The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

In James Thurber's "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," Walter Mitty is an everyday man who escapes from the mundane realities of his life through his vivid imagination. The story follows Walter Mitty as he daydreams about various incredible scenarios.

The story begins with Walter Mitty driving his wife to a hair appointment, and as she rushes off, he begins to daydream about being a brave and daring Navy pilot. Throughout the story, Mitty retreats into his imagination to avoid the dull realities of his life, but his daydreams often lead to awkward and embarrassing situations.

As the story progresses, Walter Mitty imagines himself as a surgeon saving the life of a wealthy banker, a trial lawyer defending a man on trial for murder, a British Royal Air Force pilot in the midst of a dogfight, and a fearless assassin. Through these daydreams, we see the depth of his imagination and the desire for excitement and adventure that seems to elude him in his everyday life.

Despite his vivid imagination, Walter Mitty's real-life is portrayed as dull and routine, eliciting sympathy from the reader. He is often emasculated by his domineering wife, who berates him for his forgetfulness and inadequacies. Walter Mitty's daydreams, therefore, become a way for him to exercise some form of control in his life and feel empowered.

However, the climax of the story occurs when Walter Mitty crosses the line between reality and imagination. In one of his daydreams, he imagines being put before a firing squad, and he simply waits for the shot to be fired. This part of the story highlights that his escape into imagination is leading him to a potentially dangerous place.

Overall, "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" is a poignant story about the tension between fantasy and reality. Through Walter Mitty's character, Thurber examines the role that imagination plays in our lives and the desire for adventure and control that we all crave in some way. The story ultimately leaves the reader with the questionof whether Walter Mitty is truly living his life to the fullest or whether he is stuck in a cycle of escapism.