Acceptance of one’s self is the key to happiness Throughout life, everyone has felt different in some way; like they do not belong and are insecure about themselves. In the short stories “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” by James Thurber and “Mirror Image” by Lena Coakley, Both the protagonists are unhappy so they have to accept themselves in order to be happy in the future. At the beginning, both the protagonists find it hard to accept themselves because of the society around them. Eventually, they both learn to accept and stay true to themselves with all their flaws. At the end, both of the protagonists gained happiness. As a result, the protagonists learn one thing in common, and that is that one must accept one’s self in order to be happy. …show more content…
In “The secret life of Walter Mitty”, The story starts with Walter driving his wife , Mrs. Mitty, to town to get her hair done as he is driving her he is in one of his daydreams, imagining himself in a dangerous navy situation. His wife then says to slow down as she does not like fast moving cars. Walter says “hmm? He looked at his wife in the seat beside him…like a strange woman who had yelled at him in a crowd” (Thurber 33). His wife controls him; he has to do what she wants him to do. Walter is continuously dragged from his imagination into the real world by his wife. This causes him no gain but loss in his self-confidence. She thinks he is tensed so she keeps nagging because he would not visit Dr. Renshaw. Likewise, in “Mirror image” Alice the
In conclusion, the story describes that life changes, and nothing stays the same throughout it. It is in the hands of the people to decide that how they want their life to be. They can make it as beautiful as they want to and they can also make it worse than it has ever been
...ce of being happy. This novel taught me how developing your identity is a life long process that come with experience and errors however, the results are worth it.
On the surface the message is don’t be afraid to be different . The story is told from the perspective of Joy Harjo , which allows the reader to know that the memoir was written with real life experiances .
...the narrator and all people a way of finding meaning in their pains and joys. The two brothers again can live in brotherhood and harmony.
This book teaches the importance of self-expression and independence. If we did not have these necessities, then life would be like those in this novel. Empty, redundant, and fearful of what is going on. The quotes above show how different life can be without our basic freedoms. This novel was very interesting and it shows, no matter how dismal a situation is, there is always a way out if you never give up, even if you have to do it alone.
In the short story, “ The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty” written by James Thurber, it describes a man who while in the midst of everyday life, floats off into daydream that often cause him more trouble than it is worth. His wife, Mrs. Mitty, on the surface does not seem like a well-rounded character. It always seems her life’s mission is to demean Walter and to always use her overbearing nature to nag him. However, there may be more to this character than what meets the eye. I believe that Mrs. Mitty is actually a well-rounded character in the fact that she only acts the way she does only for her husband and his well-being.
Life is a complicated process. It’s filled with many things that keep it interesting but at the same time, very dull. Life’s what you make it and for many, it’s something we all strive for. In the story, The Space Between, the author takes full advantage of the premise as there’s rarely a dull moment- as in life. The book is filled with many literary devices that work nicely with the plot and dialogue. These include; metaphors, similes, irony, personification, and many more. We follow a young man who is finding his way in the world. He has only a week to change his life for the better. But he will face many obstacles on the way that brings the readers into a startling and fun journey.
...e protagonists finally arrive at lives of satisfaction from their lives of discontent after they have tried new activities.
Atwood’s “Happy Endings” retells the same characters stories several times over, never deviating from clichéd gender roles while detailing the pursuit of love and life and a happy ending in the middle class. The predictability of each story and the actions each character carries out in response to specific events is an outline for how most of us carry on with our lives. We’re all looking for the house, the dog, the kids, the white picket fence, and we’d all like to die happy.
The movie, The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty, starring Ben Stiller, conveys a daydreamer escaping his typical life by disappearing into a realm of fantasies filled with heroism, romance and action. In both the movie and the book, the title character retreats into fantasy as an escape from his mundane reality because in the real world, he is ordinary, insecure, and passive. In the short story, Walter simply retreats into his daydreams and tolerates his domineering wife, while in the movie he actively pursues finding himself. Walter Mitty, a timid, passive, henpecked husband, embarrassingly incompetent at ordinary tasks, constantly falls into daydreams in which he assumes such heroic roles as flying through a storm, shooting down German aircraft, and performing delicate surgery.
Writer Ayn Rand once said that, “Achievement of your happiness is the only moral purpose of your life, and that happiness, not pain or mindless self-indulgence, is the proof of your moral integrity, since it is the proof and the result of your loyalty to the achievement of your values.” This happiness is not what a person feels when common pleasures occur in their lives, such as the purchase of a new car, or a promotion at work and an increase in salary. The feeling of genuine inner well-being and peace is a completely separate state of being that can be witnessed in Khaled Hosseini’s novel The Kite Runner. The two key characters to the story, Amir and Hassan, share a very unique relationship. They achieve the deepest longing of humanity to achieve happiness through the different choices they make and experiences they have. Hassan proves to be on the proper path to happiness early on with a strong moral conscience in his life, sense of purpose to serve others, and the self-confidence to be independent. On the other hand, Amir struggles to achieve these same qualities as Hassan; to do the right thing, to think of others, and to carry his own weight with confidence.
“The story employs a dramatic point of view that emphasizes the fragility of human relationships. It shows understanding and agreemen...
The imagination is an unbounded place where a person can escape the limitations of their own realities. “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” written by James Thurber is the story of an ordinary man struggling to choose an identity within two contrasting worlds, fantasy and reality. Walter Mitty creates delusions for himself in order to satisfy his desire to be an extraordinary and heroic figure. It is through literary devices such as, diction, symbolism, and [one more] that his character is developed and illuminated. Throughout this narrative, Walter Mitty dreams of himself as different people that he would rather be.
Look out for that Buick" (Wilson 196). This is an incident where Walter Mitty has conflict with man because he does not pay attention to his surrounding while he is engaged in his daydream. Then Walter recalls a time when he had tried to fix something on his own without the help of another man. The result ended badly because he messed up and had to get help (WIlson 196). Walter Mitty comes up with a plan to not seem like a weak man.
People don't truly accept life for what it is until they've actually tasted adversity and went through those misfortunes and suffering. We are put through many hardships in life, and we learn to understand and deal with those issues along the way. We find that life isn't just about finding one's self, but about creating and learning from our experiences and background. Adversity shapes what we are and who we become as individuals. Yann Martel's Life of Pi shows us that adverse situations help shape a person's identity and play a significant role in one's lief by determining one's capabilities and potential, shaping one's beliefs and values, and defining the importance and meaning of one's self.