Phenomenology by its definition is: “the way in which one perceives and interprets events and one's relationship to them in contrast both to one's objective responses to stimuli and to any inferred unconscious motivation for one's behavior; also : a psychology based on the theory that phenomenology determines behavior” by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. While on the other hand: “Phenomenology studies structures of conscious experience as experienced from the first-person point of view, along with relevant conditions of experience. The central structure of an experience is its intentionality, the way it is directed through its content or meaning toward a certain object in the world.” As defined by the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. My …show more content…
Through the film we follow Walter on his journey and are subject not only to the reality of the situations that he finds himself in and the experiences that he is accumulating, we are also subjected to the daydream like situations that Walter is seeing in his figment of reality in which due to the fact that out of his view of not doing anything noteworthy in his life he then projects his dreamlike and amazing fantasy form of reality out into the world for us to see and experience. For example, in one scene of the movie Walter is talking on the phone with a technical advisor for a dating site in which he is having difficulties with, and the technical advisor states to the fact that Walter had left most of his profile blank, to which he replies that he hadn’t done anything noteworthy enough in his life to fill his page with. As Walter says this we are cast out into his dreamlike subjective reality on what he thinks would be optimal for him and noteworthy as he dives off of the subway terminal and into a building and saves the dog of his romantic interest as it explodes behind him and is forced back into the “real”
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 wants financial freedom, he doesn't want just enough money to provide for his family, but rather he tells his mother "I want so many things. " Walter is materialistic and greedy, corrupted by a superficial “American dream”. 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.
Unlike Walter's reality his daydreams are exciting, eventful and he is often the hero. Walter Mitty's utilization of daydreams in order to escape reality a live the life he craves solidifies the fact that he experiences maladaptive daydreaming. Lastly, when Walter daydreams he is detached from his surroundings and being unaware of your surroundings while daydreaming is also a symptom of maladaptive daydreaming. Evidence from the story that can be used to support this is when Walter was daydreaming of playing the role of Dr. Mitty in an operating room and suddenly the parking lot attendant yelled at him for almost causing an accident as he could not concentrate on driving because of his daydream. Becoming disconnected from reality as a result of daydreams is a regular occurrence for those suffering from maladaptive daydreaming proving that Walter is more than just an ordinary daydreamer. Based on the arguments above it is palpable that Walter Mitty experiences maladaptive
Genetic phenomenology is Husserl's philosophical successor to his earlier eidetic phenomenology; it represents the highest development in Husserl's project. Husserl's eidetic phenomenology holds that both the structure of intentional acts and the intentional object are given (Detmer 165). Husserl later comes to doubt the givenness in eidetic phenomenology; these structures and objects of consciousness must have developed throughout history (Detmer 166). This is the process of sedimentation: patterns of understanding and expectations gradually influence later experiences (Zahavi 94). Intentional acts themselves have eidetic structures that are not immediately given; they must be analyzed if the phenomenological project is to continue. A close
The aim of the research is outlined as an attempt to understand the phenomenology of
The first reason I believe that Walter is the protagonist is because he isn’t a selfish man. What I mean by this is when he is talking about issues he tends to discuss family issues above his own personal things. Though at times in the play when he is drunk and loses his temper he does start speaking selfishly, I believe that his overall attitude in the play is for his family to move up the world. I believe that Walter’s son Travis is the main reason why he acts so unselfishly. He seems to want the best for this son and doesn’t want his son to feel that there isn’t anything he can’t have or do.
The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty - Character Study of Walter Mitty & nbsp; In the short story, "The secret life of Walter Mitty," a man by the Walter Mitty goes into town with his wife to get some things done. Throughout this story Walter Mitty shows that he is very forgetful and a a really stubborn man with a vivid imagination. He is constantly being distracted, and starts to day dream often. & nbsp; There are a few hints in this story that show Walter Mitty is very forgetful. Most of this is probably caused by his constant day dreaming.
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
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.
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
...ontrol of his personal ambitions to benefit the whole or in Walter's case the family. Certainly it would be unfair for Walter give up his aspirations. The issue is whether Walter can distinguish between a fantasy of reality and a dream deferred.
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
In The Secret Life of Walter Mitty movie, Walter likes Cheryl Melhoff and sees himself living a brilliant life to impress her. Since he lives a boring life, he wishes he lived an interesting life so she would like him. In the story, it can be inferred that Walter is unhappy with his wife and wishes he lived a more interesting life. Through imagination, he sees himself doing amazing things and being in a completely different reality. In the Ralphie Phillips cartoon, Ralphie wishes he could save his parents and make them feel remorseful. He also imagines being a pilot and saving the earth from aliens, which is a completely different reality than what he is living
Existentialism is about to find the answer of human existence that why they exist in the world. It is responsible for the freedom and responsibility of the individual. It takes about the needs of human beings and their social character. Phenomology is the study about the experiences that we faced in our lives. It emphasizes that how the individual perceives his or her world. Existential psychology used this term to study about the about the belongings of personality like the choices that human beings
Phenomenology is considering the experiences of individuals to disclose what is inside of them. It has transitioned from a descriptive phenomenology which focuses on the purpose of description of an individual and their experiences to the interpretation of what gave them these experiences. Research has been conducted to find ways of gaining knowledge pertaining to understanding an individual and how they are discovered. Knowledge regarding phenomenology is laid out by researchers. The primary purpose of this research is to aid in discovering acceptable knowledge over opinion detailing additional information from researchers.