Themes: Success and Failure
The theme of success and failure is examined through Walter Mitty's struggle to find fulfillment in his external life, leading him to retreat into a rich internal world filled with visions of victory. In his everyday existence, Walter Mitty is neither thrilling nor accomplished. To him, the world seems miserable. His wife's nagging voice drags him out of one of his fantasies. Like his wife, parking lot attendants and policemen scold him, while women at the grocery store ridicule him. He is awkward and ineffective, mocked by others, and feels embarrassed by the knowing smirks of garage mechanics who realize he can't remove the chains from his car's tires. To escape their scorn, he imagines driving the car into the garage with his arm in a sling so "they'll see I couldn't possibly take the chains off myself.''
The shortcomings of his daily life are countered by the remarkable triumphs he imagines in his fantasy world. In his dreams, Mitty is always the brilliant hero: he flies a plane through terrible weather to save the crew; he performs a life-saving operation on a millionaire banker with both skill and practicality; he impresses a courtroom with his shooting skills; and he courageously faces a firing squad. Despite consistently forgetting his wife's grocery list and waiting in the wrong part of the hotel lobby, Walter is alert, courageous, and the center of attention in his fantasies. Thurber implies that this ordinary man, who detests the reality of middle-class life and his own shortcomings, chooses to live in his imagination.
Expert Q&A
I need help with a Walter Mitty-style story featuring three daydreams. I've outlined the daydreams, but I'm unsure about the theme and how to portray his defeat in reality.
Here is my outline:
1. Morning Alarm ringing made him daydream about boxing
2. Sound of gun firing in a radio when he was driving made him daydream about driving a tank in the WW2
3. He throw a paper ball into the garbage in his office and made him daydream of being Micheal Jordan
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 desire for heroism. Consider using dialogues with exclamations to mimic Thurber's style. In reality, portray Walter's defeat through his mother's demeaning attitude and his unsatisfactory job, contrasting sharply with his heroic fantasies.
Do Mitty's daydreams benefit or harm him in "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty"?
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 courtroom daydream. However, the daydreams do hurt Mitty, distracting him from addressing his inadequacies and living in the present moment.
How could Mitty be considered a disappointed Romantic?
Walter Mitty can be considered a disappointed Romantic because his dreams serve as an escape from his dissatisfying reality. While Mitty embraces the Romantic ideal of dreaming, his need to retreat into fantasy highlights his frustration with everyday life. This disillusionment with reality fuels his Romantic imagination, suggesting that his Romanticism is born from disappointment. Thus, Mitty's Romantic nature is intertwined with his dissatisfaction with the mundane aspects of life.
In "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty", how does Mr. Mitty's final daydream comment on his real-life fate?
Why does Walter Mitty imagine himself as a brave, bold character?
Walter Mitty imagines himself as a brave, bold character because his real life is mundane and unsatisfying. He is an average, middle-aged man with a controlling wife, and his daydreams serve as an escape from this reality. In his fantasies, Mitty is a hero, a skilled professional, or a daring pilot, allowing him to experience the courage and importance he lacks in real life, highlighting his deep desire to be more than he is.
Where does Mr. Mitty's "secret life" take him and what does he become?
Walter Mitty's "secret life" takes him into various heroic roles, contrasting sharply with his mundane reality dominated by a controlling wife. In his daydreams, Mitty becomes a brave Navy pilot, a skilled surgeon, a wrongly accused murder suspect, a heroic fighter pilot, and finally, a dignified man facing a firing squad. These fantasies serve as an escape from his ordinary life, allowing him to experience power and importance he lacks in reality.
How does Walter Mitty's imagined performance in the operating room differ from his actual performance in the parking lot in "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty"?
Walter Mitty's imagined performance in the operating room is characterized by competence and confidence, as he takes charge and performs a life-saving operation. In contrast, his real-life performance in the parking lot is awkward and inept, as he struggles with parking and is reprimanded by the attendant. This stark difference highlights Mitty's tendency to escape into fantasies where he is capable and heroic, in contrast to his bumbling real-life demeanor.
Walter Mitty's undefeated nature in "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty."
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 controlled real life, maintaining a sense of invincibility and triumph over his everyday challenges.
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