Alexis Dawson

English 12

Mrs. Osterhout

“The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” Compare and Contrast Essay

“The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” story is represented in two ways, through writing of a short

story and through the creation of a movie. The general story is about an ineffectual character

who is only present in his imaginative daydreams and barely in the present. Each story has a

couple different factors that change the ending impact and the impression on readers. After

reading, viewing and analysing each I came to the thought out conclusion that the movie better

allows viewers to get a better understanding of character development and the story theme. The

movie gives the main character Walter mitty purpose unlike the short story, leaving him

accepting that he has a lack of. It allows Mitty more room for growth through differences in plot,

adds character influences and several different settings.

The movie exhibits a good sense of character development which is most evident through the

plot. The plot portrayed character development through the story's general theme, success and

failure. This impacts readers to show them the importance of growth and advocating for yourself.

The short story however does not have this resolution, Walter remains somewhat the same

reclusive, uninterested man. Both media set up the beginning of the story that influenced the
story in different ways. Commencing the short story, readers dive into one of Walter's most

exhilarating daydreams. This puts readers straight into the distracted mindset of Walter. He is a

man who doesn't stand up to his interrogating and bossy wife and lets people walk all over him.

He is instantly shown to have difficulty being successful with daily life tasks. In the kickoff

scene in the movie,watchers are introduced to an ineffectual character, Walter Mitty who is

shown attempting to send a flirtatious emoji to his crush, Cheryl Meloff. This gives viewers a

sense that Mitty is somewhat capable of creating goals and being confident in himself. By this,

Walter shows one example of success in being the man he wants to be in his daydreams. But

when his computer fails, he loses hope and falls into a compilation of day dreams throughout his

day, making him miss his bus to work, letting his boss and coworkers bully him and becoming

almost unaware of everything occuring in his workplace.Throughout the body of the short story,

Walter is shown to be living throughout his day out in town through daydreams. He never

connects to the real world and he is quick to forget things he needed to accomplish. He also lets

his wife boss and talk down to him as it is perceived as a normal occurrence to readers. Both

Mitty’s show failure to stand up for themselves in a daring and bold manner in the beginning.

The movie better shows the viewers how Walter Mitty’s secluded mannerisms not only affect his

daily life but also his social efforts and the impressions he has on people that rebound on him. It

better shows all the variables Walter’s absent mind affects.

The most major element of the movie that makes it more impactful than the short story is

that Walter starts exploring the world and his capabilities outside of his daydreams. In the movie

plot, Walter needs to save his employment by finding a picture for his work which is located
with a freelance photographer. Walter Mitty, a man who sits reclusive in his own personal office

with little human interaction, gets out into the world, out of the country even, on a daring quest.

This is a huge example of change in Walter’s mental capability and willingness span. He

embarks on a journey and dives into new waters, quite literally when he is thrown off a boat and

chased by a shark. When Walter returns successful in obtaining the small image he traveled

thousands of miles for, he is congratulated by the people who once made him a mockery. The

goal that he made for himself, making a connection with his crush, comes true when he

overachieves in asking her out; she says yes. He becomes the man that he daydreams of and is a

lot more confident in himself and in the present. But in the movie he accepted that he was the

same man, he would still wander through life aimlessly. The only character development Mitty

makes in the short story is that he finally stands up to his wife after he had enough of her

bossiness, nagging and constant questioning to him by saying “I was thinking,” said Walter

Mitty. “Does it ever occur to you that I am sometimes thinking?” The movie shows viewers a

better understanding of success and failure through more possibility for character growth and can

encourage readers to make the ties to their own recluse weaknesses in order to strengthen and

grow their own selves.

A major factor in each story is how characters are affected by Walter Mitty’s absence and how

they impact him. Each movie has an antagonist who looks down upon Mitty and mocks him for

being locked in his mind. In the short story, this is Walter Mitty’s wife. She is bossy in the ways

of telling him to put gloves on and go to the doctor. She talks down to him and judges him. In the

movie, Wlater is faced with his colleagues who make him the center of mockery. Even his boss

makes comments about how he is not present and asks where he is, not to mention throws a
paper clip at him. The movie has a powerful twist in adding in the character, Cheryl. In the

movie, Wlater Mitty is presented as single and lacking in barely any social life. When Walter and

Cheryl both meetmeat, he is awkward and timid but he really shows interest in her and

daydreams about impressing her all the time. Cheryl is the main reason Walter found purpose for

himself and confidence to go on a grand adventure to save his position in work. She gets Walter

the attribute of passion, to be passionate in creating goals and becoming a bolder version of

himself. Walter starts by following her word because he looks up to her but when he is alone,

searching in Greenland he slowly starts listening to himself through the new gaining of his

confident self. By adding a love interest into the story, this gives another thing to Wlater to work

for and be passionate about. After he builds character in Greenland, he has the courage to finally

step up to his boss and coworkers to prove them wrong, that he can be outgoing and successful.

Then he also grows courageful enough to ask Cheryl to go out with him, which he had been

waiting to do since the start of the movie. However, the story does not set Walter up to have as

many opportunities for change as he does in the movie. He lives a life where he follows his wifes

rule and stays guarded from people in public. This life situation gives Walter a fixed mindset and

little room to improve himself.

Location is one of the largest differences between each media, affecting them to make the

general storyline completely different. Readers do not get very much input on any location in the

short story except for the interesting locations shown in the daydreams of Mitty. The only

traveling Mitty does is into town in his car with his wife. He visits the store and hair salon. This

gives Mitty only room to be able to run errands in his day to day life; not very exciting. While in

the movie, Wlater is more mobile in the places he visits. His settings always seem to be in areas
with large groups of people, which may give him a lot more ideas and possibilities for his

daydreams. Then at his place of work he is shown spending his time alone in what seems to be a

big empty storage room. This is where Walter is used to being in his secluded space. It is only

when Walter Mitty is able to see new land he has never seen before aside from the pictures he

produces. This allows him to branch out and gain new experiences to distract him from his busy

imaginative mind. The movie gives Walter a lot more freedom to become a better version of

himself. By visiting Greenland, wlater gets to meet new people out of the people he confronts

everyday. He also gets to view a new life which allows him to be more open minded in the

present.

The movie better impacts readers to feel more confident in themselves and proves there is

always room for change as long as you create goals and keep yourself in the present, where you

can make an impactful change. By using different actors like an extension of plot ending, adding

different influencing characters, and adding new and exciting real locations, this allows Mitty to

become more adventuresome and aware of life around him. The movie shows that you don't have

to accept the person you are and that you can aspire to become a better you. This is unlike in the

short story where Walter Mitty barely took a stand for himself and had little room to show

growth.