The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty Character Analysis

Roles of the community and the identity of Walter Mitty in “The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty”

Many people sometimes imagine themselves as someone they really are not or give themselves characteristics that they do not posses in actuality. James Thurber used this theme of imagination to create Walter Mitty in “The Secret Life of Walter MItty”. He is characterized as a dull, restrained man, which is why he daydreams. James Thurber develops the identity of Walter MItty by using characterization, symbolism, and themes, additionally, the author uses Walter Mitty’s daydreams in order to illustrate the protagonist's point of view throughout the story.

James Thurber uses many symbols in the short story that contribute to the establishment of Walter

“Walter Mitty was the ultimate version of a stock character Thurber had developed over his career as a writer and cartoonist for the New Yorker. Thurber's modern urban man was hapless and timid, only free to live out his fantasies--themselves dictated by masculine pop-culture stereotypes--in his mind” (Evans). In Evans’s statement he reveals that the character that Thurber created was a hapless and timid man who only lived free in his fantasies . This contributes to the characterization by giving the reader an understanding of the original Walter Mitty that Thurber created. “Although Walter Mitty’s daydream life has much exciting action, his waking life, as recounted in the story, is routine, uneventful, and, at a deep subconscious level, unsatisfying” (Norman Prinsky). This quote furnishes the idea that Mitty’s life was tedious and repetitive, which is the main reason that he daydreams. ”James Thurber’s expression through his characterization of the protagonist of the ineptitude, oppression, and disappointment nearly all human beings at some time feel in their lives in the real world”(Prinsky). Walter Mitty feels that subjugation that most humans feel throughout their lives. The state helps the reader understand that Mitty is characterized as the protagonists that lacks skill and courage. “Part of Thurber’s technique is to present Mitty as a man who fails even as a dreamer. His daydreams

Symbolism is used by James Thurber in the short story to present Walter Mitty as a person that lacks courage, and daydreams about having such a thing. The establishment of the theme and mood help specify the roles community and identity play in the story. Characterization was presented by describing Walter MItty as a fearful man that daydreams to escape reality. Works Cited

Ellis, Robert P. "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty." Web. 30 October 2017. (-- removed HTML --) .

Heller, Terry. "James Thurber." Web. 27 October 2017. (-- removed HTML --) .

Koprince, Susan. "The Secret Life of Willy Loman: a Miller-Thurber Connection." 2012/06/22. Student Resources in Context. Monroe High School, Monroe, NC. Web. 2 November 2017. <http://find.galegroup.com/openurl/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&url_ctx_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&req_dat=info:sid/gale:ugnid:ncowl&res_id=info:sid/gale:SUIC&ctx_enc=info:ofi:enc:UTF-8&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:unknown&rft.artnum=A297138805>.

Evans, Robert C. "Film Adaptations: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947)." Web. 2 November 2017. (-- removed HTML --)