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James Thurber’s short story “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” satirizes the early 20th century male and the human propensity for escapism. The story contrasts Mitty’s humdrum reality with the hypermasculine fantasies of his “secret life” of imagination. First published in 1939, the story uses the stereotypes of the meek husband and domineering wife, which were common figures in Thurber’s writings and cartoons.
The story’s exposition begins in medias res, placing the reader squarely in the middle of one of Mitty’s daydreams. Mitty stars as a Naval commander, his plane being pummeled by a terrifying storm. Heroically, Mitty dares to fly through the storm. His admiring crew gladly takes his orders, having full faith that he will save the day.
Like a thunderclap, Mrs. Mitty dashes Mitty’s fantasy, drawing him back to reality by telling him to slow down. In this way, the story introduces its two major conflicts. First, Mitty’s fantastic “secret life” versus his drab real life. This pattern repeats throughout the story, alternating between fantasy and reality. Second, Mitty, the protagonist, versus Mrs. Mitty, his primary antagonist.
After scolding Mitty, Mrs. Mitty senses that something is wrong with him, but she thinks it is something physical rather than mental or emotional. Mitty keeps his secret life to himself, not daring to share it with his wife.
The story’s rising action begins in town and comprises a series of errands interspersed with similarly thrilling daydreams. As Mitty drops off his wife, she reminds him to buy overshoes and to wear his gloves. She treats Mitty like a child, telling him what to buy and wear. When Mitty offers the slightest resistance, Mrs. Mitty belittles him, ironically reminding him that he is “not a young man any longer.”
Driving past a hospital, Mitty slips into his next fantasy, a hospital drama. The fantasy follows Mrs. Mitty’s remark that he should see Dr. Renshaw, and it reveals Mitty’s sense of powerlessness. He has little autonomy and no authority in the doctor-patient relationship. Dr. Mitty, in contrast, has the respect and admiration of doctors. The fate of an important patient is in Mitty’s capable hands. Mitty even fixes a failing medical device using only a fountain pen. He longs for greater authority and admiration.
The shout from a parking lot attendant breaks Mitty out of his daydream. The attendant parks Mitty’s car for him, using “insolent skill.” Mitty flashes back to another experience in which his ineptitude led to his being rescued by a young tow truck driver. Mitty feels emasculated because both men demonstrate an easy competence with cars that he does not have.
Next, as Mitty strolls down the sidewalk, a newsboy shouts out news of the Waterbury trial. This leads Mitty into his next fantasy, a courtroom drama. After his earlier experience with the parking attendant, he now dreams of being chivalrous and skilled with weapons. He equates both with manliness, contrasting with his real-life feelings of inadequacy with cars. As the defendant in a murder trial, Mitty calmly faces an aggressive district attorney. When Mitty brags about his unsurpassed skill with firearms, the courtroom erupts into chaos. To show that he is both chivalrous and attractive, Mitty defends a lovely young woman who falls into his arms.
Mitty pulls himself from this daydream by saying “puppy biscuits,” an item his wife instructed him to buy. A woman passing by laughs at his ridiculous outburst. She contrasts with the women in Mitty’s fantasies. While Mitty is a ladies’ man in his secret life, he is far from it in reality.
His errands complete, Mitty again demonstrates his submissiveness to his wife. He must wait for her at their rendezvous spot, not the other way around. A magazine article prompts Mitty to fantasize about himself as a World War I pilot. His bravado is on full display as he volunteers to fly a mission despite overwhelming odds. Both here and in his first daydream, Mitty’s fantasy self is hypermasculine, like the glamorized military heroes of Hollywood movies.
In the story’s climax, Mrs. Mitty reappears, hitting Mitty and accusing him of hiding from her. As she berates him, Mitty finally stands up to her, saying, “I was thinking . . . Does it ever occur to you that I am sometimes thinking?” These words express a crucial frustration—his wife neither understands nor tries to understand him. Like the WWI pilot, Mitty is flying into dangerous territory. Unfortunately, his bombshell is a dud. Mrs. Mitty is unfazed. Rather than address his feelings, she threatens to take his temperature. She thinks he must be ill to talk back to her in this way. Mrs. Mitty seems incapable of recognizing that Mitty’s complaint reveals dissatisfaction with how she treats him. She chooses to ignore his needs.
In the story’s falling action, the Mittys stop at a drugstore. Mrs. Mitty orders Mitty to wait outside, as if he were a dog not allowed in the store. As Mitty smokes a cigarette and leans against a wall, it begins to rain, as if nature itself is against him. Mitty slips into one last fantasy. He is a prisoner facing down a firing squad, refusing a blindfold. The fantasy mirrors reality. Made to wait outside in the rain, Mitty feels like a prisoner in his own life, unable to escape. In his fantasy, at least, he can face his end bravely. The last words describing Mitty are undefeated and inscrutable. In reality, Mitty feels defeated. The events of his day leave him feeling powerless to change his situation. He is inscrutable because people in his life make no effort to know him. At least in his dreams, Mitty can face his end bravely, feeling undefeated. He can be inscrutable because he wants to be. The story ends as it began, in Walter Mitty’s secret life, where he can be the hero.
