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Thurber published “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” in March 1939. This was a pivotal year in history, one in which the Great Depression was winding down and World War II began.
The Great Depression was the worldwide economic downturn that began with the Stock Market Crash of 1929 and lasted until 1939, defining the 1930s. Families felt the effects of the Depression, especially in relation to the impact it had on gender roles.
In the U.S., men traditionally held the role of providers and protectors of their families. They were considered the heads of their households. However, during the Great Depression, millions of men lost their jobs and could not find new employment. Until 1935, the U.S. did not have any form of social security or unemployment insurance. The inability to provide for their families financially caused many men to feel weak and ineffective. However, accepting unemployment felt like a threat to their masculinity.
During the Great Depression, financial pressure led millions of women to enter the workforce. Women took on jobs in teaching, nursing, and domestic help, such as cleaning, sewing, cooking, and caring for children. During the 1930s, the number of women in the workforce grew by 24%. At the same time, the marriage rates fell by 22%, leading to more single women being in the workforce. The jobs women took, however, paid less than their male counterparts. Most men would not consider jobs they thought of as “women’s work.” In many families, men had to depend on women to provide for the family.
Readers can see this gender role anxiety in “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” and other works by James Thurber. The writer satirizes the changed family power dynamic. The character Walter Mitty represents the emasculated man, weak and submissive to his wife.
The hardships of the Great Depression also led to a festering rise in extremist politics. Nowhere was that more disastrous than in Europe. In Spain, a bloody civil war lasted from 1936 to 1939. General Francisco Franco led fascist Nationalists, who represented the military, landowners, and businessmen. They clashed with Republicans, who were supported by workers in the cities and farmers in rural areas. In Italy, as private industry faltered, the fascist government of Benito Mussolini increased spending to provide employment. In Germany, the Nazi Party and Adolf Hitler took control in 1933 due to conditions created by inflation and massive unemployment. Hitler appealed to Germans with the promise of restoring pride to Germany and its men.
Thurber alludes to European tensions and the threat of a new world war in “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.” Mitty sees a magazine article titled “Can Germany Conquer the World Through the Air?” and “pictures of bombing planes and of ruined streets.” Nazi Germany supported Franco and the Nationalists through the devastating power of their Luftwaffe, or air force. The photos most likely come from the devastation in Spain, and the article title foreshadows the coming war.
