Theme and Narrative Elements of the Secret Life of Walter Mitty
Josetta James
ENG 125 Introduction to Literature
Instructor: Angela di Gualco
01/10/2014

Theme and Narrative Elements of “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”
The theme is one of the most involved elements of a short story. The themes job is to give the readers the over-all idea that is fabricated behind a story. A short story is marked as portraying broad ideas and elements into small pieces. In short, the theme in a story reflects or serves as the presentation of its ideas. (Clugston, 2010) The objective of this essay is to reveal the ways in which the literary elements tone and character contribute to the larger narrative theme by analyzing the short story by James Thurber titled The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. James Thurber created the character of Walter Mitty whose life seems so ordinary and boring. Walter Mittys imagination (daydreams) helps him to escape his dull life. His imagination places him in heroic situations such as a commander in the Navy steering his crew though bad weather in an 8-engine Navy hydroplane, or thinks he's a famous surgeon who is asked to help a rich Englishman, who is a friend of President Roosevelt.
James Thurber set the tone for Character Walter Mitty by his actions of day dreaming, escaping reality Tone is more than merely an author’s attitude toward his/her audience and characters; it is the stylistic means by which an author conveys his/her Attitudes in a work of literature. Tone is an integral part of a work’s meaning because it controls the reader’s response which is essential to fully experiencing literature. (banner, n.d.) The tone the narrators uses for Character Walter Mitty, he has and over active imagination which helps him to deal with the nagging of his wife "Hmm?" said Walter Mitty. He looked at his wife, in the seat beside him, with shocked astonishment. She seemed grossly unfamiliar, like a strange woman who had yelled at him in a crowd. "You were up to fifty-five," she said. "You know I don't like to go more than forty. The narrator tone describes Walter as being ignored, and bored with his life so much be vaguely remember his wife. There is a clearly a humorous element to this story thinking how Character Walter Mitty fantasies. The fantasies place him in protagonist roles which are adventurist and Ego Boosting.
A study of characters in a short story, and especially in a story of the twentieth century, is unusual. The analysis that follows is not a list of character traits, nor is it a study of character the article focuses on a specific relationship between the reader and the character--the reader being the most important character. (Yovanovich, 1990) The dominating trait character Walter Mitty portray is being able to escape within in an imaginary situation, which reader may view as someone that is a little off or not paying attention to his surroundings. The wife has to constantly remind, Walter of what he need to do “park the car with and park attendant and don’t forget the doggy biscuits. Presentation and development of characters sometimes the characters are not people. They may be animals, or robots, or creatures from outer space, but the author gives them human abilities and human psychological traits. Thus they are really people in all but outward form. (Lopez, n.d.) Author James Thurber literature piece Secret Life of Walter Mitty is a masterpiece that shows how tone and character can shape the way reader interpreted the meaning the short story.

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References
banner, m. (n.d.). College English Department . Retrieved from Brooklyn College Home Page: http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/index.htm
Clugston, R. W. ( 2010). Journey into Literature. Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
Lopez, E. (n.d.). Understanding Character. Retrieved from Scholastic.com: http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plan/understanding-character
Theme And Narrative Elements: The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty. (2012, May). Retrieved from Researchomatic : http://www.researchomatic.com/Theme-And-Narrative-Elements-The-Secret-Life-Of-Walter-Mitty-129685.html
Thompson, T. W. (n.d.). "He Sprang to the Machine": "The Secret [Technological] Life of Walter Mitty.". Retrieved from South Carolina Review ; Fall2008, Vol. 41 Issue 1, p110-115, 6p.
Yovanovich, G. (1990). acter development and the short story: Julio Cortazar's...Studies In Short Fiction, 27(4), 545.