'The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty'

The short story, “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” the author, James Thurber, tells a tale of the eponymous character, Walter Mitty, and his numerous daydreams. Throughout the story, the various lives led by Walter are interrupted by his unnamed wife. By examining Thurber’s tale, there is a single conclusion that can be reached about the relationship between Walter and his wife. In general, it can be assumed that the both of them are mutually disappointed with their current predicament, however, despite their disappointment, they intend to keep their relationship working. This is shown in several ways, one way being the title itself, in which his fantasies are secrets, another being the five interactions between Mr. and Mrs. Mitty wherein she

Mitty it is when she interrupts Walter during a dream where he envisions himself as the Commander of a hydroplane, and yells at him, asking, “Not so fast! You're driving too fast! [...] What are you driving so fast for?” (Thurber 167). There are two explanations why all the dialogue coming from Walter’s life is in a similar vein. One being that this story is told from the point of view of Walter, so he’s bound to not pay attention when he’s daydreaming, another reason is to illustrate that Mrs. Mitty doesn’t trust Walter very much when it comes to something an adult should be able to do, this is further emphasized when she asks him about his gloves in a demeaning manner, saying, “"Why don't you wear your gloves? Have you lost your gloves?” (Thurber 168). By treating Walter as a child, Mrs. Mitty may cause his attempts to flee into his own imagination. Though, there is always the question of Walter does bring this on himself, as in the same paragraph, he began to put on his gloves but, “[...] after she had turned and gone into the building and he had driven onto a red light, he took them off again [...] and Mitty hastily pulled on his gloves and lurched ahead. He drove around the streets aimlessly for a time, and then he drove past the hospital on his way to the parking lot.” (Thurber 168). Because of these incidents, it is easy to say that both of the Mittys are fairly displeased with each other. And that’s not to mention the glaringly

Their relationship isn’t great, but the two of them seem to want it to work out, despite Walter keeping his daydreams a secret from most, if not, people. Of course there is always the simple fact that Walter’s wife patronizes him, and acts as if she were his mother. Lastly, the reader will notice that Walter frequently enter into daydreams, in lieu facing reality. When considering all the aforementioned information, it becomes easy to see the relationship between Walter Mitty and his