A Deconstruction of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Essay

” The 18-year-old girl dreams of attending college, and in her family, “no one in her family goes to college (“Where Dreams Come From”, stanza 2, line 7).” She wants to have a proper education and become a figure in the real world. Her family is sitting on the sidelines of civilization and she is sick of that fact. That household is aware of this; nonetheless, she still is not allowed to leave. Walter Mitty is no different. His wife is domineering and infuriating, as she constantly admonishes him and tells him he is doing everything incorrect. For instance, when Mitty accidentally speed up his Buick, his wife screeched at him that, “he was driving too fast (“Secret Life of Walter Mitty”, page 1, paragraph 2),” when he “was up to fifty-five km/hr. while knowing her comfort-level was forty-five km/hr.” She prohibits this poor soul from living his life by controlling his every-being than he does of his own body. He cannot accomplish his dream. His desire is not similar to the girl’s. He yearns of being heroic and the center of attention. However, he is the exact opposite and his wife frequently pushes him off the cliff of confidence, where his spirit is shattered. Not only that, he often questions her, “ If it ever occurs to her that he is sometimes thinking.” And she rubs it

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is a fun adventure movie about a man who wants to be brave

His reverie is then interrupted by something that reminds the reader of his faults. For example, after Mitty the doctor adeptly fixes a machine with a fountain pen and prepares to operate on an important patient, a humiliating warning from a parking attendant breaks his reverie and his clumsiness is revealed through his lack of driving skills. In a courtroom, he displays his masculinity as an articulate witness who catches a beautiful woman in his arms and effortlessly punches out an attorney. He then awakens from his dream when he spontaneously says "Puppy biscuit" (NA, 1501) to himself and is laughed at by a passing woman. After the emasculating encounter, it becomes even more comical when, while trying to remember the brand of dog biscuits, a contemplating Walter ironically referred to as "the greatest pistol shot in the world" (NA, 1501) gives the clerk an idiotic answer.<p>

In the movie and short story ¨The Secret LIfe of Walter Mitty¨ there was very different external conflicts, themes, and ways Walter acted.For example on the short story, walter's wife is always nagging at him for different things, but in the movie it is walter's boss and co-workers that are making his life difficult. In the short story, Walter is dull and not a very entertaining character 9 and has a very boring life, but in the movie he starts out that way but he gradually becomes a more adventurous, entertaining character with confidence. The theme of the short story was escaping reality, while one of the themes of the movie was beautiful things do not ask for attention. The differences in external conflict, ways Walter acts, and the themes between the movie and short story.

Do you ever have a moment where you just sit there and daydream? If you ask me it can be pretty dangerous if you do it at the wrong time! So you should watch what you do so you won't be like Walter Mitty. In the short story of “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” by James Thurber there are a lot of differences and very little similarities, in my opinion i say the movie was way better.

Characterization is great to have in a short story such as "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty". Thurber shows characterization right from the beginning of the short story. The start of the story takes place in Walter's first day dream where he is flying an aircraft in the war but his wife ends up coming into the daydream and telling him he needs to slow down. Walter Mitty is a dynamic character because he is always changing and becoming more and more out of his wife's control. In the story, Walter is faced with a lot of hardship with his wife ruining his daydreams. His daydreams are a way for him to get away from reality and for him to be whoever he wants to be. "We only live

Life is about finding yourself, each other, and being true to one’s self. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is an extremely original and creative story written by James Thurber. The movie, The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty, starring Ben Stiller, conveys a daydreamer escaping his typical life by disappearing into a realm of fantasies filled with heroism, romance and action. In both the movie and the book, the title character retreats into fantasy as an escape from his mundane reality because in the real world, he is ordinary, insecure, and passive. In the short story, Walter

First, Walter Mitty has many detailed daydreams. For example, “Life is about courage and going into the unknown, into another world so you can develop who you really are” (Cheryl Melhoff). This quote explains that a person must go into the unknown, into another world where you can face your obstacles and develop who you really are. In the movie, it shows that it’s a better medium than the short story. Mainly, the daydreams in the movie are more enjoyable because you can actually see them. Also, “When the flock of birds formed Cheryl’s face, it made Walter Mitty think of her.” Someone watching the movie could feel his emotions. Maybe, if this daydream were in the short story, a person could not have felt the feelings and emotions he felt in the movie. Not only that, but also Walter Mitty has to decide if he’s going to go with the pilot to Iceland and find Sean. Then, “He daydreams that Cheryl is at the restaurant and she is playing the guitar and she sings him a song that encourages him to go to Iceland.” He didn’t want to go at first but then thinking about Cheryl, it symbolizes how he feels her support and makes him change his mind and go to Iceland.

The difference between Seven-billion people in the world is identity. Identity is unique and hard to understand because everybody wants to be someone and people have a hard time figuring out what that means. In The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Walter is a man who is tired of his boring life when he realizes he has not amounted to anything. This makes him realize he does not have an identity. He overcomes this in many ways, and one of them is by traveling. This is also done in Pico Iyers “Why We Travel, ”an essay about how traveling can open the mind. The Short story The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is about an older man who is using his imagination to cope with his midlife crisis. The theme they both have in common is identity, in each

“The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” presents us with a character who finds his escape through fantasies to suggest that when one’s unable to stand up against harassers, imagination and dreams will nourish confidence and self- image. For instance, at the end of the story, Walter Mitty’s use of the words “erect and motionless”, “proud and disdainful”, “Walter Mitty the Undefeated, inscrutable to the last” suggests his

Even when people do not realize it, everyone is always learning from other people. Characters in stories all have a variety of different personalities. One character from the stories desires to be daring and fearless, while the other character is both both of those qualities. Since one character desires to be something that he is not, he puts his imagination to the test and makes his own perfect scenarios.

Mann, A. (1982). TAKING CARE OF WALTER MITTY. Studies in Short Fiction, 19(4), 351. Retrieved from

In James Thurber’s “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” Walter Mitty faces the every day challenges of the real world. Thurber uses surreal dreams to allow Walter Mitty to escape these challenges. The main two characters are Mr. and Mrs. Mitty. Mr.Mitty finds himself in the middle of action packed dreams until someone or something brings him back to reality. Walter Mitty escapes through his fantasies because he lacks the strength to face reality and the courage to express his real feelings and opinions.

There are so many secrets that people keep. Then there some people that have more secrets then others. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is a 2013 film by Ben Stiller. In this move there were antagonistic, misunderstanding, and then you had the few people that appreciated Walter.

It was not until Walter talked back to his wife at the end (5) that readers see the only concern she presents is of worry whenever Mitty does not act in his usual and expected behavior. One can see that because they do not have much in common helps readers see why they have problems in their marriage There is many more intext context that contribute to Walter and his wife in this story; nevertheless, there are many more clues that the reader can conclude when looking on how these two characters think about themselves and each other.