Walter Mitty Identity

Identity functions as an ambiguous idea and topic in today’s society, as no two people possess the same identity. It differentiates one person from the next, and shapes how he or she is viewed in the outside world. Anne Sexton once said, “It doesn’t matter who my father was: it matters who I remember he was”. This quote stresses identity as a crucial aspect of a person’s legacy and its perception, which is also emphasized in “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”, “Young Goodman Brown”, and “A Good Man is Hard to Find”. Walter Mitty’s, Goodman Brown’s, and the Misfit’s behaviors all raise the question: how much is identity shaped by other’s opinions versus by our own? Walter Mitty expresses the side of shaping his own identity in order to go against
how the world sees him. His wife is his main oppressor, telling him, “You’re not a young man any longer” (13). Her opinion, however, has no influence on the fantasies that Mitty creates for himself. In his fantasies, the characters do not display the same indications of aging as Mitty does in his real life. In reality, Mitty is forgetful and bossed around by his wife, and can often be ridiculed for certain blunders. In order to make up for his failings that others see in his real life, Mitty shapes his own identity by creating his own “secret life”. Mitty’s fantasies transform him into a powerful, strong-willed man who is admired greatly by everyone, almost the complete opposite of reality.
While he imagines his own secret identity, Mitty creates his fantasies by taking bits and pieces from his own life. After he was driving too quickly for his wife’s liking, she says to him, “I wish you’d let Dr. Renshaw look you over” (12). As a result, Mitty’s following fantasy involves him being a life-saving doctor in a hospital, with Dr. Renshaw acting as a character in it. In relation to the larger theme of “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”, reality versus imagination, identity plays a crucial role. Mitty employs his imagination to form a secret identity in order to go against the reality of his true identity. This truth makes its strongest point in Mitty’s final fantasy, which makes him think of himself as “Walter Mitty the Undefeated, inscrutable to the last”
(18). While Goodman Brown does not directly shape his own identity, it becomes quite evident based on the people who surround him.
As a man living in Salem in the late seventeenth century, faith undoubtedly plays a large role in his identity. It can be assumed that Brown may not even have a real identity of his own, knowing that he visualizes himself in comparison to the other people around him. Brown’s faith depends on other people’s views, which later allows it to weaken very easily. Brown is concerned with the external view of his faith, emphasized by his hiding when he sees Goody Cloyse and the ministers on horseback, as he “crouched and stood on tip-toe, pulling aside the branches, and thrusting forth his head as far as he durst, without discerning so much as a shadow” (61). Brown’s inability to create an identity for himself and his dependence on other people’s views of him hand the power of his identity over to the external world. At the end of “Young Goodman Brown”, the reader begins to see that if Brown had possessed more strength in his own character, he would not have died with “no hopeful verse upon his tombstone; for his dying hour was gloom” (70). This quote highlights the importance of awareness of one’s identity, rather than allowing it to be shaped by the outside world. In relation to the overarching theme of the hypocrisy of society, Goodman Brown allowed his identity to be shaped by a society of hypocrites, eventually leading to a life of disillusionment and a
death without closure. The Misfit is, clearly, seen by society as an evil, immoral murderer; however, he questions himself and his own life very closely. Despite what the average person may think of a serial killer, the Misfit possesses much self-awareness. He knows that he is a bad man, but believes that there are worse people. The Misfit creates his own philosophies, speaking ideas including “the crime don’t matter” (95) and “no pleasure but meanness” (97). While the Misfit is not a moral, or strictly defined as a “good”, man, he acts how he believes is right and is very consistent in his own identity. Before he acts, he relies on his own formulated moral code. Society merely views the Misfit as an evil and immoral man. He has, however, shaped his own identity and actions very carefully, independently of society’s viewpoint. The underlying theme of good versus evil directly relates to the Misfit’s identity. The reader comes to understand that good and evil are not so black and white, and that while the Misfit is viewed as unprincipled and vicious, he actually holds a consistent, carefully planned out identity. The Misfit believes that he is “doing all right” (95) by himself, asserting that “I don’t want no hep” (95). Walter Mitty, Goodman Brown, and the Misfit all exhibit different perceptions of their identities and society’s views on them. Each of them is facing different issues and living in different environments, but they all carry a strong sense of self, their identities, and how they intended to live their lives. Mitty maneuvered his power over his identity to go against and retreat from the world, Goodman Brown faced the choice between good and evil and relied too much on his environment, and the Misfit carefully formulated all of his actions. Based on the events from each character’s life, important decisions and actions had to be taken to form true and unique identities. Without this power, they would have been lost in their own worlds.