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Sercet Life

In: English and Literature

Submitted By STFORT3544
Words 1040
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Literature can be shared written works and stories created by different authors from different time periods. There are many different styles of literature and many different authors who write literature. Literature can be stories, poems, or many other things. The imagination in literature is the human power that shapes artistic expression; it enables a writer’s work to become an expression of meaning in our world, and allows readers to engage in identifying with what the writer’s work has to say about things that matter. (Clugston 2010). Literature helps the reader escape into a world where their imaginations are able to run wild; you can be who you want to be, because literature becomes your secret world of reality. Day Dreaming allows us to follow all sorts of paths and free to generate all sorts of images, feelings, and thoughts. Our daily way of being typically requires us to be quite focused, and goal oriented. Using a reader-response approach, in this paper you will connect with literature, you will find a personal link or imaginative entry in this story. The literary work of James Thurber: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty will show you how an ordinary man escapes his anonymous life by disappearing into a world of imagination filled with heroism, romance and action. Walter Mitty will embark on a global journey that turns into an adventure more extraordinary than anything he could have ever imagined. . James Thurber wrote a short story about an imaginary character who is caught up with day dreaming and thoughts and has little to do with day to day matters…….Walter Mitty behavior is the primary focus of the story. After reading the secret life of Walter Mitty you will realize that James Thurber shows that Walter Mitty is a Habitual dreamer who is so unhappy with his daily life that he uses his dreams to become the person who can change the world. (Chapter 1 Section 1.1) The story shows the reader the active imaginations that Walter Mitty has. Walter Mitty will have five different dreams while trying to perform basic task such as driving, buying wet weather shoes and buying doggie treats. The writer’s use of satire throughout the story shows you how Walter behavior changes with each dream that he has. Walter Mitty first dream takes place when he driving his wife into the city so she could get her hair done, as he is driving into the city he begins to day dream where he believes that he is a commander in an 8-engine Navy hydroplane while he is doing a simple task as driving down the street, Walter’s wife begins to yell and tells him ‘not so fast! You are driving too fast! She begins to question him on why he is driving so fast and in the same manner criticize his driving skills and insist that he go and see a doctor because he is tensed up again. As his wife yells at him and points out a weakness that she believes that he has, the writer sets the stage and the tone of how the story will flow. The reader will begin to understand from beginning to end why Walter Mitty day dreams so much. The writer shows us how controlling Walter Mitty wife really was, and that maybe she is the reason why Mitty day dreams so much, but Walter’s wife is the one person in the story that helps to keep him focused.( Mann1982)Walter Mitty is repeatedly distracted by daydreams, but the writer does demonstrate to his audience that his character is not to out of touch with reality, for instance: Walter Mitty is upset that a parking lot attendant yells at him for being an exit lane and has to help him park his car, he also remembered that when he was with his wife that he needed help putting chains on his car and that his wife insisted that he go to the garage and have them put the chains on because she felt that he was not man enough to do it himself. These two separate events challenged Walter Mitty manhood, it hurt his pride it showed us that Walter Mitty is capable of showing and having emotions. Walter Mitty has to find away to be the man that he wants to be. Walter Mitty was not living his life to the fullest, he lead a very dull and routine life. But his imagination had him in a world of suspense and wonder. After Walter Mitty has his third, fourth and fifth dream, the writer point out that he is having these dreams after completing tasks that he was order to do by his wife. This is symbolic because it shows us that Walter Mitty only had a voice and a choice when he was day dreaming, and that his wife was in charge and the driving force behind the task he was given and had completed.
In reality we know people who are just like Walter Mitty, they live ordinary lives never taking risks, and someone else makes the choices and decisions for them .This story held my attention from start to finish I can relate to the life that Walter Mitty was living and relate to life that he wanted to live. The author shows us how Walter Mitty was unhappy in the current boring world where he did not have a voice. He showed us a world where Walter Mitty had liberties and freedoms and that he was the decision maker for his own life and destiny. I believe that Walter needed a place or a world where he could escape and be who he wanted to be and do the impossible. Witty Mitty day dreaming was a way for him to escape his normal life his demanding wife, and to live a life of extreme pleasure and excitement.

Work Cited:
Cheatham, G; The Secret Sin of Walter Mitty(Fall 1990): Studies in Short Fiction, retrieved from Ashford Library 25 Jan 2014
Clugston, R. W. (2010). Journey into literature. San Diego, California: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
Mann, A.F, Taking Care of Walter Mitty (Fall 1982): Studies In Short Fiction, retrieved from Ashford Library 25 Jan 2014

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