abstract illustration of a man's face and several accoutrements: scissors, gloves, glasses, tweezers, facemask, and a cigarette

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

by James Thurber

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Characters

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In his daydreams, Mitty transforms into a heroic, skillful, and commanding figure. Although he faces defeat in his interactions with his wife and society in the real world, his imagination allows him to existentially reinvent himself. He adopts the traits he wishes to possess, which are the complete opposite of his true nature, enabling him to become the person he desires to be. While this behavior is somewhat juvenile, it serves as a crucial defense mechanism for his mental well-being.

Mrs. Mitty embodies the suffocating force of domesticity; she tolerates no heated passions or heroics that could disrupt her comfortable home life. In this sense, the male and female characters in Thurber's writing invert traditional literary stereotypes, echoing some of the traits found in the protagonists of William Faulkner's novels and the plays of George Bernard Shaw. However, unlike the Shavian Life-Force that drives true antiheroes, characters like Mitty, Mr. Munroe, and other Thurber Little Men, who struggle with tasks like removing snow chains and endure their domineering wives, lack the strength to reach that status. Instead, and somewhat ironically, they overcome their unimaginative wives and restrictive society through the power of their imaginations.

Characters

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Mrs. Mitty
Mrs. Mitty is Walter's domineering wife. She constantly nags him to buy galoshes, wear his gloves, and drive more carefully. When she questions him about not putting on his overshoes before leaving the store, Walter snaps: "I was thinking...does it ever occur to you that I am sometimes thinking?" Although Mrs. Mitty may seem overly controlling and patronizing, Walter is inept and unwilling to take on adult responsibilities. She serves as his anchor to reality, preventing accidents and helping him maintain a grip on everyday life.

Walter Mitty

Walter Mitty is a chronic daydreamer who envisions himself as the hero in his fantasies—whether as a navy pilot commander, doctor, sharpshooter, bomber pilot, or noble victim of a firing squad. He is married to a woman who treats him more like a child than a spouse, a consequence of his immature habit of escaping into daydreams rather than confronting reality. Walter is frequently scolded by policemen, parking lot attendants, and his wife for his erratic and distracted behavior. Thurber's portrayal of this neurotic man, dominated by his wife, unable to fix his own car, and lost in dreams, has become an iconic representation of the ineffectual, weak-willed, bumbling male in American culture.

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