James Thurber Essay

Whimsically and beautifully produced and acted, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, directed and starring Ben Stiller, is the perfect movie to relate to our own lives. Like countless people on this planet, Walter Mitty (Stiller) works his 9 to 5 every single day in his life, stuck in an endless cycle. Everyone that knows Mitty is aware of when he “zones out” - in some situations, he pictures himself making a wild choice, since he was never brave enough to make those illusions a reality. As the negative

James Thurber is the author of “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”. He feels inferior to his wife throughout his marriage. He learns to express these feelings through writing short stories and illustrating cartoons. This is a way for him to escape his everyday life with his wife. Critics have acknowledged Mitty motif, which is used to describe his two major themes in many of his major works such as “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” (Morsberger 66). “The Secret Life of Walter Witty” is one of the most

People escape reality in lots of different ways for example Walter Mitty used his imagination. Walter Mitty did this because his life was boring, and he wanted it to be more interesting. In result of this he was often what was confused by what was going on. Another person that escaped his regular life was Dr. Jekyll. He did this by changing into a different person. This freedom caused him to do some things that he would not do as himself. The third example is Anne Frank. She had to do this because

“To see the world, things dangerous to come to, to see behind walls, to draw closer, to find each other and to feel. That is the purpose of life.” is a key quote from Ben Stiller’s The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. Though there are many similarities between the original short story and the film version of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, such as Walter being treated with a lack of respect, there are also discrepancies such as the different portrayals of the character of Walter Mitty. One similarity

To begin, Walter Mitty’s daydreams hurt him because they fill him up with false confidence. In his daydreams, he is viewed as a heroic and important figure; the opposite of what he is viewed as in real life. One might argue that the daydreams where he possesses these characteristics help him later on by giving him confidence instead of false confidence because Mitty stood up to his wife. However, the negative side affects Mitty more than the positive side of confidence. In the story, “The Secret

Walter Mitty is a man who uses his active imagination to escape the pressures of his wife. Shrewd and controlling nature Walter is constantly emasculated as his wife controls him. Walter’s drab life forces him to cope with vivid imaginings of himself taking command in a dangerous situations, however his wife smothers this form of self expression too. A “Jury of Our Peers” is another story which emphasises the downsides and weaknesses of a marital relationships, but instead of fixating on the man’s

Walter Mitty is a fictional character in both the book and film. He can be relatable to hopeless and shy people in the book. But, Mitty can also be relatable to others that want to be heard, and have hopes and dreams. In James Thurber’s story “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” Walter Mitty is forgetful and easily controlled, while Mitty in the film is outgoing and optimistic. Walter is a forgetful person in the short story. His forgetfulness is most likely caused by his constant daydreaming

The Purpose of Life in Walter Mitty Our society is built upon the foundation of dreams: abstract concepts only a select few could think of and, because of this, our society has reached a peak in growth and development. This is the underlying message in Ben Stiller’s The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. It provokes the idea that the pursuit of dreams is necessary to obtain self fulfillment but is inhibited by the corporate body in contemporary society. The film begins introducing

In the story, The Strange Life of Walter Mitty, Walter Mitty struggles with an inferiority complex that has been developed from the belief that people were looking down on him. Even though it may be implied in the story that the people that Walter Mitty had interactions with were all looking down on him it is never truely stated therefore it is believed that Walter Mitty was just paranoid and assumed this. Since his inferiority complex and character prevents him from talking back and assuming a role

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