Literary Analysis The Secret Life of Walter Walter Mitty The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, movie and short story, are great examples of “psychoanalytic criticism” and “reader-response criticism.” To revie, revie, psychoanalytic criticism “attempts to esta!lish the "nconscio"s motives of characters in literary texts#” $eader-response criticism “emphasi%es the importance of the reader&s role in determining the meaning of a literary or'.” ()oe, p. *+-*+ /f e loo' at this story from a psychoanalytic psychoanal ytic approach, e co"ld gather a fe different motives of the character. charac ter. 0irst 0irst off, hile not necessarily a motive, e can discern that Walter Mitty might possi!ly have some sort of psychological disorder. )e creates scenarios in his head in relation to hat is going on in real life1 some co"ld arg"e that he has a m"ltiple personality disorder, and he plays o"t each of those personalities "sing his imagination. There is proof of a disorder in the short story1 as Walter Walter is r"nning errands aro"nd ton he seems a !it sloer than everyone aro"nd him an "nattached. This, of co"rse, co"ld !e explained !y his imagination r"nning ild, !"t ho&s to say that in itself is not ca"se !y some sort of che mical im!alance2 Another motive o"ld !e that Mitty is simply creative and !ored of the real orld. )e longs for advent"re and things greater than himself. To To achieve this, he "ses his imagination to pict"re real-life happenings in a different ay. ay. /n the short story, story, hile he is driving don the road ith his ife, he imagines !eing on a 3avy hydroplane in a terri!le storm, hich leads him to !egin speeding don the road. The third motive, ta'ing from !oth criticisms, co"ld !e that hen he “%ones o"t,” as his sister says in the movie, this is really his ay of gaining self-confidence. /n the movie, Mitty
goes to or' at Life Maga%ine, there is a co-or'er ho he really li'es. )e&s too anxio"s to go "p and tal' to her, so he imagines that he a !rave mo"ntain clim!er ith an intrig"ing accent. As this mo"ntain clim!er he goes "p and has a onderf"l conversation ith this oman. )e is also made f"n of !y other co-or'ers ho see him “%oning-o"t.” So he envisions and event here he attac's one of them, and they la"nch o"t the office !"ilding indo. / !elieve there to !e several different settings in !oth the short story and the movie. There is of co"rse, the main setting, the real-life setting that Walter Mitty is occ"pying. There are also the several different imagined settings. /n the short story, Mitty is driving aro"nd ton, dropping off his ife, and r"nning errands. /n his mind he is in a 3avy hydroplane, in a doctor&s office a!o"t to perform s"rgery, and in a co"rtroom !eing charged for a crime. /n the movie, the reality is that he is at home, at or', traveling. )e imagines !eing a mo"ntain clim!er, a life-saver of individ"als from a !"ilding a!o"t to explode, an astrona"t, and many more. The possi!le settings in the life of Walter Mitty are endless. / !elieve one of the defining themes goes !ac' to hen / as tal'ing a!o"t the to criticisms1 / mentioned confidence !eing an "nconscio"s motive of Mitty&s !ehaviors. 4ne of the most important themes of this story, if e loo' at the movie perspective, is self-confidence. )aving the co"rage to achieve hatever it is yo" ant most, !eing a!le to accomplish something greater than yo"rself, not alays l"r'ing in the shados, ondering hat co"ld !e. /n the !eginning of the movie, Walter lac's so m"ch confidence that he on&t even spea' ith a coor'er. Thro"gho"t the movie he travels to find the missing negative. )e imagines he is go ing on ama%ing advent"res, and pretty soon he is no longer imagining it1 he is act"ally going on ama%ing advent"res5 6y the end of the movie Walter is a completely changed man. )e has gained more than eno"gh self-confidence and a changed attit"de.
The short story and the movie are 7"ite different. /f e ere to loo' at the short story, / o"ld say the theme relates more to the fact that Walter is simply creative and !ored. The theme here co"ld !e something li'e, “life is hat yo" ma'e it.” /f yo" thin' of everything as !eing d"ll and !oring, then that&s hat it ill !e. 6"t if yo" have an o"tloo' or imagination li'e Walter Mitty, things may not seem so !land. 8ialog"e is a very important element to the story of Walter Mitty, and really any story. 8ialog"e is hat helps a plot move forard. /f e didn&t have it, !oo's and other ritings o"ld !e a lot less intrig"ing. /n concl"sion, loo'ing at the short story and movie versions of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty from a psychoanalytical and reader-response perspective, e can discern that Walter Mitty is most li'ely !ored ith the real orld, or he is loo'ing to gain some level of self-confidence.
Literary Analysis Evaluation Name: Ashley
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Literary analysis efectively utilizes a theory o literary criticism to discuss the story/lm Literary analysis efectively analyzes the use o literary elements" Literary analysis has an efective thesis
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Literary analysis efectively inte#rates and cites $%LA& 'uotations rom the story/lm" Literary analysis is (ell or#anized) uses an a**ro*riate academic tone) and is ree rom surace errors"
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++/,-- . Very #ood (or0 on your literary analysis1 2ou did an excellent 3o4 utilizin# *sychoanalytic theory to examine motives o the main character and then connect those motives to the *ossi4le themes" $2ou mentioned reader res*onse theory in the 4e#innin#) 4ut didn5t ollo( throu#h on that one very much" 65d su##est leavin# the ocus on the *sychoanalytic theory) and don5t (orry a4out reader res*onse"& 2our thesis statement is on the ri#ht trac0) 4ut could 4e more s*ecic" 2our essay is essentially a4out character motives as they connect to themes7ma0e that idea your thesis" 2ou also have a #ood start on discussin# the role o dialo#765d su##est #oin# much urther (ith this idea" Extend your discussion o the im*ortance o dialo# 4y connectin# it to character motives and/or themes o the text and 4y incor*oratin# s*ecic exam*les rom the story and the movie" 8verall) very #ood (or0"