The "Imagined" Life of Walter Mitty
The “Imagined” Life Of Walter Mitty
James Thurber writes a short story about the life of a man who imagines his life a little bit more exciting than his normal, mundane, boring life. The story starts out with Walter and his wife driving to town. Walter was imagining that he was driving a NAVY hydroplane through a terrible storm only to have his fantasy shattered by the nagging voice of his wife informing him that he was driving too fast. After dropping his wife off at her hair appointment and listening to her badger him some more about his need for overshoes and gloves. Walter was off in his car again. He paced the streets for a while and then his imagination started in again as he passed by the hospital. This time he was a world famous surgeon and he was the millionaire banker’s only hope for survival. Now his daydreams interrupted by the sound of the parking attendant informing him he was about to hit another vehicle. The attendant demanded Walter leave his car for the attendant to park it safely. Feeling disgusted, Mitty kicked the slush on the sidewalk reminding him of the overshoes his wife asked that he buy. After finding the shoe store and purchasing the overshoes Walter wondered what else it was that his wife said he needed to buy. This took him in to another fantasy. Now he was on the witness stand being accused of being a Crack Shot. Walter’s lawyer defended him by saying that his right arm was in a sling and that there was no way he could have fired a gun in that condition. When Mitty returns to the lobby to pick up his wife he sees a magazine with German bombers on it. Now he begins to fantasize that he is an air captain willing to do what it takes to protect his country. Once again he is interrupted. And once again by his wife, who is already scolding him for buying the overshoes and not putting them on. In Walter Mitty’s last fantasy of the day, whilst waiting for his wife again, this time at the drug store, he imagines he is being
James Thurber writes a short story about the life of a man who imagines his life a little bit more exciting than his normal, mundane, boring life. The story starts out with Walter and his wife driving to town. Walter was imagining that he was driving a NAVY hydroplane through a terrible storm only to have his fantasy shattered by the nagging voice of his wife informing him that he was driving too fast. After dropping his wife off at her hair appointment and listening to her badger him some more about his need for overshoes and gloves. Walter was off in his car again. He paced the streets for a while and then his imagination started in again as he passed by the hospital. This time he was a world famous surgeon and he was the millionaire banker’s only hope for survival. Now his daydreams interrupted by the sound of the parking attendant informing him he was about to hit another vehicle. The attendant demanded Walter leave his car for the attendant to park it safely. Feeling disgusted, Mitty kicked the slush on the sidewalk reminding him of the overshoes his wife asked that he buy. After finding the shoe store and purchasing the overshoes Walter wondered what else it was that his wife said he needed to buy. This took him in to another fantasy. Now he was on the witness stand being accused of being a Crack Shot. Walter’s lawyer defended him by saying that his right arm was in a sling and that there was no way he could have fired a gun in that condition. When Mitty returns to the lobby to pick up his wife he sees a magazine with German bombers on it. Now he begins to fantasize that he is an air captain willing to do what it takes to protect his country. Once again he is interrupted. And once again by his wife, who is already scolding him for buying the overshoes and not putting them on. In Walter Mitty’s last fantasy of the day, whilst waiting for his wife again, this time at the drug store, he imagines he is being