Daydreams In The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty

In, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Walter Mitty has many real life character traits and character traits of the men in his daydreams, that are very different and show the man that he wants to be and the man he doesn’t like to see himself as. Many times in Mitty’s daydreams, he is a leader who is well-respected and leads with authority. In his first daydream he is a commander who is trusted by his men who believe, “The Old Man’ll get us through” (Thurber, 2.) While in real life, his wife is the one who leads him, and he is a follower. She constantly believes he is doing something wrong whether, he is, “driving to fast,” or “tensed up again” (2), she is always trying to fix him and he stays quiet under her authoritarian attitude. The character trait in his daydreams of being a leader, versus who he actually is, shows that he wants to be a leader and …show more content…
Since he is too afraid to speak up for himself, in his daydreams he is also a brave man. In his last daydream, where he is a captain, he is willing to sacrifice himself for the good of his country. Even though others know he may not make it he believes that, “Somebody’s got to get that ammunition dump,” (5). He is brave to be willing to die to save others and do what is right. But, in real life, Mitty, is a coward who is too scared to stand up for himself against his controlling wife; even though he doesn’t agree with everything she tells him to do. Mitty, “hated these weekly trips to town” because “he was always getting something wrong” (4), but he doesn’t try to argue with his wife about them because he knows she will just be even more upset. Individuals often times want to be somebody different, but are too scared to try to start to become that person. After, daydreaming all day about who he wants to be, Mitty finally gets a little courage to stand up to his