Sick relationships come in all forms, shapes, sizes, fictional or nonfictional. Controlling and abuse in all forms is the most common of the sickest relationships. Mental and verbal abuse is common in short stories just like the characters in “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” and “The Girls in their Summer Dresses”. The character Walter Mitty from the short story “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” is shown in an intense mentally abusive relationship with his wife Mrs. Mitty. This became clear that Walter Mitty was being abused when Mrs. Mitty interrupted one of his day dreams with “Not so fast! You’re driving too fast!” “What are you driving so fast for?” It was shown that Mr. Mitty did not stand up to his wife very often but when he does talk back to her. Mrs. Mitty says “Remember to get those overshoes while I’m having my hair done” Mr. Mitty replies with “I don’t need overshoes”. Mrs. Mitty just went about her way and did not pay her husband any mind. Walter escapes his life everyday life and bugging wife by day dreaming throughout his day. He will zone out with being a Commander, a doctor, a witness in court, a captain and a criminal. This was his only way of living with his wife. …show more content…
In this story there is Frances the abused and Michael the abuser. In the story Frances and Michael are walking across Eighth Street as Frances says “Look out..You’ll break your neck.”, as Michael laughs his wife off. Later on in the story Frances tells her husband “You always look at other women, everywhere. Every damned place we go.” Michael replied with “No darling I look at everything, god gave me eyes and I look at women and men and subway excavations and moving pictures and the little flowers of the field. I casually inspect the universe.” This is a common distraction to the truth from a typical person at fault trying to divert from the
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
As Zora Neale Hurston once said “If you are silent about your pain, they’ll kill you and say you enjoyed it”. During the 1930’s, it was socially acceptable for men to hit his wife, but not the wife to hit her husband. The husband’s motivation was most likely because a man looks like he is in control of his wife or he is jealous. Janie, in Their Eyes Were Watching God, is beaten by all three of her husband's and suffers for most of her life . She was always in pain. In Zora Neale Hurston’s novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, she uses imagery to show how much Janie suffered throughout her life.
She was sexually abused as a child by her father. She rationalized his abuse as a desire to be closer to his only daughter. However, Tracy failed to realize that if her father was lonely and frustrated, he had alternatives to molesting his own daughter. Tracy attributed his sexual abuse to him being lonely and frustrated. Another example is Louise as she was spending her life waiting for her idealized father to come back. Unable to face how callous and irresponsible he had been she used extensive rationalization to keep him godlike. Her rationalization enabled her to deny her rage at him for abandoning her. These two examples show how victims can make the unacceptable acceptable with even the worst
Walter Mitty is forced to adjust because of her wife’s preferences,showing him as limited in the actions he takes as a cause of the relationship. Walter Mitty also considers himself to be helpless when it comes to his wife’s choices. Towards the end of the story, as Walter Mitty
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.
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.
To begin this essay, I’ll start with some critical thinking about “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”, before I transition to my comparison of “On the Surface”. One admirable component of this story written by James Thurber in the year 1939, is his sharply observed, usually ironic, small details of human action that reveals distinct perspectives of the character’s personality. The back and forth construction of the story was used to illustrate the protagonist’s realm of thought, however it ends up creating an almost imperceptible observation. An example of such observations could be Mitty racing their vehicle, after being instructed from his wife that he has to have overshoes simply because “he is no longer a young man.” A response that illuminates Mitty’s furtive character. Another observation would be Mitty’s actions after being ordered by an officer to “Pick it up, brother” at a stop light that has changed. Mitty initially is ordered to put his gloves on in their car, by his wife, but then removed them after he had gained enough distance, and thus now Mitty has felt the need to equip himself with his gloves. Which gives us the slight frame of reference that he ranks his spouse equivalent to the officer in terms of authoritarian individuals, who he had been defiant towards in regards to his gage. Though simply instructed to proceed considering the stop light had changed. Mitty’s instinct prompts him to correct all of his unwarranted misbehaviors. Mitty’s obstructed
In Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s story, “The Yellow Wallpaper,” she explores the world of madness, torture, and imprisonment. In the story, the narrator is suppressed by her husband and his ‘‘superior wisdom,’’ leading to the loss of her sanity. Although it seems as though her husband is trying to help her, in actuality, his methods of healing her are detrimental to her health, both emotionally and mentally. The destruction of her sanity in relation to his attempt to help her are strategically illustrated by Gilman throughout the story.
Mann, A. (1982). TAKING CARE OF WALTER MITTY. Studies in Short Fiction, 19(4), 351. Retrieved from
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.
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
“It was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder, that life might be long.” (Chopin 17). “"Poof!"… gave a revealing look at the victims of domestic abuse and how they wrestle with overcoming their fear and their doubts after suffering years of abusive treatment.” (Toomer 5) Loureen unlike Mrs. Mallard, witnesses her husband’s death first hand during a marital argument. Loureen goes through denial questioning whether her husband’s death. She is happy her husband is dead but also feels guilty, because she knows how a mourning wife should react, but the joy of his demise is greater,” I should be praying, I should be thinking of the burial, but all that keeps popping into my mind is what will I wear on television when I share my horrible and wonderful story with a studio audience…”, Loureen’s husband, Samuel, was physically abusive, as revealed by Florence, Loureen’s best friend and neighbor. “Did that mother***** hit you again?” (Nottage 1563) This abuse, physical by Samuel and mental by Brently, is what allows Loureen in the drama “Poof!” and Mrs. Mallard in the short story “The Story of an Hour” to have the shared freedom they feel in the release from their respective abusive relationships.
” 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
…” Let's go!” said Mrs. Mitty as she comes out of the drugstore. Walter Mitty gets in the car scared for his life because he knows his wife is going to punish him, but he is scared to find out what she is going to do. So he makes sure to drive under the speed limit all the way to their house so he does not get his wife more mad than she already might be. When they arrive, he hurries to get out of the car before his wife so he can open the door for her. He wants to suck up to her so hopefully the punishment won't be that bad. He offers to carry her purse for her but instead of her saying yes, she said,” what's up with you? you have been very generous lately.” He was wondering if is her plan. To try and act all nice and then hit him when he is at least expecting it. Well now, He follows mrs.Mitty into the apartment and she goes into the kitchen and
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