The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

By James Thurber (1894-1961)

Type of Work and Publication Dates "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" is a short story

centering on the daydreams of a henpecked Connecticut husband.

It was first published in the March 18, 1939, issue of The New Yorker.

Harcourt, Brace and Company published it in October, 1942, in a book collection of Thurber's works, My World--and Welcome to It. 

Setting

The action takes place in the late 1930s in a car traveling to Waterbury, Connecticut, and in the city itself in the area of Main Street.

Waterbury is in west-central Connecticut on the Naugatuck River.

Characters (Real-Life) Walter Mitty: Meek Connecticut man who retreats into

daydreams in which he becomes a hero. Mrs. Mitty: Mitty's domineering wife. Parking Attendant: After Mitty pulls into the wrong lane

in a parking lot, the attendant takes the wheel and parks the car.

Policeman: Officer who orders Mitty to pull away after a traffic signal turns from red to green.

Pedestrians: Woman and her companion who encounter Mitty on the street. When the woman notices Mitty talking to himself, she makes fun of him. 

Dr. Renshaw: Mitty's family doctor. Mrs. Mitty tells her husband to see the physician for a checkup. 

Garage Man: Person who removed chains from Mitty's tires.

Daydream 1

Commander Mitty: Pilot of a navy hydroplane.

Berg: Lieutenant. He cautions Mitty not to fly in stormy weather.

Crewmen

Day Dream 2

Dr. Mitty: One of the world's most eminent surgeons. Wellington McMillan: Millionaire patient and friend of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. McMillan requires immediate surgery.

Dr. Renshaw: One of the physicians attending McMillan. (Renshaw is Mitty's real-life physician.)

Dr. Benbow: One of the physicians attending McMillan. Dr. Remington: Eminent New York specialist called in on the

McMillan case. Dr. Pritchard-Mitford: Eminent London specialist called in on the

McMillan case. Nurse Intern

Daydream 3

Mitty: Suspect in a murder case. He is an expert marksman who is on the stand answering the district attorney's questions. Gregory Fitzhurst: Murder victim.  District Attorney: Prosecutor in the murder case. Woman: "Lovely, dark-haired girl," the narrator says, who throws herself into Mitty's arms. Judge

Daydream 4

Captain Mitty: Devil-may-care World War I pilot. Sergeant: Soldier who urges Mitty not to fly alone. Raleigh: Shell-shocked flier. Von Richtman: Allusion to Manfred von Richtofen, known as the Red Baron.

Daydream 5

Mitty: Defiant prisoner about to be executed. Firing Squad

Point of View

Thurber tells the story in omniscient, third-person point of view, enabling the narrator to reveal the thoughts of Walter Mitty as they are in progress.

However, the narration does not peep into the mind of Mrs. Mitty.

Instead, it reveals what she is thinking through her spoken words.

Themes Escapism

Henpecked Mitty deals with his everyday frustrations by escaping into daydreams. 

Boosting the Ego Mitty is a submissive, accommodating chap. But when he makes himself the hero of his daydreams, he

becomes a veritable demigod. His daydreams help him sustain his ego against the nitpicking of

his wife. Vicarious Adventure

Even an ordinary man can become an extraordinary hero—with the help of his imagination.

And who is to say that the secret world of Walter Mitty is not a real world?

After all, daydreams are part of everyday reality.

Thurber's Humor

Narration and dialogue that mock the melodrama of hack novels.

" 'We're going through!' The Commander's voice was like thin ice breaking. He wore his full-dress uniform, with the heavily braided white cap pulled down rakishly over one cold gray eye. 'We can't make it, sir. It's spoiling for a hurricane, if you ask me.' 'I'm not asking you, Lieutenant Berg,' said the Commander. 'Throw on the power lights! Rev her up to 8500! We're going through!' "

Or consider this passage: " 'With any known make of gun,' " [Mitty] said evenly, 'I could have killed Gregory Fitzhurst at three hundred feet with my left hand.' Pandemonium broke loose in the courtroom. A woman's scream rose above the bedlam and suddenly a lovely, dark-haired girl was in Walter Mitty's arms." 

Thurber's Humor

Repetition of sounds and images that fascinate Mitty. For example, Thurber uses the onomatopoeia “pocketa-pocketa” to

imitate the sound of an aircraft engine in the first daydream, to imitate the sound of the anesthetizer in the second daydream—with the addition of “queep” when the machine malfunctions—and to imitate the sound of flame throwers in the fourth daydream.

(Flame throwers, of course, don't go “pocketa-pocketa” but instead make a whooshing sound. But so what. “Pocketa-pocketa” is more dramatic.)

In addition, Thurber uses images of complicated dials in the first and second daydreams and of a gun (Webley-Vickers 50.80) in the third and fourth daydreams. 

Thurber's Humor

Oddball neologisms and malapropisms. Note, for example, that Wellington McMillan suffers from “obstreosis of the ductal tract” and later develops a condition called “coreopsis.” The former is a made-up disease and the latter is a genus of colorful  flowers. 

Thurber's Humor

Descriptions of incredible feats that the daydreaming Mitty performs or claims he can perform.

For example, he repairs the anesthetizer with a fountain pen and claims that he could have killed Gregory Fitzhurst from 300 feet by shooting a gun with his left hand. (Mitty is right-handed.)

Thurber's Humor

Abrupt transitions from the mundane Mitty of everyday life to the heroic Mitty of the daydreams.

For example, after Mitty slugs the district attorney in the courtroom dream, he remembers that he must buy puppy biscuits. 

Mitty's Ineptitude

Mrs. Mitty bullies poor Walter, but it appears that his obvious ineptitude and carelessness play no small role in inciting her nagging and the ill treatment he receives from others.  Consider, for example, the matter of the gloves. Next, consider the matter of the overshoes. Consider also the following incidents that attest to his ineptitude:

(1) he pulls into the Exit Only lane at the parking lot; (2) when attempting to remove snow chains from his car tires, he

ends up getting them wound around the axle and has to call a garage man to undo his bungling.

Mitty also tends to be forgetful

Climax

There is no climax in the story unless one interprets the final daydream as a turning point in Mitty's life.

.However, given the tone of the story and the meekness of Mitty, it is likely that he takes no remedial action of any kind but simply continues to daydream and tolerate his wife's nitpicking. 

Symbols

The car, the overshoes, the gloves, and the tire chains: These all symbolize Mrs. Mitty's control over

bumbling Walter. She orders him to buy overshoes, wear

gloves, and slow down from 55 to 40. In addition, she requires him to take his car to a garage to have the snow chains on his tires removed. 

Symbols

Policeman, parking attendant, garage man: They symbolize the control that the world

exerts over Walter. Images of war and guns:

They symbolize the strong masculinity that Mitty lacks.

Allusions, Names, Special Terms, and Malapropisms Archies: Anti-aircraft weapons.

Auprès de Ma Blonde: French folk song composed in the 1600s. The title may be translated as "Near My Fair-Haired Lady" or "Next to My Dear One." The French word blonde may also connote mistress. It is said that French soldiers sometimes sang the song when going into battle.

Coals to Newcastle: These words are often used as part of the phrase like carrying coals to Newcastle. Newcastle upon Tyne is a British city famous for the production and export of coal. To say that performing a certain task is like carrying coals to Newcastle is to say that one is executing a needless task.

Coreopsis: See Oddball Neologisms and Malapropisms.

Hydroplane: Seaplane; plane that can take off and land on water.

Liberty: Weekly feature magazine published between 1924 and 1950.

Obstreosis of the ductal tract: See Oddball Neologisms and Malapropisms.

Von Richtman's Circus: Von Richtman is an allusion to Manfred von Richtofen (1892-1918), an ace World War I German pilot known as the Red Baron. Circus is an allusion to the Flying Circus, a unit of elite pilots commanded by Richtofen.

Webley-Vickers 50.80: Made-up name for a gun. Webley and Vickers were separate British companies that manufactured weapons. Webley made service revolvers; Vickers made machine guns. (Vickers also constructed ships and aircraft).

Study Questions

Is Mitty's daydreaming normal? Or is it a symptom of a deep-seated problem?

Make a list of your most frequent daydreams. What do they tell you about yourself?

What do you believe is the main source of inspiration for Mitty's daydreams? Movies? Novels? Newspapers? Magazines?