In the short story The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, one theme is the difference between dreams and reality. Walter Mitty, the protagonist, keeps daydreaming of scenarios in which he is in control in some way. Meanwhile, in real life, he is sent on errands and generally bossed around by his wife. The story looks at the contrast between these two worlds.
The story focuses on a series of Walter Mitty’s daydreams. In the first one, he was the captain of a ship, directing his crew to escape a terrible storm. In the second, he was a skilled surgeon, operating on a millionaire banker. Then he was a killer, boldly admitting his crime at court. After that he was a pilot, laughing in the face of death as he prepares to fly a suicide mission. Finally, in the last daydream, he was on death row, about to be shot by a firing squad.
In all of Mitty’s daydreams except the last one, he had control of both his own and the lives of others. The captain was saving his crew, the surgeon was saving his patient, the killer killed someone, and the pilot was heading to his death to save his side of the war. This is a sharp contrast to his real life, in which everything is controlled by his wife. In fact, he spends the entire story obeying her. In all of his fantasies, he was thinking about making his own decisions, but never acting on them. This continues until he finally gives up, ending the story in his final daydream, in which even his imagined self didn’t have any control, just like in real life.
A theme in the story is fantasy and reality, and the differences between the two. Fantasy Mitty is strong willed and powerful, while real Mitty is a pushover. throughout the story, real Mitty keeps trying to be fantasy Mitty, but never acted on it. In the end, he gives up, and fantasy Mitty also loses the imaginary control he had, becoming like real Mitty.