The Secret Life of Walter Mitty - A text to film comparison

Recently in ELA, we viewed both versions of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. The first version was a short story published by James Thurber in 1939, and the second version was a film that was shown in 2013. The two share a similar premise; both revolve around the life of a man named Walter Mitty, who frequently daydreams in order to escape the boredom of his life. While the two share the same premise, the film explores the concept of a “Walter Mitty” more compared to the short story. Which is why the film represents The Secret Life of Walter Mitty better.

The main character, Walter Mitty, is the only major similarity between the two works. In the short story, we see Walter Mitty as a passive husband who frequently gets distracted by his daydreams, “‘Hmm..?’ said Walter Mitty. He looked at his wife, in the seat beside him with shocked astonishment. She seemed grossly unfamiliar…” his wife then berates him for being so distracted. In the film, Walter Mitty is portrayed as a Negative Assets manager at Life magazine, who feels too inadequate to break the ice with a fellow employee he fancies. Walter Mitty is the only major story element shared between the two.

In the text version, the story is set near Waterbury, in which Mitty attempts to fulfill various errands while waiting for his wife to finish at the spa, “Walter Mitty began to wonder what the other thing was that his wife had wanted him to get. She had told him… before they set out from their house to Waterbury”. While in the film, the story is set in New York City, which is where Life’s main office is located. In the film, Walter sets out to find the perfect photo for Life’s final cover, he does so by traveling to various countries like Greenland, Iceland, and Afghanistan to find it. Walter mostly stays in Waterbury throughout the short story, and the setting is rarely mentioned in it. On the contrary, the film shows how he develops as he ventures away from his comfy office in NYC. He daydreamed in order to escape his mundane life, but now that he is traveling in order to find the perfect picture, he gets to have new experiences and go to new places he has never gone to before. The film gave him room to develop and grow as a person, which was largely unshown in the story.

Another major aspect that was different between the two would be the conflict, and how they affected Walter. The short story’s conflict is the relationship between Walter and his wife, Mrs. Mitty constantly tries to belittle Walter. When Walter asks his wife, “Does it ever occur to you that I am sometimes thinking?”, she responds by saying “I’m going to take your temperature when I get you home”. She puts down Walter by implying that he is an adult who can’t think for himself. As a consequence of their relationship, we don’t get to see Walter’s character grow, he continues to hide away in his daydreams. However, the conflict in the film gives Walter a chance to break out of his shell. The two main conflicts are how inadequate Walter feels (towards Cheryl), and him having the assignment to find the perfect cover photo for the last edition of Life magazine. As Walter travels to various locations to find the photographer of negative #25, he begins to gain confidence due to him being able to explore on his own. This newfound confidence allows Mitty to develop as a character. The conflict in the film allowed his character to grow, while the short story's conflict denied Walter the ability to grow his personality.

The plot of the film also greatly deviates from what it was based on. The beginning of the short story begins in a dream. Walter imagines himself as a commander in the navy, in a battle. After this, he is suddenly brought back to the real world, “‘Not so fast! You’re driving too fast!’ said Mrs. Mitty… ‘It’s one of your days. I wish you’d let Dr. Renshaw look you over’”. This happens multiple times in the story. One moment he’s in a daydream, abruptly brought back into real life and then dozes off into another daydream. This back and forth in terms of action displays the contrast between Mitty’s dreams and his real life. His dreams are action-packed, while he sits down and does nothing, frustrated, he uses dreams to escape the boredom of his life. The story also ends with a dream, we are never shown if Mitty ever does anything to improve himself. This is yet another area in which the film contrasts with the original work. In the beginning of the film, we are represented with Mitty browsing his computer. He lives a calm life. However, similarly to his text counterpart, he has exciting daydreams and drifts off whenever nothing is happening. Whenever his daydreams end, he gets pulled back into reality. His dreams continue in a similar fashion to the short story. Soon after Mitty is sent off to find the perfect cover photo for Life’s last edition, his dreams lower in frequency. As he does more, he dreams less. Mitty never develops in this fashion in the short story, nor does he ever become independent from his dreams.

Finally, the endings. The short story ends with Walter in a dream, “Then, with that faint, fleeting smile playing about his lips, he faced the firing squad, erect and motionless, proud and disdainful, Walter Mitty the Undefeated, inscrutable to the last”. This ending feels empty. There was no previous event leading up to this ending, it just ended in one of his dreams. The ending doesn’t conclude anything, it just leaves the reader hanging. Greatly contrasting to this, the film actually has a tangible ending. Walter travels back to New York City and delivers the negative picture. A day or so later, Walter finds Cheryl. They spot the final edition of Life magazine, to find out that Walter is on the cover. The screen then fades while the two walk through NYC, holding hands. This ending actually ties up every storyline in the film; his boss’ request for the negative photo, Walter’s feelings for Cheryl, and what was on the negative photo. This is another reason that the film represents The Secret Life of Walter Mitty better compared to the short story, the film has an ending that leaves the viewer satisfied.

In conclusion, the short story focuses on Walter’s habit to dream, while the film focuses on what he does about them. The story lacks the character development and diversity that the film has. The film represents The Secret Life of Walter Mitty in a better light.




By the way, I will revise this tomorrow. I could probably do a better job.