The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty

By:

Daniel Fuggiti

Atom Mingle

Adam Kopach

Adam Nissenbaum

Nathan Marquez

Summary

The story "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" is about a man who spends half of his life in the real world and the other half of it in the dream world. Walter Mitty day dreams and fantasizes about certain scenarios through out his day and while he is running errands for his wife. His dreams are not entirely random though. Things like driving a car and reading a newspaper cause him to slip into these day dreams and occasionally put his life in danger.

In his dreams he is a brave soul but despite being like this in his day dreams, he is somewhat of a coward in the real world. At the end of the story when he finally finds the courage to stand up to his wife, he is "shot down" metaphorically by his wife basically telling that his words mean nothing to her as well as literally getting shot down in his day dream by the firing squad.

Major Conflicts

(Man VS. Man) Walter Mitty keeps day dreaming. He has arguments with his wife about him not doing the things that his wife is asking him to do due to his day dreams. At the end of the story he stands up to his wife and in his dream he is a champion and is a hero because he finally stud up for himself

(Man VS. Self) Walter Mitty uses his daydreams as a place to escape from the dictatorship of his wife and uses them to help build self of steam. The problem with his daydreams is that he is in a daydream and not focusing on what is transpiring around him so he can be a danger to himself.

Setting

The setting of this story is not clear in the story, but it seems to take place in a city in the 1970’s out side of his day dreams. In his day dreams, he appears in a court room, a operating room, a airship, and a drugstore.

Theme

The general theme seems to be courage.

Mitty is very courageous in his daydreams and he try's to use the courage he day dreams about to try to change how is wife see’s him.

Literary Elements

Point of View: The point of view is first person because Walter Mitty is telling the story and sharing his thoughts and emotions. In the story Walter Mitty stands up to his wife and says, “ Have you ever thought that I was thinking” showing emotion and his outlook on what he thinks.

Foreshadowing: In the story it shows when he is about to enter or leave a daydream by showing,”…” I gives a hint on what to come.

Protagonist/ Antagonist: The protagonist is Walter Mitty because the day dreams are about him and he is in the story from start to end. The antagonist is Walter Mittys wife because he is against him the whole story. When Walter Mitty stands up for him self his wife doesn’t care and forgets about it.

Notes

It says at the end of the story that he went up against a firing squad and what he meant by firing squad was his wife because she controls his life.

At the beginning of the story he is day dreaming while driving and his wife tells him to slow down because she does not like going over 40 mph. This is just to show how he day dreams and detaches from the real world.

Question 1

How many times did Walter Mitty day dream?

A. 3 B. 4 C. 5 D. 6

Question 2

What was he doing for the day? A. fishing B. errands C. road trip D. going out to eat

Question 4

What article of clothing did Walter need? A. shirt B. shoes C. pants D. Underwear

Question 3

What did his wife tell him to get? A. toilet paper B. taco supplies C. puppy biscuits D. a job

Question 5

What was Walter’s first day dream? A. In a courtroom B. firing squad C. on the plane D. captain of a ship

Question 6

What type of person was his wife? A. nice B. controlling C. patient D. shy

Question 7

Which of the following does NOT trigger a day dream?

A. a news paper B. driving to the mall C. skipping around D. driving past the hospital

Answers

C B C B D B C