Walter Mitty is a renowned surgeon, grizzled army sergeant, and deadly assassin that, in his words, could kill a man with any known make of gun from three hundred feet out with his left hand. He commands respect wherever he goes. The only catch is that this is all in his head. Walter Mitty is abnormally average and lackluster, but his daydreams transform the world around him into exciting scenes straight from a blockbuster movie. Walter views his own wife as a distraction from his beloved daydreams, and he has disdain for all of the other equally average people around him in his daily life. To escape from this monotony he pretends to be various people worthy of respect, and tends to disobey or rebel in small ways in order to quietly rebel. …show more content…
First off is Walter’s obvious contempt for his wife. Throughout the story he never once refers to his wife with any sort of joy, and seems to view her as an obstacle. The first time we are introduced to her is when she is scolding Mitty during one of his daydreams, and he describes her as looking “grossly unfamiliar, like a strange woman had yelled at him in a crowd.” (Thurber 323) This portion of the story highlights the disparity between his real life and his fantasy world. In this particular fantasy world he is referred to as “The Old Man”, a one-eyed commander of a Navy hydroplane with a who isn’t afraid of anything and bravely leads his crew. In the real world he isn’t even allowed to drive over forty miles per …show more content…
Throughout the story he does not seem to enjoy interacting with the other people of the town, especially his own wife. For example, near the end of the story his wife says she will be gone a minute, an obvious figure of speech, and Mitty chastises her for being more than a minute. His wife is the only person in the story that he has the courage to talk back to, and when he does it is still in very weak and unsure ways quite unlike the cock-sure persona of his characters. When he interacts with the attendant he is quite nonconfrontational and almost avoids conflict, not saying more than muttering “Gee,” Or “Oh.” However, once he walks away the story says, “They’re so damn cock, thought Walter Mitty, walking along Main Street; they think they know everything.” He then describes a time that he tried to take his chains off and managed to get them wound up around the axles, and a grinning garageman had to help him. To any other person this would probably seem like a kind act, something to be thankful for. Not Mitty. He thinks about wearing his arm in a sling the next time so that in order to make them think he didn’t cause the blunder himself, thinking that that will take the grin off the garageman’s face. He interprets the grin as being of condescension. Instead of just assuming that the man was happy to help, he assumed that the man was smiling because he found his
Basically, people always seem to be either yelling or laughing at him for one mistake or another. This makes him create his own life and have daydreams in which he is the opposite of what he is in reality. On their way to town, he had his first daydream as is a brave military commander piloting a hydroplane, but his wife interrupts by yelling at him, saying: “You’re driving too fast!”. (Thurber,1939) When she insists on him to make an appointment with his physician, he becomes a famous surgeon at work, until a parking-lot attendant calls his attention to come back to reality. Mitty was pissed and thought: “they think they know everything”. (Thurber,1939) Mitty’s third daydream is of being the defendant in a trial, and he is woken by a mental association with dog biscuits, which his wife asked him to buy. At that moment he gets bothered because, “A woman who was passing laughed. "He said 'Puppy biscuit,'" she said to her companion. "That man said 'Puppy biscuit' to himself."” (Thurber,1939) As he waits for his wife to finish at the hairdresser, he daydreams of being a British pilot willing to sacrifice his life for his country, and he is again woken by his wife, who was looking for him. In a moment Walter asked his wife “Does it ever occur to you that I am sometimes thinking?”
In James Thurber's “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” the movie and short story have much different external conflicts. During the short story, Walter's wife is always nagging at him and making his life difficult, while in the movie and it Walter's boss and co-workers who are giving him a hard time.Walter experiences his wife complaining while on their way into town, ¨Not so fast! You're driving too fast...What are you driving so fast for¨ (Thurber 1). He is not paying attention because he is daydreaming about more exciting things than what is going on in his life. In the movie Walter is very busy and nervous so he messes up an assignment and he goes into a daydream. Walter was sitting in the elevator
Walter’s characters unravels as the story begins and continues to deepen as the story continues. He begins to have an argument with his wife “Ruth”
For instance, Curley’s wife sarcastically tells Crooks, Candy, and Lennie, “ Sure I gotta husban’. You all seen him. Swell guy, ain’t he? Spends all his time sayin’ what he’s gonna do to guys he don’t like, and he don’t like nobody” (78). She is very discontent with her marriage with Curley and overall just how lonely her life is.
Mrs.Mitty drives Walter insane and triggers his dreams. Walter can not stand his wife and in response ignores her through his fantasies. In “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”, Mrs.Mitty finds Walter in the hotel lobby in a daze while reading a news paper and ask him “Why do you have to hide in this old chair?”(Thurber 47). Walter without realizing has once again found himself in a dream.
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.
Mitty is saying to his wife, he has a mind of his own and that he can think for himself. Throughout Mitty’s babblings and day dreams, he is a weak, timid man dependent on a strong woman (Mann, 1982). Most importantly I can identify with Mitty’s daydreaming not as hilarious and outrageous as his are, but we all have a need to slip away from the hoarse realities of life and escapism in the form of daydreaming.
Are you ever struck by a sudden daydream or suddenly start to zone out into your thoughts? In “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” written by James Thurber, Walter experiences many thoughts and daydreams that depict his feelings and problems in life. There are also many different discussion topics such as conflicts, daydreams, and character traits.
With the presidential elections upon the horizon, it is very crucial to exam the potential candidates. Bernie Sanders is one of the Democratic candidates running for president. He was elected to the United State Senate after sixteen years as a Vermont congressman in the House of Representatives. In 1981, he was elected as mayor of Burlington, Vermont. Under his administration, the city made major strides in affordable housing, child care, progressive taxation, environmental protection, women’s rights, youth programs, and the arts. Now, Bernie Sanders would like to do the same for all of America. American’s should vote for Bernie Sanders to be president because he supports free health care, free college tuition, and getting our middle class
” 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
These past few weeks I have had the pleasure to work closely with a member of our community that has positively affected Findlay and the surrounding area. Jim Shrader was nominated for the Edwin L. Heminger Award and I and a few other students have worked with him and corporations in the city to compile a video that showed the dedication he expressed to make this community better. Mr. Shrader has been one of many adults that I have had the ability to watch and have as a role model. More include my grandparents who have contributed to make the University of Findlay a better place.
“The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” by James Thurber is about the trip Walter Mitty takes into town with his wife. During this trip, Mitty experiences many different daydreams that seek to help him escape from the monotony of his life. Each of these fantasies is brought about by some aspect of Mitty’s life. While driving too fast into town Mitty dreams of being the commander of a Navy hydroplane, flying through a storm. After dropping off his wife at the salon, Mitty fantasizes about being a miracle surgeon while driving to the store. Continuing with his errands Mitty has trouble remembering the last item on his list and ends up fantasizing about being on trial for a murder. After he finished his shopping, Mitty goes into a hotel to wait for
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
A big difference between the film and short story is Walter’s relationship. In the film, Walter has a love interest and most of his daydreams are about the girl he likes, Cheryl. One of Walter’s daydreams includes a statue that he made for Cheryl of the two of them together. This shows how Walter feels about Cheryl. Yet, in the short story, Walter already has a wife. James Thurber writes, “...Mrs. Mitty...he looked at his wife…”(Thurber 1). This shows the difference in Walter’s romance. This affects the dreams Walter has during the story. The daydreams are different in each version, which causes Walter’s thoughts to also be different. This is important because it causes the stories to be
Legalizing the recreational use of marijuana would have many benefits for the United States. This is a very common argument with people of all ages in 2016. Marijuana is a dried bud and leaf from the Cannabis sativa plant, which can grow anywhere in warm, humid weather. This plant also goes by many names, including pot, grass, weed, hemp, hash, ganja, and many others. Many people look at the legalization of marijuana as a way for potheads to smoke without getting busted for it anymore. For this very reason, people want to keep this drug illegal. Marijuana is more than a quick high a quick high at a party. This drug is used for preventing seizures, to cure Glaucoma, and much more. Marijuana will not only benefit the United States for several health reasons but also in the economy. This controlled industry could bring in billions of dollars in tax revenue for federal, state, and local governments. Cannabis could be the next best thing for the U.S.