James Thurber, one of America’s best known humorists, is mainly known for “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.” The story was first published in 1939 in the New Yorker magazine, for which he worked in, and received much appraise for it. Although Thurber did not receive much education, he had a talent of hiding the themes of his stories, which some critics considered “dark,” underneath the humorous plots. In “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” Thurber uses his comical character and settings, along with other elements of his stories, to fully express his views on society. Even though the story seems humorous, Thurber hides a message: society has become dull.
James Grover Thurber was born in Columbus, Ohio on the eighth day of December of 1894 to Charles and Mary Fisher Thurber. Thurber’s mother, Mary, like most of Thurber’s female characters in his stories, was domineering and was said to take “control of people and things and ordered the lives of those around her” (Gale). At a young age, Thurber began his writing career by working for his high school paper. After high school, he continued his education at Ohio State University. He entered the university in 1913 where “he worked on the university's literary and humor magazines, the Ohio State Lantern and the Sun-Dial” (Gale). Thurber, unfortunately, did not complete his study and left Ohio State University in 1918. Thurber explained that he could not pass a required botany class because of an eye injury he had suffered as a child while playing William Tell with his older brother (Gale). The arrow that hit one of his eyes contributed to the total blindness he would eventually suffer in 1951. The injury, as well, kept him out of the military, limiting him from masculinity positions. Afte...
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...ir minds. James Thurber was a gifted man, even without having a full education. He may possibly start a revolution in society that people never imagined we could achieve.
Works Cited
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Ring, Trudy. Essay on “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.” Short Stories for Students. Ed. Kathleen Wilson. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale, 1997. 42. Print.
“The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.” Short Stories for Students. Ed. Kathleen Wilson. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale, 1997. 183-90. Print.
Thurber, James. “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.” Anthology of American Literature: II Realism to the Present. Ed. George McMichael. New York: MacMillan Publishing, 1985. 1466-70. Print.
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
1. What is the difference between a. and a. Detroit: Gale Books, 2007. 264-76. The 'Secondary' of the 'S Literary Themes for Students. Gale Virtual Reference Library -.
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.
Detroit: Gale Research Inc., 1983. Hodges, Elaine R. Short Story Criticism}. Vol. 13. Detroit:
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Walter’s innocence, until one day he is finally released from death row. Mr. Stevenson’s book
Ed. Kristine Krapp. Vol. 1. What is the difference between a. and a. Detroit: Gale, 2005.
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.
Walter would have told his mother, and would have caused trouble for his father” (75). In
What would be the consequences of living vicariously through another person? The life of an individual who does not live every day to his or her fullest extent is a restricting one. Humorous author, James Thurber, in his short story, “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” shares the tale of Walter Mitty, a man who lives an unhappy life in the city obeying his wife’s every wish and command, daydreams to escape the sad constricting reality of his life. In Ben Stiller’s story-based film, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Walter Mitty takes real-life action to find love, adventure, and respect from a demeaning boss who takes the lead position of remodeling Life Magazine from a physical to an online magazine. Ben Stiller and James Thurber utilize allusion,
Living in a poverty stricken area, Walter can only think about one of the many things he lacks, money. On the contrary, there are African Americans on the other side of Chicago who do have money and run large businesses. This pushes Walter to not only want to provide more for his family, but also dream big and become determined. The only way that he sees fit for him to make his dream come true and earn more
... Short-Story Writers, 1910-1945, First Series. A Bruccoli Clark Layman Book. Edited by Bobby Ellen Kimbel, Pennsylvania State University, Ogontz Campus. The Gale Group, 1989. pp. 159-171.
Laurie Lanzen Harris and Sheila Fitzgerald. Vol. 1. What is the difference between a. and a. Detroit: Gale Books, 1988. 161-2.
Evans, Robert C., Anne C. Little, and Barbara Wiedemann. Short Fiction: A Critical Companion. West Cornwall, CT: Locust Hill, 1997. 265-270.
Vol. 67. What is the difference between a '' and a ''? Detroit: Gale, 2004.Literature Resource Center.