The Secret life of Walter Mitty and The story of an Hour

David Babers
ENG 125
Sabine Reljic
January 27, 2014

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and The Story of an Hour share a variety of similarities along with many differences. The main points of these stories shows the dynamics love within their marriage but in different way; both woman share common bond of tolerance, for their significant other when it comes to the lack of certain things in their marriage. One of the first similarities of the two stories I notice was the fact that both of the men wives was extremely concerned about their significant others well being. Even though the displayed their affection for their husbands with different actions it was more than obvious that each of them was in sync with their other half’s. Both of the literary pieces where written and described in different points of view. “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” was written in the form of an omniscient third person point of view. This allows the narrator to describe his own thoughts of the character as the story progresses. But as far is the character Mrs. Mitty it seems as she speaks in more so a first person point of view, as her words and thoughts seems to be more so given in a direct and plain form. As for the “The Story of anf Hour” it is also written in the third person point of view, but it would be considered more so as a limited third person omniscient. “This is a point of view when the thoughts and feelings of only one of the characters are related through the narrator. An external narrator who takes a detached approach to the action and characters, usually to create a dramatic effect, and does not enter into their minds is using an objective point of view.”(Journey into Literature 2010) In other words this story is told from only one character’s thoughts although there are multiple characters within the story. According to our reading material the Journey into Literature, the literary piece of “The Story of an Hour” is thought of and considered to be a work of poetry while “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” is consider being a short story. I would with both writings are more so of a short story I would never image one of them being considered as a work of poetry. In example for both literary pieces of work in the title along it let’s mentions the word story letting the reader know that this piece of literary work is meant to be a story told. Both pieces of work are short and secured with short paragraphs and has a distinct descriptive in writing style set by the author. Both stories give a vast amount of detail and an abundant amount of information. Poetry can have these same elements but most poetry doesn’t. Mainly poetry consists on the reader gathering a perception of the messages that the author is trying to relay. Unlike most poetry these stories gives an in-depth sight into the feelings and emotions of the characters and the story progress and beings to unfold in front of the readers eyes. Even though both of these stories were told in such a short span of time it gives more than enough detail. For example With the Secret Life of Walter Mitty this story took place in throughout the time span of a few hours while he was out with his wife running Aarons when Mr. Witty would quickly sleep in an out day dreams each one of them my only happened in reality on for a short time span but throughout that time span the author did an extremely well job painting a vivid picture of what was going on in Mr. Witty imagination such as when he was fighter pilot in a dog fight the reading is clearly able to understand and determine the roles and the abits of the characters that are involved. On the other hand In “The Story of an Hour” since all of the events occur only in the time span of one hour there isn’t much time for and major flashbacks, or history of characters. Most of the thoughts in this story are brief and to the point in explanation; although short, clear, and precise comprehension of what is going on is still valid. Each of the stories has its own breaking points throughout each piece of the literary works. “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” has no climax to the ending but it doesn’t come to a surprise if you think about the way the story begun and how it went along with Mr. Witty being a chronic daydreamer it’s almost only logical for the story to conclude in such a similar manner. Mr. Witty is an ordinary man who embarks on participating in extraordinary things in his own mind. Often in his fantasies he image himself as someone of importance and in charge, some examples of this is when he thought of himself as a hero, fighter pilots, strong and powerful political figures close friends and etc. In my personnel opinion I feel his fantasies could be in direct connection to his marital relationship. Mrs. Mitty tends to be bossy and seems to play more of the leader in the relationship, at times I can assume that can become overwhelming for a man. In the defense of Mrs. Mitty one could say the reason she happens to be bossy and in control is because understand the kind of man she has chosen to be with and that her way of showing her care and un devoted love for him and he well being. After all Mr. Mitty is an chronic day dreamer, once the daydreaming is over Mrs. Mitty is the one who is always there to bring him back to reality, and once back to reality he returns to being his regular forgetful and passive self. Throughout the story you get the hint and can tell that Mr. Mitty wants to better himself in those aspects but he knows this cannot be accomplished on his own. So even though he dislikes the way his wife treats him at times he accepts it and know it is not only beneficial to him but it is her way of showing she cherish and loves him. Unlike in “The Secret life of Walter Mitty” In Kate Coplins “The Story of an Hour” there is a climax involved. In the story it states that Mrs. Mallard felt something coming to her and she was anticipating on it but she didn’t know what it was that was coming to her, but she felt in felt in deep in her spirit. She did he best to fight the overwhelming feeling but she was unable to do so and was not only conquered overwhelming feeling but it also consumed her very being. When she abandoned herself a voice whispered “Free, free, free!" The vacant stare and the look of terror that had followed it went from her eyes. The Story of an Hour displays its love within the marriage of the two through the devastation and the heartbreak of the wife after receiving tragic news of the death of her husband. The setting of this story is Mrs. Mallard was a sick elder woman that was having heart trouble so to hear such troubling news would be harder for someone in her condition to cope with. After hearing the news her life flashes before her eyes and she goes into deep through that would put her in a trance, during this time she reminisces on the moment that she will no longer be able to spend with her husband. As she stares out of the window she goes through an emotion uproar where she would have a spiritual experience and find peace while looking out of the very window and then be able to come to terms with the loss of her husband. In this story you can determine that she never thought of spending a day of her life without her husband by her side. Thus reliving how in sync and deeply in love with her husband. These are both examples of great example of how each of the wives love their husbands deeply but shown in to different in aspects, with one wife caring for her husband and dealing with his chronic day dreaming and forgetfulness and the other having to deal with coping with the loss of her husband. In both stories I found that they used great examples of symbolism, I found what I would consider a perfect example of symbolism in “The Story of an Hour”. The example was when Mrs. Mallard hears devastating news regarding the death of her husband. She goes into shock then finds herself staring out an “open window and sank down into a comfortable, roomy armchair. Into this she sank, pressed down by a physical exhaustion that haunted her body and seems to reach into her soul” (Kate Chopin 1894) Journey into Literature 2010). When I read see the window being a portal into a more spiritual world one of not this one where she drifts of into memories of the past and she can see herself along with gaining knowledge while she stared out of the window. In the story it states while staring out of that window it was as she was “drinking in a very elixir of life” that to help her come to peace with the tragedy of losing her husband. The second form of symbol I seen that I felt was a great example was that of in “The Secret life of Walter Mitty.” The symbolic themes in the story of Mitty would consist of overshoes he gloves, and the tire chains. They all represent Mrs. Mitty's control factors with her husband. She reminds him to purchase the over shoes in a demanding way. She also expresses her feeling about him driving the speed limit when she advises him to and slow down to 40 from 55. In addition, she requires him to take his car to a garage to have the snow chains on his tires removed. We know that both stories were designed to be short stories but they but are drastically different in message that they want to present to the readers. The Story of an Hour is more of a serious and tragic story. It could also be consider a drama based on the fact it is about love, and the loss of a spouse that concluded in death leaving his to be devastated and broken widow. Also I feel the author wrote this story in the form of suspense. While Mrs. Mallard has an emotional break through, it makes the reader wonder what becomes of her later in life. It leaves the reader to come it their own conclusion weather she will be able to continue on with the loss of her husband or weather a not the loss of her husband with her already heart condition will be too much for her to continue on. As for “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty this story is the complete opposite. This story takes more of a comical role more than anything. The author takes a creative and playful approach. With the vivid imagination of Walter Mitty which at times can be fairly humorous once you get more in depth with the story. Especially after reading the story more than once and began to analyze the story in itself; apart that found rather humorous and quite entertaining is how Mr. and Mrs. Mitty would bicker with one another when they are voicing their opinion on various topics. For instance if Mrs. Mitty caught Walter drifting off into his favorite past time of day dreaming she would remind him of the daily task that he has to complete. Instead of Walter viewing it as her way of showing her affection for him by keeping him on the right path, he views it as her fussing and nagging. When in reality if she fail to remind him of certain things more than likely he would forget about them and not accomplish any of the task. It remind me of me and my significant other, where we both think we have everything under control and want the same thing but go about it in to different manners. But in both case Mr. and Mrs. Mitty needs each other as do I and my significant other need each other. I feel the complement each other because more than likely if she did not have Walter she would have nothing better to do, along with if Walter did not have his wife he would spend most of his time day dreaming and never getting anything accomplish. At the end of the day I see this story as a love that has grown old and pure over time. While the example of love displayed in “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” differs from the love shown in “The Story of an Hour”. The demonstration of love shown in “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” is shown in more of a form of a caretaker. Walter has the habit of becoming side tracked fairly quick and easily distracted. Day dreaming is known to be his source of how his mind drifts away from reality. “Mitty daydreamed of a more exciting life as he went about his errands. He became a war hero, or a doctor or an excellent marksman. His daydreams, however, were always interrupted by his wife, bystanders or other realities of life” (Bismarck Tribune2010). Which his wife has to constantly remind him of the things that needs to be done, which Walter isn’t quite fund of. His wife shows her love for Walter in a more caring type of way some would say in the way a mother loves her child or an older sibling would care to their younger siblings. She understands that he is hard headed and not easy persuaded to get things done. "Remember to get those overshoes while I'm having my hair done," she said.” I don't need overshoes," said Mitty. She put her mirror back into her bag. "We've been all through that," she said, getting out of the car. "You're not a young man any longer” (The Secret life of Walter Mitty Journey into Literature 2010) This conversation between Mitty and his wife describes his feelings towards his wife continuously giving him instructions to abide by. At times he may not like it but her thoughts and devotion are strictly out of love. Just as any relationship if one party does not care then anything will be mentioned or done to diffuse the situation. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty shows a marriage in which the wife is dominating, and controlling, Mitty, is very passive, and submissive, and under his wife's watch. The Story of an Hour shows a marriage in which the wife feels as she no longer can go on without her husband, who seemed to be so much more as some would say best friend, soul mate, other half and so much more. The two stories displays one where the husband needs his wife to function properly and in the other story it displays as the wife needs her husband to continue on and function properly. Regardless of how you view the stories neither couple are complete without their significant other. Walter may not have admitted to the fact or showed how he felt but without Mrs. Mitty he would forever be lost and living in a fantasy of his mind. Mrs. Mallard expressed her unconditional love and affection for her husbanded and the fact that she needed he husband to survive, in the end it was the loss her husband white may have been the cause of her death.

Reference
Clugston, R. (2010). Secret Life of Walter Mitty. Introduction into Literature. Bridgepoint Education, San Diego, CA
Clugston, R. (2010). The Story of an Hour. Introduction into Literature. Bridgepoint Education, San Diego, CA