Category: English 11

The short story “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” written by James Thurber uses both expressionism and realism many times throughout the story. where the main character Walter Mitty attempts to escape from his boring life through daydreams. What is expressionism? It is any mental concept or something that is not in real time that can be displayed through flashbacks, memories, dreams, thoughts, or pauses of live time. There are five cases of expressionism throughout this story which are indicated by the use of ellipsis. Some examples are when Walter was a surgeon, when he was on trial for murder, and when he was the commander of a Navy hydroplane. Realism is the opposite of expressionism and is a description of what is happening in the present of the story. Realism was used at any time in the story when Walter was with his wife or running errands. A continuation of the story with examples of both expressionism and realism can be seen below. In this continuation, Walter Mitty is woken from his dream by his wife. Then, a series of events lead him into his next dream where he is a lieutenant fighting on the front lines to win the war.

… “Walter look at yourself”, said Mrs. Mitty. Walter looked down and he was dripping wet. A military vehicle had just driven by splashing him and soaking him in street water. “You really do need to pay more attention Walter”, she said. “Sorry dear, I guess I was just trying to enjoy a smoke and dazed off”, said Walter. “Anyhow we must be getting home now”, said Mrs. Mitty.  Walter took his wife’s hand and started walking down the street embarrassed by how dirty he was. As they were walking down the street, two soldiers from the vehicle that had splashed Walter earlier saw him and they started to laugh at his misfortune.

… “Lieutenant Mitty load the mortar and angle it to 39.5 degrees.” said the sergeant. “Yes sir”, said Mitty as he raised his malnourished hand to lift the M82 ammunition into the MO-120-RT-61 mortar. “Ready, and fire.”, said the sergeant. “We are on the verge of winning this war. The enemy’s leader is just behind these last defenses”, he yelled as the mortar shot into the abyss. They started to advance forward closer to the defense line of the enemy. An enemy ballistic grenade landed only a couple of feet from where he was running. “Ahhhhh I’m hit, help me!” yelled a fellow soldier. Suddenly there was a collective silence from both sides of the battlefield. Walter looked to the sky and saw the enemy bomber planes approaching from behind.