The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty Compare And Contrast Essay

In the short story “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” by James Thurber, the author describes Walter’s life and the numerous daydreams he has. Similar to the story, the film by the same name directed by Ben Stiller, gives the story of Walter’s life while adding substance to the story. While in the short story the theme is each person sees the world a little differently, Stiller morphs the theme in the film into stepping out of our shell and trying for what you want in life. This is seen clearly through the scenes in the film where Walter decides to journey to Greenland and also when he runs from the local pub to the helicopter.
The scene where Walter is running down the hallway with all the Life posters behind him is the first time when the theme of the film is clearly apparent. Instead of Walter just dreaming that he would travel to Greenland on an adventurous search for the 25th slide, he actually goes and does it. Thurber’s writing would have left him in a dream while Stiller took the idea of dreams and turned them into reality. The adaptation also retained a bit of originality to
Even though the daydreams and characters, besides Walter, are all different, the way that Walter comes across in both the film and story is similar. Thurber dwelled in the reveries while Stiller added a higher interest plot to accompany the character. Perhaps one of the uttermost enjoyable aspects of the adaptation is that whether or not one has read the book, the film remains simple to understand and relish. At the same time, though, if one has read the short story, the film is exceptional now that the flesh is added to the character that Thurber created. Overall, the adaptation to Thurber’s short story achieves a fantastic job of altering the message while still retaining a large portion of the foundation of the