Importance of Daydreams in James Thurber´s The Secret Life of Watter Mitty

Throughout Walter Mitty’s life he lives a second, more thrilling, life where he is a renowned doctor, war pilot, and even more.James Thurber’s short story, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, was a book about how a quiet man is bossed and bullied throughout his life, forcing him to daydream to find happiness.Walter Mitty feels the need to escape into his daydreams because his wife doesn’t allow him to make any decisions, his wife bosses and bullies him, forcing him to daydream to assert his manliness, and he is bored with his life, and wants to be recognized for something in life, and you can see him inserting himself in these positions throughout all of his daydreams.

One big reason why Walter Mitty daydreams is because his wife doesn’t let make any decisions.In his daydreams he shows his leadership and makes large decisions like when he imagines that he was a Doctor and must think quickly, when the machine keeping this man alive was breaking down, by fixing the machine with a ballpoint pen.This simply proves that Walter Mitty longed to make his own ideas, to do something to help other people, and to be known throughout the country.Another large reason why he loves to make his own choices in his daydreams is because his wife, and other people are continually telling him what to do.Just like when Walter Mitty had to drive his wife to the place where she gets her hair done, only to be thanked with a list of things that he needs to buy. Then promptly after that she yells at him, like hes a five year old, for not wearing his gloves! This goes to show that he rarely gets respect, or even to make his own decisions. Another large reason why Walter Mitty always daydreamed was because he wanted to be more manly, especially since almost ever...

... middle of paper ...

...s together. This all just goes to show that he knows exactly what he is daydreaming and longs for a better, more exciting, and more influential life.

Walter Mitty feels the need to escape into his daydreams because his wife, and other people he runs into from day to day always tell him what to do, his wife is making him look like a child by yelling at him in public, robbing him of his manliness, and he is bored with his life and wants to become a more important, and more influential so he can have a positive impact on other peoples life since nobody has a positive impact on him. So, when you look throughout the story, within his daydreams you can see all the reasons why he feels the need to escape to his daydreams rather than real life.

Works Cited

Thurber, James. "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty." The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2013.