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The secret life of Walter mitty, james thurber, analysis
The secret life of Walter mitty, james thurber, analysis
Analysis over secret life of walter mitty movie essay
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The film The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, directed by Ben Stiller, thoughtfully explores the timeless theme of identity: through Walter (played by Stiller), Stiller reminds that adversity is necessary in one’s life in order to bring about growth and change. Through the detailed presentation of the minutiae of Walter Mitty’s day, the viewer understands that he is a man stuck in a rut of existing rather than living. The film opens with images of Walter’s apartment: nothing out of place, nothing with colour, even Walter, himself, is dressed in black and white. Despite this mundane opening, there are elements of humor (an error sending a wink on a dating site and dreams of super-human rescue missions), and this accurately depicts Walter’s internal …show more content…
Walter has accomplished many things prior to finally finding Sean: he jumps out of a helicopter into a boat (well, actually a sea with sharks), he out runs a volcano eruption, he effortlessly skateboards down a highway no one should ever skateboard down. By the time Walter finds Sean, he is energized: no longer escaping into his thoughts as he is rapt by the world around him. Although Walter does not find the photographic negative, his conversation with Sean solidifies the essence of life: Sean is photographing the “ghost cat” and talks about not wanting the distraction of the camera when he really likes a moment. He says, “if I like a moment, for me, personally, I don't like to have the distraction of the camera. I just want to stay in it.” This is exactly what Walter has not been able to do until now—stay in the moment. Be an active participant in his own life. By this point in his journey, though, he is ready to crawl out of his safe, repetitive routine and pursue opportunities and personal desires. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty reminds that adverse situations can come from all kinds of experiences in life and that fearing failure or even rejection is never the reason to stand still: evolve
In the story of Walter Mitty by James Thurber, Walter Mitty is a static character and in the movie Walter Mitty by Ben Stiller, Walter is made a dynamic character so that the movies is more exciting than the book. In the story Walter stays a boring character who doesn’t do much at all, while in the movie he becomes the adventurous character he has dreamed about. In the end of the story Walter was happy about “facing the firing squad”. Since Walter never had the life he wanted he just wanted to die, unlike the movie where he had done so many things that he got himself a date when he was the most happy. In the story Walter kept dreaming throughout the day being triggered by little things to go off into his own world, but in the movie Walter
Walter has no desire to find out about himself through his African American Heritage. He believes he can define himself through money, money is everything to this man. Money is status, money is wealth, money is happiness, money is almost God to him.
In the short story, “ The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty” written by James Thurber, it describes a man who while in the midst of everyday life, floats off into daydream that often cause him more trouble than it is worth. His wife, Mrs. Mitty, on the surface does not seem like a well-rounded character. It always seems her life’s mission is to demean Walter and to always use her overbearing nature to nag him. However, there may be more to this character than what meets the eye. I believe that Mrs. Mitty is actually a well-rounded character in the fact that she only acts the way she does only for her husband and his well-being.
Life is about finding yourself, each other, and being true to one’s self. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is an extremely original and creative story written by James Thurber. The movie, The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty, starring Ben Stiller, conveys a daydreamer escaping his typical life by disappearing into a realm of fantasies filled with heroism, romance and action. In both the movie and the book, the title character retreats into fantasy as an escape from his mundane reality because in the real world, he is ordinary, insecure, and passive. In the short story, Walter simply retreats into his daydreams and tolerates his domineering wife, while in the movie he actively pursues finding himself.
Because of his relationship he has with his mother, Walter has discovered that people are not trustworthy. The first film technique used at the beginning of the film was a high angle establishing shot on the verandah, depicting Walter clinging to the porch bannister in fear. This shows that Walter was initially scared and untrusting in relation to how Walter saw the Uncles were characterised in the beginning of the film, positioning the audience to better understand that Walter was scared, small, alone and untrusting. Another film technique used towards the beginning of the film was dialogue whilst Walter was on the phone to the university. Walter's verbal exchange highlights his Mother’s lie and portrays a level of distrust with the university, which is implied through continual questioning. Therefore, film techniques have been used to show that Walter was untrusting to others in the beginning of the
The dark, charming, fearless sailor of the sea. An average man with a wild imagination. Both different from the other in every way possible. Both Uncle Marcos from “Uncle Marcos” by Isabel Allende and Walter Mitty from “The secret life of Walter Mitty” by James Thurber can learn a lot from each other.
In the short story, Walter Mitty paints himself as very prestigious characters such as a knowledgeable doctor, a brave man, a military captain, a millionaire, and “Walter Mitty the Undefeated” (Thurber 5). This demonstrates pathos because of the reality of his life is that he cannot even do simple tasks such as backing his car into a mechanic’s garage. Thurber expresses the sad ironic reality of his life which is that he paints himself as a hero in his daydreams but lives a boring and unsuccessful life. Thurber uses Walter’s characteristics to prove one must adventure and explore to find meaning and purpose in life. In the movie, Walter debates getting into a helicopter with a drunk pilot to find Sean’s film negative and continue his adventure or to give up and turn back to his unhappy life. When he daydreams his love interest, Cheryl Melhoff, singing David Bowie’s “Space Oddity,” he decides to bravely jump into the helicopter, quite literally taking a leap of faith. Although a lyric of the song reads, “Here am I floating ‘round my tin can/ Far above the Moon/ Planet Earth is blue/ And there’s nothing I can do” (Bowie). This exemplifies irony because of the story Bowie tells of the protagonist of the song Major Tom. Major Tom embarks on a journey to outer space but communication cuts off from Earth and he realizes he will never come back to his wife and to life. This
While Walter does not have much determination when he’s in reality, when he fantasizes he’s determined regardless of whatever role he is in. For example, when Walter Mitty is dreaming as a navy commander, he displays a strong determination as he gives orders. Another example is when Walter doing the operation. “He began fingering delicately a row of glistening dials. “Give me a fountain pen!” he snapped. Someone handed him a fountain pen.” (p.35). This proves Walter to be a determined character when he is dreaming. Similar to Greta, she also is a determined character. For example her determination to doing the everyday labour, despite the crops getting smaller every year, and her barn wearing
James Thurber's The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. In James Thurber's wonderful short story, "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty", I get the feeling that he may be a victim of Attention Deficit Disorder, rather than just being a daydreamer. Throughout the story, Walter changes persona several times. He flips back and forth between reality and fantasy so much he may have a problem with his attention span.
“The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” as written by James Thurber is an interesting short story. Walter Mitty, the protagonist of the story, is in a constant battle with his wife, the antagonist of the story. Mr. Mitty is, simply put, a daydreamer with a creative mind. His wife does not appreciate this aspect of Mr. Mitty and is constantly nagging him and bringing him back to reality.
‘The Secret Life of Walter Mitty’ is about a boring man who has a lot of daydreams. It was originally a short story by James Thurber, but was also made into a movie. The way that the story is presented in both is a key factor in either’s success, and when compared, the two are very different. For example, in the short story, Walter has little to no character development, but in the movie, nearly the entire production is him being put through a lot of situations that let us see more of the true character of Walter Mitty. This example and others is what makes the movie adaptation of ‘The Secret Life of Walter Mitty’ better than that of the short story.
Walter attempts to reinvent himself through his work and relationships to try and provide for his wife and family. Walter is fighting a battle within his household because he believes that Ruth, his wife, “couldn’t be on [his] side that long for nothing,” even though she is just trying to do what is best for everyone involved (Hansberry 32). Walter cannot see past his dream to realize the impact it would have on everyone else if it failed, so he drowns his sorrows in alcohol. Although “he knows the possibility of failure is also a vital part of the American success story” Walter is not just risking his own future, he is risking his child’s, mother’s and sister’s and without a second thought to his personal relationships, he blindly makes an investment on the chance of having the wealth and house he desires for everyone (Washington 98). Walter is so focused on reinventing his work life and having money that he loses sight of his family’s values and ideas. He does not care about Ruth being pregnant and the possibility of aborting their child as long as he can achieve his goals. Walter is living in a dream where he believes that “anyone can become anything he wants to be,” and that is not true in his case with the social and racial standards that are set against him (Washington 95). Walter sees wealth as ensuring happiness and having everything he desires, which is why he is pushing his family so hard for the money, causing issues. Even though all the odds are set against him in this time period, Walter cannot see past being able to provide for his family and having the American Dream that he most
The short story, “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” by James Thurber is about a man named Walter Mitty. Walter Mitty has a wife and they are an older couple. Walter Mitty is known to daydream often. Walter is stubborn and often is forgetful. The plot takes place when he goes to run errands with his wife in the city on a normal day. Walter Mitty’s dreams usually a more creative version of what he is doing in reality. Mitty’s strength is that he dreams about things he thinks he can do because he has a large imagination and he thinks he can do anything. Examples of this include dreaming about being in a submarine during a bad storm and participated in a current trail.
“The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” expresses the theme that satisfaction is harder for those who are not normal. With all of Walter Mitty’s daydreams in between everything that he does, it shows that his actual life is lacking something that he desires.
In The Fader article, Kimble notes after avoiding actuality often and being reminded of his problems, “When my brain started feeling like a labyrinth of unfinished tasks” (Kimble 2). He runs from reality so often that he postpones the necessities of his daily life. Running away from the real world can leave one feeling lost and confused when life forces he or she to deal with the repercussions of his or her daily life. In the 2013 film, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, the main motif of the entire movie revolves around “the quintessence of life” (Stiller). The purpose or quintessence of life is “to see the world, things dangerous to come to, to see behind walls, draw closer, to find each other, and to feel. That is the purpose of life” (Stiller). When an individual runs away from the concreteness of the world he or she avoids the true purpose of life. Eventually, life will force one into it like a mother bird pushing a baby bird out of the nest to learn to