sore back, I kicked my embroidery down the stairs to the hall, where the dogs fought and slobbered” (53). Exhausted from all of her lady-tasks, Catherine continues to do as she must and please her mother. Catherine tries helplessly to get out of doing her chores, but simply cannot find a way. Even when Catherine is overwhelmed with chores she uses courage to do as her mother and Morwenna wish; to become the lady that they have always wanted her to be.
Lord Rollo, Catherine’s father, sends suitors to meet his daughter, one of which is Shaggy Beard.

The man’s manners are awful, “He picks his teeth with his knife, and leaves wet greasy marks where he drinks from the cup” (86). This particular suitor does not capture Catherine’s attention as charming, but a greasy slob. After Catherine has gone through misery to become a young proper woman, she is introduced to a man she might marry with the worst manners. Not caring about Catherine’s thoughts, “Her mother and father don’t have great love for Murgaw the Shaggy Beard, but seems overcome by his title, wealth, and land” (98). No one cares about Catherine’s feelings of Murgaw the Shaggy Beard, and she is the one that would be shipped off to marry him. Catherine’s own two parents want her to marry such a beast for his position in the terms of wealth. Although Catherine does not enjoy Shaggy Beard, she notices that this is just how her life is going to

be.
Catherine cannot escape her life, but accept what it has given her.

An Old Jewish Woman expressed to Catherine, “Little Bird, in the world to come, you will not be asked ‘Why were you not George?” or ‘Why were you not Perkin?’ but ‘Why were you not Catherine?’” (13). Through the entire novel Catherine is trying to find someone else's life to live. The old woman told Catherine to be who she was made to be, not pretend to be someone else. Finally, Catherine recognizes, “I am who I am wherever I am” (162). Catherine realizes that she must be herself. As she travels or gets married, she is still the same person that she has always been. Towards the end of the novel, Catherine realizes that she has to cope with what life has brought her, and to make the best of it through courage and

determination.
Catherine does not enjoy her life of being sent to do lady-tasks, meeting with unpleasant suitors, and finding ways to escape her life. In the novel Catherine Called Birdy, by Karen Cushman, a 14 year-old girl, Catherine, tries to escape her life to live to do as she desires, but figures out there is no way to escape her life and makes it the best of what she can. George A. Sheehan announced, “Success means having the courage, the determination, and the will to become the person you believe you were meant to be.”