Transcript The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Versions of Reality Quotes

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The Secret Life of Walter
Mitty
Quotes of Reality
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"WE'RE going through!" The
Commander's voice was like thin ice
breaking. (p. 210)
The story begins in Walter's mind. This is
good evidence for the argument that
dreams and not reality dominate the
plotline.
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The pounding of the cylinders increased:
ta-pocketa-pocketa-pocketa-pocketapocketa. (p. 210)
Notice how elements of reality are
incorporated into Mitty's dreams. In this
case, he reinterprets the sound of the car
as the sound of the hydroplane.
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"You're tensed up again," said Mrs. Mitty.
"It's one of your days. I wish you'd let Dr.
Renshaw look you over." (p. 211)
After this line, readers might suspect that
Walter Mitty is mentally unstable. Or, it
could just be that his wife is overreacting.
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"Obstreosis of the ductal tract. Tertiary.
Wish you'd take a look at him." "Glad to,"
said Mitty. (p. 211)
Mitty even makes up words and terms in
his imaginings – his dreams always have the
tinge of kid-like fantasy.
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Walter Mitty took the gun and examined it
expertly. "This is my Webley-Vickers
50.80," he said calmly. (p. 212)
This is an absurdly large gun, of course –
again we see that Walter's fantasies are
absurd; he doesn't know much about the
lifestyles he pretends to live.
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The Secret Life of Walter
Mitty
Dissatisfaction Quotes
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Walter resents the way those around him
see him; his dissatisfaction with reality
has a lot to do with his image.
Since then Mrs. Mitty always made him drive to
a garage to have the chains taken off. The next time, he
thought, I'll wear my right arm in a sling; they won't grin at
me then. I'll have my right arm in a sling and they'll see I
couldn't possibly take the chains off myself. He kicked
at the slush on the sidewalk.
(p. 212)
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This is what so bothers Mitty about the
real world; others don't understand him
and misconstrue his actions.
"Puppy biscuit," said Walter Mitty. He stopped walking
and the buildings of Waterbury rose up out of the misty
courtroom and surrounded him again. A woman who was
passing laughed. "He said 'Puppy biscuit,'" she said to
her companion. "That man said 'Puppy biscuit' to
himself." Walter Mitty hurried on.
(p. 213)
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In Mitty's mind, even the doors are
making fun of him!
They went out through the revolving doors
that made a faintly derisive whistling sound
when you pushed them.
(p. 214)
11
The narration again seems to be under
Walter's influence – it is Walter who
emphasizes the difference between what
Mrs. Mitty says and what she does.
"Wait here for me. I forgot something. I won't be
a minute." She was more than a minute.
(p.214)
12
Does Walter end the story on a note
of victory, or of defeat?
Then, with that faint, fleeting smile playing
about his lips,he faced the firing squad; erect
and motionless, proud and disdainful, Walter
Mitty the Undefeated, inscrutable to the last.
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The Secret Life of Walter
Mitty
Men and Masculinity Quotes
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Mitty always makes a point of including
beautiful women in his fantasies.
. . . "It's the millionaire banker, Wellington
McMillan," said the pretty nurse.
(p. 211)
15
Mitty glamorizes men who are close
to important people.
"We're having the devil's own time with
McMillan, the millionaire banker and close
personal friend of Roosevelt."
(p. 211)
16
Mitty imagines himself as a decisive man who
can take charge. In his mind, these are ideal
male qualities.
"Quiet, man!" said Mitty, in a low, cool voice. He sprang to the
machine, which was now going pocketa-pocketa-queeppocketa-queep . He began fingering delicately a row of
glistening dials. "Give me a fountain pen!" he snapped.
Someone handed him a fountain pen. He pulled a faulty piston
out of the machine and inserted the pen in its place. "That will
hold for ten minutes," he said. "Get on with the operation.
(p.211)
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In real life, people don't allow Mitty to do
things for himself, but in fantasies people treat
him differently.
"If you would take over, Mitty?" Mitty
looked at him and at the craven figure of
Benbow, who drank, and at the grave,
uncertain faces of the two great
specialists. "If you wish," he said.
(p.212)
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Mitty fantasizes that he is both skilled and
unapologetic. His alter-ego can stand up to
others instead of submitting to them.
"With any known make of gun," he said evenly, "I could
have killed Gregory Fitzhurst at three hundred feet
with my left hand." Pandemonium broke loose in the
courtroom. A woman's scream rose above the bedlam
and suddenly a lovely, dark-haired girl was in Walter
Mitty's arms. The District Attorney struck at her
savagely. Without rising from his chair, Mitty let
the man have it on the point of the chin. .
(p.212)
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The Secret Life of Walter
Mitty
Marriage Quotes
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Notice the contrast between Mitty's fantasy
and his reality. His dreams compensate for
what bothers him about his marriage.
"The Old Man ain't afraid of hell!" . . .
"Not so fast! You're driving too fast!"
said Mrs. Mitty. "What are you driving
so fast for?"
(p.211)
21
Walter and his wife don’t understand each
other. They have reach to the point where they
seem like strangers.
He looked at his wife, in the seat beside
him, with shocked astonishment. She
seemed grossly unfamiliar, like a
strange woman who had yelled at him in a
crowd.
(p.211)
22
Mrs. Mitty sees Walter as an incompetent and
clumsy man. She makes others view him the
same way.
Once he had tried to take his chains off,
outside New Milford, and he had got them
wound around the axles. A man had had to
come out in a wrecking car and unwind them, a
young, grinning garage man. Since then Mrs.
Mitty always made him drive to a garage to have
the chains taken off.
(p. 212)
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This story is a part of Mitty's typical
life.
Walter Mitty began to wonder what the other
thing was his wife had told him to get. She had
told him, twice before they set out from their
house for Waterbury. In a way he hated
these weekly trips to town--he was always getting
something wrong.
(p. 212)
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This is the first time that Walter
actually tries to stand up to his wife –
and to no avail.
'I was thinking," said Walter Mitty. "Does it
ever occur to you that I am sometimes
thinking?" She looked at him. "I'm going to
take your temperature when I get you home,"
she said.
(p. 214)
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The Secret Life of Walter
Mitty
Identity Quotes
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"We've been all through that," she
said, getting out of the car. "You're
not a young man any longer."
(p.211)
Mitty's true age plays a role in
establishing his character.
The characters he embodies in his
fantasies don't show the same signs of
aging (memory loss, loss of
coordination) that Walter does.
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Oh," said Mitty, handing the man the
ignition key. The attendant vaulted
into the car, backed it up with insolent
skill, and put it where it belonged. (p.212)
The narration slips under Mitty's
influence – the word "insolent“ reflects
Walter's state of mind.
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"Any special brand, sir?" The
greatest pistol shot in the world
thought a moment. "It says
'Puppies Bark for It' on the box," said
Walter Mitty. .
(p.213)
Walter's imaginary character is strongly
contrasted with his real character.
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'I was thinking," said Walter Mitty.
"Does it ever occur to you that I am
sometimes thinking?" She looked at
him. "I'm going to take your
temperature when I get you home,"
she said.
(p.214)
Walter's potential is limited because of
his wife.
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