Characterization And Conflict In The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty

Within the first story written by James Thurber titled, “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” the take home message at the end of this excerpt is that any individual can create their own illusion and become their own protagonist in their own story or life. This excerpt begins with Walter Mitty, the text’s main protagonist in a daydream state in which he is leading a Navy hydroplane, this daydream is brought up into his mind after his wife right beside him in their car had told him to slow down whilst driving. Mitty’s first shown daydream may make readers believe that he has an extreme imagination due to yielding the ability to create such illusions out of simple everyday mundane tasks or routines in his life. We can infer that his erratic driving, or “driving too fast” for Mrs. Mitty can be seen as Mr. Mitty being lost and caught up in his own imaginary world where he is accomplishing heroic feats such as taking over a hydroplane and leading a crew to safety instead of simply driving his wife to the hairdresser. Mr. Mitty goes on throughout the excerpt to have many daydreams that share the same concept, that concept being that he is a hero in his own world and is his own individual regardless of what his wife thinks about his behavior. One particular daydream that Mr. Mitty had that truly struck out was the one in which he had created an illusion from a small stimulant being a newsboy passing by shouting about a trial that was taking place within the town. Hearing about the trial had triggered a daydream where he was testifying in a courtroom after being accused of shooting a man although in the daydream his right arm was in a sling (something he could relate to in real life because he thought of an idea of wearing a sling to avoid awkwardness when going to a garageman), this particular daydream at the end is what aids Mitty into remembering an item his wife had told him to get at the store. We can infer that Mitty has used these tactics in order to justify many things or help him in real life, for example remembering tasks.

The main conflict of the story, though not extremely evident, is Walter’s relationship with his wife. His wife takes Walter’s life into her own hands and restricts everything he does. In fact, when he comes out of one of his daydreams, it is because his wife feels uncomfortable with the speed at which he is driving the car, so she scolds him by saying, “You know I don’t like to go more than forty. You were up to fifty-five” (1405). This intrusion is also what causes Walter to daydream so much: he wants to be the man that he knows he can never be. This is life-changing for Walter because whether or not he fights his wife’s rule will decide how he

The expressions of the characters, caused by their surrounding, is also a factor that can alter the psychological traits in a character. The Man states “He does not trust his dreams, believing that they are "the call of languor and of death” (McCarthy 15).The man has a vivid

Characterization is effectively used to create character plot and portray the theme of the story. This is effectively used by the author through Millicent’s thoughts and through the use of other characters. For instance, Millicent continually tells herself that “what girl wouldn’t” want to be elected like she was (Plath 240). She repeatedly tells herself ideas such as this, because she is trying to convince herself that she is making the right choice. Another instance is shown when Tracy tells Millicent that Millicent will “change, whether she thinks” she will or not (240). Through the words Tracy states, Millicent realizes that she is lying to herself. Consequently, through the earlier examples, the characterization of Millicent and other characters creates the character plot in the story. The character plot in the story shows how Millicent has to make a

In the movie and short story, there is a man named Walter Mitty. Walter is a dreamer, a daydreamer. He dreams about being an important hero. Walter does this to escape from his boring, dull lifestyle.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, daydreams can be seen as an escape from reality. There are many cases in which the protagonist, Walter escapes from his marriage through daydreaming. For instance, the story begins during one of Walter’s daydreams. He is the commander of an eight engined hydroplane during a deadly storm until his wife interrupts,

The film begins introducing the protagonist, Walter Mitty, inside the mundane adult life. We see him as a logical realist we expect all grown-ups to be. Through Walter, Stiller is conveying that without dreams there is no desire to stand out and will never find ease within life. At first, Walter has a low-risk and stable life, forfeiting his personal happiness and dreams. We see his meekness when he attempts to muster the courage to send a wink to his work crush, Cheryl, through eHarmony.

There are no physical features in this story to describe Walter or Mrs.Mitty, only actions.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is an unusual short story about a man who's dreams take him away from reality. His constant dream-like state fills him with joy which the real world could never supply him with. Ultimately, the reader is stuck in the life of Walter and sees the world as he does. As the story goes on, the reader learns of how tragic this story really is. Walter is so unhappy with his current life that he has to go into trances of action-filled daydreams, he cannot do simple tasks properly, and displays characteristics of a mental disability. Because of these reasons, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is a tragic story.

Although Walter Mitty is sought to be an average, middle-aged man, he goes through periods of time escaping reality through fantasies. In The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, James Thurber creates Walter as an insecure husband who is degraded by his own wife. Whenever Walter feels mortified and like a failure, he falls into deep fantasies where he is portrayed as a hero who always ends up saving the day. Through the depiction of elaborate fantasies, Thurber reveals how escaping reality allows Mitty to combat the adequacy he feels in his real life. One of the major reasons Walter Mitty has severe daydreams is because his wife degrades everything he does.

“Life isn’t about finding yourself. It’s about creating yourself.” These great words were spoken by George Bernard Shaw. The creating of a life is a huge part of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty written by James Thurber. Walter Mitty has a boring life, so he creates one in the most destructive way. He dreams of great lives, making m more depressed every day, seeing what he could have and what he does. The author of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty portrays a boring, dull life by the contrast between dreams and real life. He makes Walter Mitty a man whose life is unsatisfactory in his standards, who seems lost through this day, and who dreams his life is fulfilling.

Walter Mitty Is an unusual character, he is a very pathetic person that is boring, is whipped, unskilled at everything and is a pushover. He has a really large imagination, though he constantly daydreams and in his dreams he views himself as an awesome hero that is the best at everything. In reality he is a very mundane person, but in his dreams he is the most interesting man in the world.

Walter Mitty had an imagination like no other. His head was filled with many exciting and new adventures. In the short story “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” by James Thurber, Walter Mitty uses his dream worlds to escape reality. He is a very unique character with many different aspects to him.

In “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” by James Thurber, Walter Mitty’s ordinary life is nothing too thrilling. He often imagines himself in his little fantasy worlds so he can reach a better version of himself; a fearless, strong, and heroic man. Walter is too afraid of the real world to accomplish his true potential and rather fantasy himself in a childlike fantasy instead of facing his own real-life problems and decisions. Walter Mitty’s lifestyle choices is an example of how not to be a loser in life; you should have no regrets in life and follow the pursuit of happiness in your life. The main idea or message of this literally work provides insight into the human life.

Walter Mitty was a man who was not afraid to die, but he had a lot of pride. He was prepared for anything to happen; he was all dressed up in his white braided uniform. The Commander stared at the ice forming on the pilot window. Captain Mitty was the commander of an eight- engine Navy hydroplane. He told Lieutenant Berg to rev her up and put on the high-beams (paragraph 1). This is part of Walter Mitty’s secret life as shown in “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” by James Thurber. Fantasies like this one are Mitty’s way of coping with his dull, boring life. Walter Mitty uses his fantasy life as a means to escape from his nagging wife, his dislike of getting old, and the feeling that he is stupid and useless.