Discussion Topic
Literary devices in "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty"
Summary:
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 vividly contrasts his dull life with his heroic fantasies. Irony underscores the gap between Mitty's imagination and his real-life ineptitude, highlighting the theme of escapism.
What literary devices are used in "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty"?
James Thurber's short story "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," a tale of a mediocre man whose fantasy life impinges upon real life, abounds with certain literary devices.
Mock Jargon
Thurber makes use of mock-jargon for Mitty's daydreams. For instance, Thurber distorts many medical terms such as "obstreosis of the ductal tract. Tertiary" and "Coreopsis." Technological advancements and items of warfare are also distorted humorously with wordplay. For instance, the complicated machine in the operating room connected to the operation table by tubes and wires, misfires and Dr. Mitty fixes it with a fountain pen. In his first daydream, Mitty commands a Navy hydroplane, a "SN202" that he orders, "Rev her up to 8,5000." Then, in another daydream, Mitty identifies a gun as his "Webley-Vickers 50.80."
Onomatopoeia and rhyme
With humor also, Thurber employs words that imitate sounds. For instance, the "pocketa-pocketa-pocketa-pocketa-pocketa-pocketa" sound recurs through Mitty's daydreams, suggesting that it is a...
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real sound that Mitty translates into his imaginary world.
As he tries to remember what he was supposed to buy, Mitty's mind makes associations only of sound, not of things, with these words, "carborundum...and referendum" and "pandemonium."
The millionaire banker that Mitty imagines himself is a close personal friend of Roosevelt. The expression "Coals to Newcastle" is a saying that indicates unnecessary labor in reference to the coal city of England, Newcastle.
"The Archies" is the name for the allied troops' antiaircraft guns in World War I.
"Aupres de Ma Blonde" is the title of a popular French song during the war.
Symbolism
Much like Rip van Winkle's termagant spouse, Walter Mitty's wife symbolizes the authority of society. For, it is only in his dream life that Walter Mitty has some self-reliance.
Dramatic Irony
In his fantasies, Walter Mitty imagines himself heroic; he is a flying ace, an accomplished doctor, a millionaire, a courageous man, an officer in the military. He is "Walter Mitty the Undefeated." However, the truth is that Walter Mitty cannot even back his car properly into the garage where attendants can fix it.
It is these profound ironic contrasts that deepen the readers' understanding of Walter Mitty. For, he is an archetypal comic figure, much like Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn, a man who seeks to escape, but he finds self-reliance only in a dream.
Parody/Wit
Thurber's story parodies several groups of people throughout the daydreams of Walter: the military officer, surgeons, macho men, the melodrama hero.
What are some literary devices in "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty?"
I believe that this question is asking for literary devices. You could pick any sentence in the story, and it would apply to diction. Diction refers to an author's word choice. Diction is important because it creates mood and tone in addition to carrying the right kind of information to readers.
Dialogue is also used in this story. What is great about the dialogue in the story is that it is spoken by "real" people as well as "fake" people. Walter and his wife have dialogue sequences, and it becomes clear that Walter is pushed around by his wife. That is what makes the imaginary dialogue of Walter's fictional world so fun to read. The characters he envisions are strong and commanding, and the dialogue works to further that impression.
Throw on the power lights! Rev her up to 8,500! We’re going through!
The use of dialogue also makes use of the literary technique of indirect characterization. Indirect characterization is characterization that the reader has to deduce by observing how a character talks, behaves, appears, and so on. For example, readers begin picking up on Mrs. Mitty's bossiness from her first spoken sentence.
“Not so fast! You’re driving too fast!” said Mrs. Mitty. “What are you driving so fast for?”
A fourth literary device in this story is setting. It is great to discuss setting in this story, because it hops around so much. The story is short, but Walter's imagination takes readers to so many different environments that I feel it is a disservice not to mention the importance of setting in this story. Additionally, things in Walter's real life trigger his imaginary adventures. For example, the newsboy's shouts about a trial trigger Walter to imagine he is a great lawyer.
A newsboy went by shouting something about the Waterbury trial.
. . .“Perhaps this will refresh your memory.” The District Attorney suddenly thrust a heavy automatic at the quiet figure on the witness stand.
Notice the ". . ." in the above quote. This literary device is an ellipsis. It is a literary device that is used in narratives to omit some parts of a sentence or event. It allows readers to fill in the gaps. In this case, it drops readers into the middle of the action.