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Walter Mitty imagines himself to be the Commander of an enormous Navy hydroplane in the midst of the worst storm in twenty years. He is brave and competent, barking orders and reprimanding his subordinate, Lieutenant Berg, for offering his opinion.
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Summary & Analysis. Next. Themes and Colors Key. Summary. Analysis. A naval commander is captaining a “huge, hurtling, eight-engined Navy hydroplane” through a terrible storm. Physical descriptions associate him with cold and ice. The Commander is the only one of Mitty’s alter egos not to share his name.
Mitty’s story continues to resonate with people nearly 90 years later. Read a full story summary, a full story analysis, and explanations of important quotes from “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.”
- Inscrutable Walter Mitty
- Walter Mitty's Personae
- Walter and Mrs. Mitty
- Literary Devices
James Thurber's lively character Walter Mitty has become closely identified with the everyday, ordinary person who daydreams to escape the dull routine of a modern world, so much so that people call similar dreamers "Walter Mitty characters" or simply "Walter Mittys." As much fun as Mitty's adventures provide the reader, however, Walter Mitty himse...
Throughout the story, Walter dreams up several heroic personae he has created for himself. These characters are a stark contrast to Mitty's own, real-life identity. In reality, Mitty is weak, passive, and constantly nagged by his wife, while in his daydreams, he is daring, heroic, tough, and admired by women. From uttered words to mundane objects a...
A reader might feel some sympathy for Mitty's exasperated wife. To her, often he is off in his own world, oblivious to what's happening around him. There's no indication of Mitty's actual age, but Mrs. Mitty tells him, "You're not a young man any longer." His seeming inattention frustrates her. His only defense is to protest that he is "thinking." ...
Part of the story's humor derives from the absurd words that dot Mitty's fantasies. The words contain just enough of a recognizable word part to suggest their meaning. For example, "obstreosis of the ductal tract" suggests some sort of obstruction of a body part, while a "coreopsis" that sets in suggests a kind of sepsis or life-threatening reactio...
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The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1939. A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. Download PDF.
"The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" tells the story of the aging Walter Mitty on a trip into town with his overbearing wife, Mrs. Mitty. Walter is inept at many things; he is an absent-minded driver, he can't handle simple mechanical tasks, and he forgets things easily. What makes Walter exceptional is his imagination. While Walter goes through a ...
The narrative follows the life of Walter Mitty, a meek and ordinary man who finds solace in elaborate daydreams where he envisions himself as a heroic figure in various daring and adventurous scenarios. Brief Synopsis. Plot Overview and Setting.
