The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, directed by Ben Stiller, focuses on the desire to escape from the tedious and dull life that Walter (portrayed by Stiller) has been stuck in. Ben Stiller has shown his audience that many people may live in a life similar to Walter’s. A life that is predictable and monotonous. Stiller explores this theme by showing that Walter was cemented into a life that was unwanted due to his father's death at a young age. Due to the demise of his father, Walter had to take care of his family, and change into someone who was capable to do so. Stiller wanted to show his audience that although the root of the problem happened a while ago, that we as humans cling on to it for as long as we can. Walter was able to take care of his mom and sister, …show more content…
This was the first time Walter had branched out of his comfort zone and done something “outrageous”. It was the beginning of Walter’s change. Sean O’Connell was also a contributing factor in Walter’s change. Although Walter and Sean had never met face-to-face, Walter had a connection with Sean he did not have with many other people. Knowing that the negative was a gift from Sean, and that it was to be the last cover of “Life Magazine”, Walter was determined to find it. The life threatening actions that Walter had taken was justified by the fact that he wanted to secure his job, but he himself knew that he would never do something that risky for a job so uneventful and dull. Walter showed a great amount of perseverance when dealing with the struggles throughout his journey in escaping his previous life. Although, Walter may have never had hope in himself to overcome those obstacles, throughout his journey he realized that everyone has obstacles in their lives that they must overcome. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, reminds the audience that although your life maybe be dull, and uneventful that there is room to change into someone who is adventurous and does not limit themselves from their fullest
” 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
Walter struggles in understanding who he needs to be for his family. He wants to take his place as the patriarch of the family, but he feels incapable of providing them with the lifestyle they deserve. This concern is always at the forefront of his mind, and it affects his attitude and outlook. The anxiety that Walter is dealing with creates confrontation with his sister. He fears that her dream will interfere with his own agenda of making a better life for his family. The severity of the tension becomes more and more apparent with Walter’s unwise investment. Walter is dealing with the burden that he has let his family down, while Beneatha is flabbergasted by the reality that her future has been snatched away from her, and she had no control over it. While reflecting on the situation, Beneatha remarks, “ I sound like a human who just had her future taken right out of my hands! While I was sleeping….things were happening in this world that directly concerned me and nobody consulted me—they just went out and did things—and changed my life” (Hansberry 3.15). Walter and Beneatha’s individual issues with the outcome of the situation cause them to find fault with one another during a time when their family needs to pull together to get through such a financial hardship. Walter is in an emotional pit; his turning to alcohol and music instead of his family for support expands the
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.
Sometimes when you are in a relationship, you start to wonder what your life would be like if you hadn't been with the person you are with if you aren't happy. In the short story by the author James Thurber called "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty", a man named Walter Mitty daydreams about having different lifestyles away from his controlling wife. The theme of the short story is that you can be whoever you want to be as long as you are yourself. Throughout the short story, the literary terms found in "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" are characterization and conflict and they are explained in many forms. They both show how Walter's daydreams relate to his real life and how he wishes his real life was different.
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
Second, a lot of character traits are shown for each person in the film. Walter Mitty is very shy and quiet at first but then changes throughout the movie. “To see the world, things dangerous come to, to see behind walls, draw closer, to find each other, and to feel. That is the purpose of life.” This quote can relate to Walter Mitty having a very shy, quiet, and awkward life. After going through all the action, danger, and experiencing all sorts of obstacles to find Sean, he became a person that stood up to everything he didn’t like. He was not afraid to speak up and make a move. Also, he was a braver person. Cheryl was also very quiet and turned out to be a very helpful and supportive person. She helped him
Because of this Walter has lost his self esteem and will to do anything to make his life better. This is important because it shows that Walter does not have a firm grasp on his own identity.
Living Independent, adventurously, creativity this is how Uncle Marcos lives in “Uncle Marcos” (Isabel Allende), but Walter Mitty lives the opposite of an adventurous life or at least to the rest of the world he does in “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” (James Thurber). Uncle Marcos and Walter Mitty are two completely different people, who live two completely different lifestyles. Uncle Marcos lives an adventurous and Independent life, while Walter Mitty lives and average everyday boring lifestyle. They seem like they have nothing in common at first glance but underneath they are quite similar, and they both live the way the other wants.
Both “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” and “Lamb to the Slaughter” analyze human’s ways of achieving self- acceptance. Walter Mitty’s persona is not considered ‘appropriate’ by people around him, so as a result, he daydreams to accept his true character. On the contrary, Mary Maloney’s self- love is built upon the presence of her husband, so when he decided to leave, her whole world shattered.
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.
Walter's frustration festers and his anger turns inward towards his family who, in Walters eyes, do not understand him. Walter's family members do understand him and they also want to amass material dreams, but Walter's family members know that it is going to take work to get there.
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.
Showing his frustration to his mother, Walter does not feel like he will ever acquire his dream because he feels like he never got the chance or opportunity to. The inability of not able to provide a better life for his household is causing him to stress, act out of character and clouding his decision making. With nowhere else to turn he thought he could use his father’s life insurance money to invest into a liquor store which turned into a scam. Walter feeling trapped from making advancements in life, he makes a huge mistake and learns from this error. In the play Walter is talking to mother describing his anger,
Relationships are hard, especially when the couple does not see eye to eye. Walter Mitty and his wife know exactly what that is like. “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” is a short story written by James Thurber. The setting takes place at Waterberg, Connecticut. The two main characters in this short story are Walter Mitty and his wife, who play significant roles in making this short story come alive despite being very different in many ways. Walter is the protagonist because he is the leading character, while his wife is the antagonist since she causes friction with Walter and his imaginations. Knowing this helps develop the theme of dysfunctional marriages as seen in “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” as it is portrayed through the