The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

"The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" is not based on a true story. However, Walter Mitty's character is loosely based on Walter Mithoff, a friend of the author.

"Pocketa-pocketa" in Walter Mitty's dreams signifies the sound of various machines, such as engines or flame throwers, blending reality with fantasy. It is an example of onomatopoeia, mimicking...

The primary conflict in "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" is internal, as it is Walter against himself. Walter is dissatisfied with himself, so he daydreams about being a more daring, heroic person....

At the end of the story, Walter waits outside for his wife and escapes into a daydream in which he faces a firing squad. This is one of many intense daydreams he uses to escape his mundane reality.

Key literary devices in "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" include symbolism, imagery, and irony. Symbolism is evident in Mitty's daydreams, reflecting his desire to escape mundane reality. Imagery...

To develop a Walter Mitty-style story, focus on themes like imagination, fantasy vs. reality, and response to challenges. Walter's daydreams serve as an escape from his mundane life, highlighting his...

Walter Mitty's second daydream is triggered by driving past a hospital and ends when a parking-lot attendant shouts at him. His third daydream begins after hearing a newsboy mention the Waterbury...

Walter Mitty's real life is different from his daydreams in that it is unhappy and mundane, while his daydreams are filled with courage, respect, and bravery.

Walter Mitty's last dream with the "firing squad" signifies his secret death wish and overall unhappiness with his life. He feels trapped in a mundane existence, dominated by his nagging wife, and...

Walter Mitty is not insane. He is an introvert. He might be said to be a typical James Thurber character. Another example of such a Thurber character is Mr. Martin in “The Catbird Seat,” And...

The clementine cake is not mentioned in the short story but is a significant motif in the 2013 film adaptation. It symbolizes Walter's mundane reality and his inability to express himself. Initially,...

James Thurber uses fantasy and structure in "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" to contrast Walter's mundane reality with his vibrant inner life. Thurber alternates between Mitty's daydreams and...

There is an argument to be made on both sides of the question of whether Mitty is a daydreamer or is mentally ill. Mitty lives in a world in which he is not able to feel confident or heroic. He...

Walter Mitty is more of a round character than a flat character.

James Thurber uses many made-up words in "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," but only two or three seem to qualify as examples of onomatopoeia, which is the creation of words that imitate natural...

The short story contains a climax and resolution. The climax occurs when Walter Mitty stands up to his wife; the resolution is that she contends he is ill, probably because he never acts like this,...

Walter Mitty's undefeated nature is portrayed through his vivid daydreams, where he imagines himself as a hero in various adventurous scenarios. These fantasies allow him to escape his mundane and...

In "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," the relationship dynamics between Mr. and Mrs. Mitty reflect traditional gender roles, with Mrs. Mitty being domineering and critical, while Mr. Mitty is passive...

Mrs. Mitty's domineering and controlling personality exacerbates Walter's feelings of inadequacy and fuels his escapist daydreams. Her constant nagging and belittling lead Walter to retreat further...

One might argue that Mitty's daydreams help him, because they reflect certain important elements of his real life, like when he is struggling to remember what to buy for his wife and has the...

The resolution of James Thurber's "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" can be found in the final paragraph of the short story. It has been another routine day for Walter, driving his wife around and...

Mrs. Mitty does not explicitly express her feelings towards Walter, but she demonstrates no respect for her husband, trivializing whatever he says. Moreover, she seems to treat him as though he...

We have to be careful here in answering your question because there are actually TWO movies that correspond to the short story "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty."  Because one of those movies...

Walter's wife, known in the story as "Mrs. Mitty," treats Walter like an absent-minded child. She is overbearing, condescending, and critical towards Walter. But she is also Walter's link to the...

Because Walter Mitty is so weak and hen-picked in his real life, he develops a fantasy world in which he is active and many times a hero.  Putting himself in front of a firing squad would...

The irony in "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" lies in the contrast between Walter's mundane reality and his vivid, heroic daydreams. The title reflects this duality, emphasizing the hidden,...

In all of Walter Mitty's daydreams he is playing an heroic leading role. It has been pointed out that the roles and settings are the kinds that would be found in popular fiction and Hollywood...

At the beginning of the story Walter Mitty is the dynamic military commander, unwavering in the face of danger. He is snapped from his fantasy by his nagging wife, but lapses back into...

In "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," "things close in" signifies the pressures and realities of Mitty's mundane life encroaching on his vivid daydreams. This phrase encapsulates how his imaginative...

Walter Mitty daydreams five times in the story. First, he imagines being a commander in the navy, bravely saving his plane’s crew. Second, he fancies himself a brilliant and heroic surgeon who helps...

In this daydream, Walter Mitty is a very famous doctor.  (The daydream is triggered when he drives by a hospital.) He is helping a couple of other famous doctors who are doing some sort of...

"The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" is a short story written by James Thurber.  In this story, the protagonist, Walter Mitty, frequently finds himself the hero of action-filled daydreams; these...

Walter Mitty spends most of his adult life living through his daydreams.  He feels trapped in his world, by his job that he doesn't like and by his wife that is characterized as...

The exposition in "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" is the information in a story that catches the reader up with what the characters know, or it can even give information that the characters don't...

In "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," Mitty's tendency to daydream leads to scolding from his wife, a police officer, and a parking-lot attendant. His frequent lapses into fantasy cause him to...

"The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" by James Thurber depicts a day in the life of a man who escapes his mundane reality through vivid fantasies. Techniques used include stream of consciousness,...

In the operating room, Mitty calmly saves the life of a patient.  First, he repairs a complex machine by substituting his pen for a faulty piston.   Then, when the patient takes a...

In "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," female characters, particularly Mrs. Mitty, play a significant role by highlighting Walter's mundane and controlled life. Mrs. Mitty's domineering nature...

There are so many differences between James Thurber's story "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" and Ben Stiller's 2013 film version that virtually the only thing they seem to have in common is the...

In "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," Walter performs mundane tasks such as driving his wife to the hairdresser, buying overshoes, and picking up dog biscuits. His wife, Mrs. Mitty, mostly directs...

Walter Mitty's wife isn't privy to his inner thoughts and therefore doesn't give his daydreams any consideration. If anything, she finds his behavior bizarre enough to warrant a medical examination.

In the original short story "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," there is no mention whatsoever of Greenland. All of the action of the narrative takes place in a single day, during which Mitty's...

In "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," the parody lies in the characters that Mitty creates in his daydreams.  His heroes are extraordinary, skilled, super-hero type people, they are so over...

In "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," Wellington McMillan is an invention of Mitty's imagination, someone of great wealth and political influence. His friend is Franklin Roosevelt, president of the...

Sympathy for Walter Mitty arises from his mundane and controlled life, which contrasts sharply with his vivid daydreams of heroism and adventure. This escapism highlights his dissatisfaction and...

Walter Mitty suffers from terrible boredom and a feeling that no one, including his own wife, respects him. In order to cope with this, he fantasizes about exciting scenarios in which he is highly...

Let us recall that the definition of irony is the gap between appearance and reality. Clearly, therefore, Walter Mitty with his repeated day dreams that occur throughout the story and then his...

For Walter Mitty, the boundaries between reality and fantasy are incredibly porous.  So, in the opening paragraphs the stereotypical hen-pecked husband pretends that he is piloting a military...

The external conflict between Walter Mitty and Mrs. Mitty comes from the fact that she is domineering and controlling, and he is too timid to say anything. He daydreams to escape being...

Walter Mitty in "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" is characterized by his vivid imagination and dissatisfaction with his mundane reality. He values adventure and heroism, often escaping into...