In James Thurber's short story "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," we encounter a
man who constantly daydreams. Since the story is told in a third-person narration, the
readers have a distinct perspective and a better understanding of the character's
personality and thought process. With access to the protagonist's mind, the readers are
able to understand and relate the significance of his dreams to his reality.
Mitty's dreams of being a highly regarded individual are contrast to his real life.
The contradiction lays in the incompetence and lack of knowledge he truly possesses. As
Dr. Mitty, he accomplishes " a brilliant performance " by writing a book on
"streptothricocis" (819), a term which does not exist. The readers can come to two
conclusions. The first being Mitty is not a highly educated man. He invents a word that
sounds intelligent and complex in order to realize his fantasy. The second possibility
involves Mitty imagining strpothricocis as some sort of new and rare disease. In this case
Mitty would not be satisfied with being a simple doctor. Wanting to lead the way, he
sees himself as a pioneer, as though he were the first physician who created breakthrough
discoveries on this disease. This dream corresponds to the other extremity he faces in
Aside from not having much brainpower, his manual skills are as deplorable. He
demonstrates this as "once he had tried to take his chains off" his tires "and got them
wounded around the axels"(820). His awareness of his incapability's in physical labour
is shown through the dream of the crack-shot murderer where he claims: "I could have
killed Gregory Fitzhurst at three hundred feet with my left-hand"(820), even though his
right hand was in a sling. Firing a weapon with precision requires a lot of skill. Being
able to accomplish this deadly task with his opposite hand indicat
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