What type of character is Walter Mitty?
The American Heritage Dictionary defines a Walter Mitty as “an ordinary often ineffectual person who indulges in fantastic daydreams of personal triumphs”. The most famous of Thurber’s inept male protagonists, the character is considered “the archetype for dreamy, hapless, Thurber Man”.
Is Walter Mitty a round character?
James Thurber’s character Walter Mitty has become an archetypal character for the ineffectual, weak, bumbling, hen-pecked man in America. As such, he is not a round character, for the only development that takes place in his personality is in his daydreams.
What average daily activities does Mitty do throughout the story?
In his daily life, Walter Mitty is a bored, hen-pecked husband who has little control about what goes on around him. He runs errands for his wife and then listens to her complaints each and every day.
What is the central irony of Mitty’s life?
The irony of Mitty’s life is that his daydreams are complete opposites of what his life is. He want to be different but just doesn’t have the courage.
Do Mitty’s daydreams help him in any way or do they hurt him?
In some cases Mitty’s daydreams help him. His daydream about the courtroom helps him to recall what he is supposed to pick up for his wife. The first daydream where Mitty is starting up the Hydroplane causes his wife to become mad at him, which causes him to slow down the car.
What effect do Walter’s daydreams have on his real life?
His daydreams help him make up for the boring reality of his everyday life and for the way in which his relationship with his wife makes him feel less-than-powerful.
What is Walter Mitty like in his daydreams?
If there’s one thing Walter Mitty enjoys, it’s a good daydream. In his first daydream, which he has while driving his car with his wife next to him, he is a pilot. His wife puts an end to this by yelling at him to slow down. In his second daydream, he is a surgeon.
Who is Walter Mitty and why does he daydream?
In the story, he dreams of being a war pilot, a doctor, a sharp-shooter, and a captain. In the final daydream, Mitty imagines himself smoking a cigarette while in front of a firing squad. This situation may be a contemplation of his own death or the death of his imagination.
How does Walter Mitty feel about the errands his wife asks him to run?
Walter and his wife run the errands they always run. Walter Mitty needs to feel like what he did was important, so in his mind he creates the things he needs. His real life is just too boring and not exciting, so he daydreams of the things he wishes he has done or the things he wants to do.
What does Walter hate the weekly trips to town?
She had told him, twice, before they set out from their house for Waterbury. In a way he hated these weekly trips to town—he was always getting something wrong. Kleenex, he thought, Squibb’s, razor blades?
Who is the antagonist in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty?
Antagonist- Mrs. Mitty is the antagonist of this story. She controls her husband, Walter, and she always complains. Walter, himself can be the Antagonist, as he slips into his fantasies, he gets himself into little conflicts: Mrs.
Why does the cop yell at Walter Mitty?
It is because of the antagonism of those around him that Walter so persistently retreats into fantasy. Mitty belittles him and bosses him about; the cop yells at him for being absent-minded; the parking attendant secretly mocks him for his incompetence, as did the mechanic whom Walter remembers.
What is the main conflict in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty?
In “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” the main conflict is that of the Individual’s Desires against Reality; the main theme is A Person’s Dreams for Life vs. Society. No matter who talks with Mitty, he seems to be in conflict with her or him because he is subjected to defeat in his encounters.
What was Walter trying to remember for Mrs Mitty?
When Walter is trying to remember what else his wife told him to buy he goes through a list of the most random things, “bicarbonate, carborundum, initiative, and referendum.” Why does Walter Mitty fantasize so much? Describe the relationship between Mrs. Mitty and Walter.
What character trait would best describe Walter Mitty?
Walter Mitty’s dominant character trait is that he is a lonely dreamer. He creates an imaginary world where he is successful and happy, and brave as exciting things happen. These daydreams allow him to forget that his is an average, ordinary person leading a normal, boring life.
How does Mitty’s wife greet him at the hotel?
Walters wife greets him by, walking up behind him and hitting his shoulder saying how shes been looking all over the hotel for him. Their conversation tells us that Mrs Mitty is kind of controlling of their relationship 7. What is Walter doing at the end of the story, and why?
How does Mrs Mitty’s personality trigger Mitty’s last daydream?
Mrs Mitty’s dominant behavior and her constant nagging trigger Mr Mitty’s last daydream. The daydream is a comment on his real life because being in front of his wife is metaphorically like being in front of the firing squad.
What is Walter doing at the end of the story and why?
Just as he is about to achieve his fantasy destiny, he is always pulled back into real life, usually because of an incident resulting from his own distraction. At the end of the story, he envisions himself fearlessly facing death at the hands of a firing squad.
Which of Mitty’s traits causes his wife the police officer and the parking attendant to scold him?
There is a subtle linkage among Mitty’s interactions with his wife, the police officer, and the parking-lot attendant. It has to do with gloves. When Mitty is letting his wife off in front of the building where she goes to have her hair done, she gives him some parting advice and instructions.
Is The Secret Life of Walter Mitty a funny or tragic story?
The original Mitty story, although darkly funny and brilliantly told, is also tragic. Mitty is truly trapped in a miserable marriage and his only escape is in his imagination. It ends with his wife disparaging him one more time as he retreats into yet another heroic daydream.
Why does Walter imagine that he is facing a firing squad ?( In The Secret Life of Walter Mitty )–?
As he is standing on the street, he imagines himself smoking a cigarette bravely facing the firing squad whereas in reality he is standing in the rain waiting for his wife to return from the drugstore. He knows he is likely to get more nagging the minute she returns.
Why would Thurber end the story with a fantasy sequence?
Thurber ends with a fantasy sequence because the story begins with a fantasy so to keep the consistency; he ended with a fantasy as well. Another reason is that his fantasies dominate his reality, so of course, when he is alone again, he drifts back into a fantasy. His imagination is very active.
What do you infer is the meaning of Walter’s final dream the firing squad?
Walter Mitty’s final daydream in which he is standing before a firing squad seems to reveal a secret death wish and to show that he is a very unhappy man. He dislikes himself, dislikes his nagging wife, and dislikes the life he has to lead.