Modernists played with conventional narrative form and dialogue, attempting to approximate subjective thought and experience. It's a quick read. Yet the real Mitty is also capable of wordplay—“toothbrush, bicarbonate, carborundum, initiative and referendum?” he muses at one point, free-associating with the items on his shopping list—and his real life can be darkly ridiculous too (“Don’t tell me you forgot the what’s-it’s-name,” Mrs. Mitty will often say). On the surface, the Secret Life of Walter Mitty is a movie with values I can get behind. Walter Mitty has become a well-known character in American fiction. Though Thurber never mentions the state, just the city, we can take a pretty solid guess that he's talking about the only major Waterbury close to the Tri-state area. That story is taking place aboard a naval hydroplane equipped with eight engines and facing what appears to be a life-and-death situation. Movie Info. Here he goes forth, without any doubt or fear, he is driving an hydroplane as fast as he can, all of the sudden, he hears his wife saying that he is driving over 55 miles, when he doesn’t use to do it over 40. "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" by James Thurber, read by Mattie Overall.Time for another short story, I'd say. Roosevelt, at the suggestion of Albert Einstein, ordered a U.S. effort to build an atomic bomb. “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” is a limited-omniscient narration written in the third person. Waterbury is a pretty big city in Connecticut. The film also stars Kristen Wiig, Shirley MacLaine, Adam Scott, Kathryn Hahn, and Sean Penn. The banality or dullness of these locations reflects the dullness of Walter's everyday life. This is greatly contrasted with the settings of Walter's fantasies: a "Navy hydroplane" in a storm, an operating room, a courtroom, a dugout, a wall before a firing squad. “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” was first published in 1939, the year World War II bega German troops invaded Poland, the Germans and the Soviets signed a Nazi-Soviet nonagression pact, and Germany and Italy formed the Pact of Steel Alliance. Starring: Ben Stiller, Kristen Wiig, Adam Scott and Sean Penn Running Time: 114 minutes Rating: PG Release Date: December 26th, 2013 Also, a newsboy goes by shouting about the Waterbury Trial, which pretty definitively refers to the Waterbury Trial of 1938, which took place in CT.OK, enough geography. Mitty's Bumbling Jargon. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty by James Thurber "WE'RE going through!" The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1939) is a short story by James Thurber. The horrible hidden truth behind the Secret Life of Walter Mitty that’s keeping you from your dreams. In his fantasies, not only is his life exciting, but his imagined persona is heroic and resourceful as well. The banality or dullness of these locations reflects the dullness of Walter's everyday life. Mitty dreams of flying planes in hazardous conditions and causing scenes in courtrooms, but his life consists of buying overshoes and waiting for his wife to have her hair done. Walter Mitty is a married… It has since been reprinted in James Thurber: Writings and Drawings (The Library of America, 1996, ISBN 1-883011-22-1), is available on-line on the New Yorker website, and is one of the most anthologized short stories in American literature. Story Originally published in 1939. Thurber’s use of wordplay and exploration of the absurdity of modern life has been noted for its affinities with modernist writing. Secret Life of Walter Mitty is one of the most famous masterpieces done by James Thurber and is a short story which is more often anthologized in the world of literature. For that matter, Mitty and his wife are such cartoons of the proverbial henpecked husband and nagging … There’s an affirming story somewhere inside of here about a gutless stiff learning to stand up for himself. It is a story of a desperate man who does not want to face real life situations but tries to escape through having constant daydreams. Here's a dream come true, The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty is 60% off today, only on the # MovieOfTheDayApp # MakeYourDreamsComeTrueDay He has a crush on a colleague, but is afraid to try and get her attention, and has various ‘episodes’ of daydreaming where he will zone out and imagine something amazing happening at … Of course, Walter's fantasies take us elsewhere, but we'll get to that in a minute. Mitty flies to Los Angeles but is detained by airport security during a misunderstanding (mainly stemming from his having traveled through Yemen to Afghanistan). Mitty regains power over the overshoes and Dr. Renshaw, and by extension his wife, by … You can read The Secret Life of Walter Mitty online here for free. “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” was first published in 1939, the year World War II bega German troops invaded Poland, the Germans and the Soviets signed a Nazi-Soviet nonagression pact, and Germany and Italy formed the Pact of Steel Alliance.  The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Marcus Wilson English 125 Alex Vuilleumier 12/18/2013 In James Thurber's short story "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," we encounter a man who constantly daydreams.Since the story is told in a third-person narration, the readers have a distinct perspective and a better understanding of the character's personality and thought process. The author’s penetration in Walter’s mind gives the reader an exceptional opportunity to percept the world with the eyes and the mind of the protagonist who is Walter Mitty - a … Unfortunately, the movie is the exact same way. Kathleen Wilson (Editor), Short Stories for Students: Presenting Analysis, Context & Criticism on Commonly Studied Short Stories, Volume 1, James Thurber, Published by Gale, 1997. Mitty fantasizes about being a Commander or a pilot or a surgeon or a … The compliments in the fantasy counteract Mitty’s real-life sense of shame. Storyline. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty – Film Review. The Question and Answer section for The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is a great resource to … The manager of the negative assets sector of Life magazine, Walter Mitty, has been working for sixteen years for the magazine and has a tedious life, not going anywhere but from his home to his job and vice-versa. A boring photo-processor daydreams about epic adventures because he’s too … Reviewed by Damien Straker on December 23rd, 2013. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Questions and Answers. The real-life setting of this story is pretty mundane: a hairdresser, a parking lot, a hotel lobby, a drugstore – all everyday elements of any town or city. While the Axis powers were consolidating, Britain and France declared war on Germany. In his short story “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” Thurber uses the protagonist Walter as a means of commenting on dissatisfaction with everyday life. While the Axis powers were consolidating, Britain and France declared war on Germany. Walter Mitty (Ben Stiller), an employee at Life magazine, spends day after monotonous day developing photos for the publication. Stiller stars as Walter Mitty, a young-looking forty-something who has worked as a photo negative processor for Life magazine for the last 16 years. The story i… If movies like The Secret Life of Walter Mitty are melded together by lost souls in strange places, Lost In Translation has to make the list. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Summary " The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" is a short story by James Thurber, which explores the fantastical daydreams of the mundane Walter Mitty. Walter Mitty (Ben Stiller), an employee at Life magazine, spends day after monotonous day developing photos for the publication. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is all about a shy guy who works as a photo analyst for Life Magazine. By entering your email address you agree to receive emails from Shmoop and verify that you are over the age of 13. It's one of the many comic elements of the story – the same funny sound cropping up over and over again – and it lends a tangible, permanent element to Mitty's various fantasies. In the story, Walter Mitty is an imaginative man trapped in a mundane life and finds himself submerged in fantasies as a Navy commander, a high profile surgeon, and a British pilot. He daydreams while carrying out the mundane activities associated with his weekly shopping trip. While Walter Mitty, a middle-aged man, dreams of being a captain in the First World War, the dream is triggered by his reading an article intimating World War II in Liberty magazine entitled, “Can Germany Conquer the World Through the Air?” The articles contain “pictures of bombing planes and of ruined streets.” In the late 1930s and early 1940s, American men like Walter Mitty had to confront their fears of and desires for proving their manhood in battle. In Spain, the forces of fascist Francisco Franco captured Madrid, ending the Spanish Civil War. Towards the end of the story, Walter comments that “things close in,” which, according to Carl M. Lindner, represents the suffocating effects of modern life on “the Romantic individual.” That the world was changing due to technological, economic, and social developments (think of Walter’s problems fixing his car, for example) is reflected in the opening of the 1939-40 New York World’s Fair, whose theme was “The World of Tomorrow.”. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is about a meek man who is too meager to do anything interesting with his life. Bill Murray plays Bob Harris, a character one wonders must have quite a bit of his own personality infused. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Summary The reader is thrust right into what might well be the climax of a more traditional story. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. He is an escapist, daydreaming into a world of fantasy many times a day. Like most print media nowadays, paper is becoming paperless, and Life is going digital and downsizing. While Walter Mitty, a middle-aged man, dreams of being a captain in the First World War, the dream is triggered by his reading.. … Critical Overview “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” is Thurber’s best-known short story. JavaScript seems to be disabled in your browser. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Kindle Edition. The Secret life of Walter Mitty By James Thurber Plot: The story starts with Walter Mitty, being a commander of the Marine forces. Mitty calls the only person he knows in Los Angeles: Todd Maher, a representative at eHarmony who has kept in contact during Mitty's adventures. Written by Steve Conrad, based on the short story “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” by James Thurber. Fox presents a film by Ben Stiller. The real-life setting of this story is pretty mundane: a hairdresser, a parking lot, a hotel lobby, a drugstore – all everyday elements of any town or city. The most famous of Thurber's stories, it first appeared in The New Yorker on March 18, 1939, and was first collected in his book My World and Welcome to It (Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1942). The setting of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is the town of Waterbury, Connecticut. The Commander's voice was like thin ice breaking. Thurber’s playful use of words and themes of absurdity also show the influence of the poet Wallace Stevens, whose book of verse, The Man with the Blue Guitar was published in 1937. Then, “coreopsis” sets in on the patient, and Dr. Renshaw nervously asks Mitty to take over. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is an immensely popular short story which since the late 1930s has inspired numerous other stories, a stage play, and also two movies, one in 1947 and the more recent 2013 version with Ben Stiller as the lead. If you've never read it, I would love for you to read it since this review is full of spoilers. These settings are dramatic, exciting, and out of the ordinary. and Light in August were published in the 1930s. He wore his full-dress uniform, with the heavily braided white cap pulled down rakishly over one cold gray eye. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt declared U.S. neutrality in the war, but the United States entered the war in 1941 when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. © 2021 Shmoop University Inc | All Rights Reserved | Privacy | Legal. Thurber’s narrative technique has been compared to the writings of William Faulkner, whose novels Absalom, Absalom! See Plot Diagram Summary The Commander The setting of the opening scene of "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" is aboard a Navy hydroplane (seaplane), where the commander has just announced that he will safely steer his crew through an impending hurricane.He orders the crew to rev up the engines. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is a 2013 American adventure comedy-drama film directed, co-produced by and starring Ben Stiller and written by Steve Conrad. Shmoop University Inc | all Rights Reserved | Privacy | Legal 1939 ) is a story. December 23rd, 2013 or dullness of these locations reflects the dullness of Walter Mitty Ben! 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