Title: “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”
Author: James Thurber
Category: Short Story
First published: March 18, 1939 in The New Yorker
Rating: 4½ out of 5 stars
Add: Goodreads
Walter Mitty, a mild-mannered forty-year-old man, drives into Connecticut with his wife for their weekly shopping trip and his wife’s appointment with the hairdresser. Tired of his drab, schedule-driven life, Walter escapes into five elaborate daydreams, and finally becomes the hero he always hoped to be.
I don’t know why that blurb says Mitty becomes the hero. I don’t think he ever really did, outside of his daydreams. Each of his daydreams is prompted by something in his environment. First, he’s as a pilot flying in a storm, prompted by his fast driving, then he’s a surgeon performing a one-of-a-kind surgery as he drives by a hospital. Next, he’s an assassin testifying in a courtroom, and then a RAF pilot volunteering for a daring, secret suicide mission to bomb an ammunition dump. As the story ends, Mitty imagines himself facing a firing squad, “inscrutable to the last,” while in real life he’s leaning against a wall smoking.
I read “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” because we recently watched Ben Stiller’s movie, which really has little to do with the story, other than the daydreaming. I enjoyed the story, though it is very short. I did like the ratio between daydreams and real life and how real life leads to the daydreams. It also was clear why Mitty felt the need to imagine a more adventurous, brave life. He seems so bland, bored with life, and dominated by his wife, who can blame him for escaping reality.
I don’t know what makes a classic a classic, but I’m sure that most people can see pieces of themselves or someone they know in Mitty. And the story is memorable.
Take a couple of minutes and read it. Or listen to it – Audible.com has it for free right now, narrated by Ben Stiller.
I got this because Audible had it for free. I just have to finish up my current listen and then I will sneak it in before starting something longer. 🙂
Oh I did not know the movie was basted on a short story
“Based” is a strong word. Really they don’t resemble each other at all.
Hm, here I thought Walter Mitty was a real person. I’m very curious now.
I hope to watch the movie soon. Thank you for the Audible link 🙂