In the short story, “The secret life of Walter Mitty,” a man by the
name of Walter Mitty goes into town with his wife to get some things done.
Throughout this story Walter Mitty shows that he is very forgetful and a
really stubborn man with a vivid imagination. He is constantly being
distracted, and starts to day dream often.
There are a few hints in this story that show Walter Mitty is very
forgetful. Most of this is probably caused by his constant day dreaming
throughout this trip into town and not concentrating too hard on what he’s
doing. Once Walter Mitty had dropped off his wife for her hair
appointment, he began to do his shopping. Walter picks up his overshoes
and then “Walter Mitty began to wonder what the other thing was his wife
had told him to get. She had told him, twice before they left.”(90) Also,
a little later on, Walter Mitty “was always getting something wrong”(90)
This last quote shows that Walter Mitty must forget things quite often.
The story also shows that Walter Mitty is a really stubborn
person. When he was dropping off Mrs. Mitty, Mrs. Mitty told Walter Mitty
not to forget the overshoes he was sopposed to buy while in he was town.
Walter Mitty’s reaction was “I don’t need overshoes,”(88) but he did give
in to his wife in the end, and bought the overshoes. Another incident that
shows Walter Mitty is stubborn occurs when his wife told him to put his
gloves on, then Walter Mitty puts them on, but when his wife is out of site
he took them off immediately.
The most obvious trait of Walter Mitty is his constant day dreaming.
Throughout the whole story, Walter Mitty is being distracted easily by
everyday events. His dreams turn these simple events into wild fantasies
such as being a surgeon, bomber pilot and a captain of a sea vessel. An
example of how he changes something from everyday life into a dream occurs
when Walter Mitty is trying to remember what it was his wife had told him
to get, then a paper boy went by shouting something about a trial. Walter
Mitty quickly went into one of his day dreams and was suddenly on trial for
murder in his dream. The story is based on Walter Mitty’s dream, so
obviously he has a vivid imagination and day dreams often.
All of these points show that Walter Mitty is forgetful, stubborn
and a day dreamer. Most of this story is focussed around Walter Mitty’s
day dreaming and his wife also plays a role in bringing out Walter Mitty’s
characteristics.
