It’s a common motivation for people to tell others to live life to the fullest especially when we are young, but, why should we, in fact, live life to the fullest? The short story, “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” written by James Thurber explores the mind of Walter Mitty and the challenges he faces on a daily basis in the dull city of Waterbury. Walter, now a middle aged man, faces the struggles one can encounter once they are no longer seen as youthful, and the regret one can face if they fail to capitalize on their life when they are ablest to. The movie, Dead Poet’s Society, written by Tom Schulman and directed by Peter Weir observes the tests a teenage boy, particularly Neil Perry, can face at a highly regarded school brimming of expectation. Neil encounters peer pressure, parental expectation, and peer expectation, but he seizes the day, nonetheless. Both Walter Mitty and Neil Perry both explore why we should live life to the fullest, and enjoy it while we are still youthful. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty displays the consequences that come to Walter for having not exploited his youth by recounting an average day in his now middle-aged life. To the contrary, Dead Poet’s-Society shows exactly what one can achieve when they apply themselves by recounting the explorations of Neil Perry, and his young life at a highly expectant Welton Academy. All in all, both examples provide a strong moral that we must live life to the fullest in order to truly enjoy life, but from quite contrasting sides.
Firstly, both examples put their common moral across using differing techniques, and differing scenarios to engage the audience. While Dead Poet’s Society provides motivation for us to live our lives completely by showing the fruits of a young Neil Perry’s labor, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty shows the type of life one will likely end up if they rest on their laurels. Dead Poet’s Society utilizes Neil Perry as a youthful role model, who fearlessly pursues his passion to be an actor by battling the high expectations of his micromanaging father, and other adults around him. Motivated by his teacher Mr. Keating who tells Neil and his peers to “seize the day” and “make your lives extraordinary,” Neil’s ambition to be an actor is a seemingly unstoppable force that drives Neil to reach that goal, even after his father makes many efforts to stop Neil saying, “I don’t care if the world comes to an end tomorrow night: you are quitting that play,” (Weir, 1989) a quote which would be more than discouraging enough to stop most people from continuing. Neil strives for greatness and achievement and attains both; but then we have Walter, who likely hadn’t achieved anything near what he wanted to achieve while he was younger. Walter shows his regret of never exploiting his youth when he daydreams himself performing things that only a young and ambitious man would be able to perform; showing that he literally and physically dreams that he was still able to do these crazy things like: flying a navy hydroplane through a roaring storm, or being on trial for murder and causing outcry in the courtroom because his pistol shot is so precise that he could perform it with either hand. These daydreaming cycles, alongside Walter’s wife constantly discouraging him from acting like a young man telling him: “You’re not a young man any longer,” (Thurber, 1939) result in a lackluster and miserable life. It would be frightening to build up the courage it would take to strive as Neil did, but even more daunting to picture living a miserable and regretful life like Walter’s, where one spends the remainder of their days dwelling on things they wish they had done. Neil’s discoveries promote inspiration and motivation, but Walter’s story creates a sense of fear and worry. Neil’s reward of popularity and recognition from others galvanizes us to take action to our objectives, but Walter’s sense of misery and anguish completely petrifies us, leading us to want to avoid his path of an unlived life by all means necessary. Both of these examples, diverge between motivational and startling techniques, and the stories of a young man versus that of a middle aged man; however, they both weave their common moral’s thread through our feelings to press their points forward.
Secondly, while both examples share the common moral to live life to the fullest, the clarity and solidity of the moral differs between the two. Neil Perry’s experiences of joy from having excellently performed his play clearly show that living to our maximum capacity is a good thing; however, it is quickly made unclear by showing that in living life to the fullest, Neil’s ambitions grew too strong, ultimately resulting in his demise. After the play was over, and Neil was taken home by his father to be told: “I am withdrawing you from Welton, and enrolling you at Breighton military school. You’re going to Harvard, and you’re going to be a doctor,” (Weir, 1989) and to also “forget” acting, presenting yet another test of Neil’s persistence. Neil, overcome with emotion, would later that night take his father’s gun and kill himself; suggesting that the loss of his ability to follow his tenacious ambition drove him past his breaking point. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty provides solid teachings by showing the lack of joy in Walter’s life, where his regret seems incurable, finally ensuing in a daydream of his own death: “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.” (Thurber, 1939) showing his effort to even milk any excitement he can from his own death. Walter’s day to day daydreaming routine proves to be his only source of happiness in his current life, as the real world only serves him pressure and regret now that he is no longer a youthful and useful man. As most people would like to avoid routinely feeling wistful, one can strongly infer that Walter’s path of doing little with your youth and never achieving goals is the wrong route. Neil’s story leaves us in conflict, showing us the rewards he redeems for chasing his passion in being an actor, but also showing us that living his life to the fullest drove his passion and ambition for acting to become fatally obsessive. Neil reaps the euphoria of excellently executing his play, having a crazy crowd cheer him on, but, his passion for acting is far too ambitious to be healthy, showing that once Neil’s father decides to no longer put up with Neil’s antics and passion, Neil sees no other option to life than to end it. Walter’s story tells us to not live a humdrum life, and Neil’s tells us to live a flashy one, but, alarms us that it could end up getting us killed. So, where both stories present the same ‘live your life to the fullest’, Dead Poet’s Society shoots itself in the foot a bit by confusing people on whether or not they should actually live life to the fullest.
Finally, Both Dead Poet’s Society and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty are engaging; however, their shared moral is presented better in one of the examples than the other. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is a much more reflective example, demonstrating not only the sheer regret Walter has to live with, but also the limitations he has considering his age, and even the inevitable loss of respect society has for someone past their youth. The idea of growing up can already be frightening as it is, but now adding the possible mentally deteriorating regret that can come with it if we didn’t enjoy and live our youth is completely petrifying. Dead Poet’s Society still has inspiration to hold, telling people that they must “seize the day” but with the less logical and far more inspirational reasoning of exploring one’s goals to relish life. There’s nothing backing it’s moral other than saying that you could enjoy the fruits of your labor, and then there’s the moral regressing event of Neil’s suicide that shows that one could easily get caught up in ambition and ultimately harm themselves with it. Neil’s adventure was valiant and brave, but never presents the consequences of not pushing the limits as Walter’s story presents. While Dead Poet’s Society inspires us to achieve greatness, it lacks a truly logical or clear response to why we should “seize the day.”
So, why should we live life to the fullest then? Ultimately, living life fearfully is a hassle, however it works, and it works extremely well. It could be cool to live motivated as Neil was, striving for success, but it would be a bit like a New Year’s resolution that we’ll all ignore after a few months. People should be scared to no end to end up living a life like Walter Mitty’s, and not be conflicted on whether or not they should chase their goals because they’re afraid that they will face a similar demise to Neil. The ugly truth is that fear is one of the only things that can truly keep human beings in check. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty shows a crystal clear reflection of the experience of someone who didn’t fully experience their youth, and avoids having a confusing explanation of what could happen if you seize the day, according to a teenage boy. While the question comes down to one’s own opinion, Dead Poet’s Society presents it’s moral like a confused sports fan’s 30 second chant, wondering whether or not they’re even cheering on a good play. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty’s moral is like a branding iron that sizzles and stings, but leaves its mark to remind us every day to get out and achieve something new.