Skip to main content

Does Walter Mitty succeed in changing his wife's view of him?

While Walter Mitty does try to change his wife's view of him, there is no indication by the end of the story that he has succeeded in his task. At the same time, there is every indication that Walter will continue to try to exert his individuality, even though his prospects are hardly encouraging.


In the story, Walter uses his daydreams as an escape mechanism. He has no less than five daydreams while he is out running errands with his wife. His last two daydreams are most significant. In the fourth daydream, Walter is a fearless World War Two captain who will take his bomber plane into enemy fire. Apparently, he is the only soldier left in his unit who can complete the task. Before he leaves on his possibly fatal mission, he nonchalantly downs brandy (to the admiration of his subordinate). Walter leaves for his mission cheerfully humming "Aupres de Ma Blonde." Notice that the text highlights the "rat-tat-tatting of machine guns" and the "menacing pocketa-pocketa-pocketa of the new flame-throwers" immediately before Walter is rudely pulled out of his daydream by his wife striking him on the shoulder.


It is appropriate then that Walter's last daydream consists of him facing a firing squad. Here again, we get the imagery of Walter under constant fire. This is a representation of what his life is like on a daily basis; he is constantly assailed by his wife's criticisms and tirades. The daydream ends with Walter standing tall before the firing squad. He is "proud and disdainful, Walter Mitty the Undefeated, inscrutable to the last." With these last words, we get the idea that Walter will continue to do everything in his power to change his wife's view of him.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

etymology - Origin of the greeting "Sweet dreams".

Does anybody know the etymology of the phrase "sweet dreams"? I tried googling but did not find anything satisfying. Is this a relatively new phrase of the modern world or has this been in use for some time? I think it's the latter one. Answer The OED has the interjection as "a farewell to someone going to bed" from the 20th century: 1908 Sears Roebuck Catal. 198/1 Tenor Solos..Good Bye, Sweet Dreams, Good Bye. But it goes back until at least the 19th and possibly 18th centuries. John Wolcot, writing under the pseudonym of Peter Pindar, used it in his poem "Orson and Ellen; A Legendary Tale" published in 1801: Also from 1801 in The infernal Quixote (Page 287) by Charles Lucas: In the March 1776 of The Universal Magazine was published "The Serenade. A Pastoral Tale. From the German of Gesner" , where the shepherd Daphnis watches over his beloved as she sleeps and sings: The same tale appears in 1776's as Idyl XI, " Daphnis ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Is there a word/phrase for "unperformant"?

As a software engineer, I need to sometimes describe a piece of code as something that lacks performance or was not written with performance in mind. Example: This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. Based on my Google searches, this isn't a real word. What is the correct way to describe this? EDIT My usage of "performance" here is in regard to speed and efficiency. For example, the better the performance of code the faster the application runs. My question and example target the negative definition, which is in reference to preventing inefficient coding practices. Answer This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. In my opinion, reads more easily as: This coding style leads to unmaintainable and poorly performing code. The key to well-written documentation and reports lies in ease of understanding. Adding poorly understood words such as performant decreases that ease. In addressing the use of such a poorly ...
Post a Comment
Read more

What are the similarities between the relationships of the characters in The Outsiders and Romeo and Juliet?

At first glance, it might appear as if the characters in  The Outsiders  by S. E. Hinton and  Romeo and Juliet  by William Shakespeare do not have much in common; however, when one isolates the core of the conflicts, it becomes clear that the relationships in both stories are rooted in rivalry and secrecy.  In both  The Outsiders  and  Romeo and Juliet , an overarching theme is rivalry. While   socioeconomic status separates the greasers from the Socs in The Outsiders , last names separates the Montagues from the Capulets, who appear to be relatively equal in terms of socioeconomic status. Due to these rivalries, there are instances of deadly interactions in both stories. In  The Outsiders , Johnny kills Bob (whether his actions were justified or not is debatable). In  Romeo and Juliet , Romeo kills Tybalt and Paris, and Tybalt kills Mercutio. These deaths have profound effects on the main characters. In Ponyboy's case, the Johnny's death and other events in the novel inspire h...
Post a Comment
Read more