ipl-logo

The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty Compare And Contrast

662 Words3 Pages

Throughout the short story “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” by James Thurber and the movie based on that short story, the main character, Walter Mitty, faces daydreams to counter his boring reality. He struggles to understand the difference between who he is and what he wants to be. Both the outer world and his mind affect his personality using his relationships with others, his views along with emotions towards the world, and conflicts whether internal or external.
For instance, the short story introduces Walter as a middle aged man with a pushy wife and a forgetful tendency. His relationship with his wife is portrayed as him being unappreciated from the views of his wife. For example, “ ‘I was thinking,’ said Walter Mitty. ‘Does it ever occur to you that I am sometimes thinking?’ She looked at him. ‘I’m going to take your temperature when I get you home,” The external views of his wife made him have self esteem issues yet his mind was later able to create an imperfect view of himself which set him on a path for greater happiness. The movie has different relationships including; family (sister and mom), Cheryl (his crush), and Ted Hendricks (his boss). Ted Hendricks was a discriminating figure when he pressured Walter to find the missing neg. 25. Likewise, his daydreams began to influence him standing up for …show more content…

For example in the beginning Walter was mistreated and this created daydreams of him standing up for himself and this continued to happen until he actually did. This conflict led his mind to influence his thoughts for the better. Thurber introduced Walter with a conflict at the very start leaving him conflicted between reality and imaginary. He does this by saying, “Not so fast! You’re driving too fast!’ said Mrs. Mitty. ‘What are you driving so fast for?’...’Hmm?’ said Walter Mitty. He looked at his wife, in the seat beside him, with

Show More
Related
458 Words | 2 Pages

As Walter life goes on he is formed by his childhood events. At first he is a rebel. He gets into many fight and lots of trouble.

Read More
851 Words | 4 Pages

Extended Analysis “To what extent has director, Ben Stiller, used film techniques to adapt John Thurber’s The Secret Life of Walter Mitty to appeal to a contemporary audience?” Characterisation The characterisation of Walter Mitty in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty has been adapted to appeal to a contemporary audience as modern conventions have been used. To start, in both the film and short story, Walter Mitty is portrayed as a 40-year-old man with no aspirations which leads to him to daydream regularly to escape reality.

Read More
717 Words | 3 Pages

Throughout the film A Secret Life of Walter Mitty wrote by Steven Conrad, you can see Walter as an introvert and someone who is not comfortable with himself. He likes to remain invisible. Until he goes out on an adventure to find Sean. Where Walter Mitty quickly moves to a dynamic protagonist with the help of writer Steven Conrad's creation of static characters.

Read More
778 Words | 4 Pages

In the beginning Walter is basically perceived as a jerk-he doesn’t seem to get along with anyone, not even his own family. His character likes to turn discussions into fights, make rude comments to his wife, and act all around immature. A part that accurately shows the way Walter conducts himself is when he is arguing with Ruth and says “Man say: I got to change my life , I'm choking to death, baby! And his woman say- Your eggs is getting cold!”

Read More
1341 Words | 6 Pages

Walter is the ”man of the house” and the main man in the book, and with this he shows us the most toxic masculinity and what the roles of a man are viewed as. He has a certain view on women, even his wife, and does not truly respect them. He still believes he has a right to the money just because he is the only man in the house and is the only one who can make a good decision with the money. While talking to his son about a business deal he was going to make and how it was going to change their lives, he said, “... secretaries getting things wrong the way they do…”

Read More
653 Words | 3 Pages

In the film, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, the viewers are introduced to the main character, Walter Mitty. From the beginning, Walter’s actions and words can lead one to infer that his character is painfully shy, awkward and quiet. In combination with his awkwardness and shyness, he continually has these moments where he enters “his own world,” and fantasizes about the things he’s too timid to do or that he finds heroic. This is especially unusual to his peers and co-workers who try to converse openly with him.

Read More
830 Words | 4 Pages

Key details in the film illustrate how the rest of the world see Walter. He is a shy dull man that is boring and maybe some might say a loner. When you watch the movie beginning to end you see his identity transform from timid to brave and courageous. He steps out of his shell and does thing he thought he would never do. Walter Mitty found his identity.

Read More
1128 Words | 5 Pages

Walter Mitty is a very ordinary man who has an ordinary life, but at times he would go from reality into his own mind of imagination where he would have wild adventures. In the short story you can tell that Walter Mitty is a man who fears his wife, he would often not talk back when his wife is shouting at him as he is too afraid, he is also a man who feels useless in this world and think better of himself when others try to help him, this is shown when he felt that he did not need the over shoes. In the result of this he feels the need to rely on his imagination to take him places that reality cannot, the author has shown when he moves into imagination by having “…” just before the text. Out of all the different imaginations ranging from the war to being in a hospital the one thing that is similar in all of these are that he is the most important person in that ‘place’. The constant nagging of his wife shows that they do not mix well together, however he is still inferior to her, he never gets a say and never get what he wants.

Read More
719 Words | 3 Pages

In other instances of the book, Walter is found saying strange things or speaking aloud. On page 332, Mrs.Mitty asks Walter why he hadn’t put on his overshoes in the store. Walter responds with “I was thinking,” to which Mrs.Mitty retorts, “Does it ever occur to you that I am sometimes thinking?” This dialogue between the couple further emphasizes the way Walter’s thoughts often get in the way of his

Read More
1088 Words | 5 Pages

Throughout James Thurber and Ben Stiller's The ‘Secret Life of Walter Mitty Walter leads double lives in dreams and reality I will be exploring how Walter's connection to dreams and reality change over time. Both versions of Walter initially rely on dreams to escape from reality but we see that Walter's confidence and self-belief are tied to the dreams he has. At the end of the film, The film version of Walter learns to make his dreams a reality, while the novel version is more content with who he is. Walter Mitty relies on his daydreams to escape his reality. He does this because his reality is dull.

Read More
1414 Words | 6 Pages

He believes he is “..see[ing] life like it is” (141) in order to rightfully take his place as the head of the family by making this decision for them, regardless of the hope this house brought them all. The rest of the Younger family is disconcerted by this new business deal, and asks Walter if this is what he truly wants and believes is right, to which he responds that he’s “Going to feel fine…[like] a man…” (144). Due to internally knowing he still had prove himself but not physically doing so, Walter’s delicate, false pride in being a man doesn’t allow him to consider how his actions affect

Read More
649 Words | 3 Pages

The book states that he "is a intense young man in his thirties."(11). Through out the book Walter cares about his family, but he puts them aside when it come to his own interest he often puts the family members aside. This causes conflict throughout the house. When getting in a fight about how Walter want to open a liquor store he gets upset and, he will not except he opinion. When she tries to move on a avoid conflict his response is “See I’m trying to talk to you 'bout myself (Shaking his head with the repetition) and all you can say is eat them eggs and go to work.”

Read More
950 Words | 4 Pages

Walter was introduced as a man who cared about nothing other than his business. He had sacrificed his sister’s dream of becoming a doctor, and held the power to wipe out Mama’s dream for a better home. Walter sees the gender roles as boundaries keeping him from loosening up to his family. He is given the insight that men must be powerful, wealthy, and demanding for them to truly be the head of the household. However, Walter sees past these gender roles, and not only challenges these rigid roles, but he also regains his family’s trust along the

Read More
1278 Words | 6 Pages

Anne Ferguson Mann writes that Mrs. Mitty, “is there to keep him from driving too fast, to get him to wear his gloves and overshoes, to take him to the doctor,... free him from practical responsibilities of living”. (Mann, 352). In this quote, Ann Ferguson Mann is saying that Mrs. Mitty makes everyday life decisions for Walter and does not let him take charge of his own life and be responsible for his own life. Walter lacks charge of his life in reality, so he makes up for it in his

Read More
503 Words | 3 Pages

Also In the movie adaptation Walter has a job at the life office and loses a negative photo. This gives Walter another goal and this goal changes him more throughout the story. The negative makes him more courageous and risky. The Walter in the story is dry and boring. Lastly the movie gives Walter a reason to daydream.

Read More

More about The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty Compare And Contrast

Related Topics

Open Document