Anna Roberts

Professor Brittany Stephenson

English 2600
9 October 9, 2016
The Quintessence of Being
Life quintessential, or the goal to obtain pure perfection, is the concept that drives
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. Having a profound influence on the story as a whole,
quintessence is the central force that has allowed a short story and visual interpretation
to become classics, works that resonate with every individual. This is through the use of
personal analysis and the unique display of the idea of quintessence. Quintessence,
essentially, becomes a character, setting, and theme in both the short story by James
Thurber and Ben Stillers movie adaptation.
At the beginning of both the story and film, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,
Walter Mitty is a dynamic character that does not understand that he has depth. Upon
reflection, he sees someone who is boring, obsolete, and a slave to the world around him.
He uses escapism through vivid daydreams to leave the Mitty and the world he knows
behind him to search for something greater more specifically, someone greater. He
eventually finds the beauty of being just who he is and begins to view himself as more
than a daydreamer; he knows himself to be a visionary.
The short story is a simpler, more laymans terms version of Mitty someone
almost everyone can relate to in a close sense. Throughout the text, Mitty is bullied by his
wife, sent on mundane errands, and is seemingly unimpressed by the world he lives in.
Thurbers use of rain as a backdrop adds to the grey-scale of this world, muting it and

decaying it even further. The main action in the story lies in Mittys daydreams, which
compromise of intense worlds of surgeons and army generals. A perfect setup for a film
that expanded and poeticized the story, Thurber created Walter Mitty to represent a piece
of every person the quintessential beginning to lifes greatest questions.
To fully grasp the meaning of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, characterizing
quintessence is essential. There are two definitions of quintessence; firstly: The essence
of a thing in its purest and most concentrated form (Definition). The second is: The
most typical example or representative (Definition). In regards to characterization,
quintessence takes on both meanings. For The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,
quintessence can play the role of the omniscient narrator or the voice inside Mittys head,
by taking on the form of a backburner character, one who lurks in the shadows unseen but
whose presence is still strongly felt.
Mitty, who desires an exciting life and longs for the quintessential moments that
embody action and adventure, seeks this through his vivid daydreams, where he finds
friendship and companionship. However, what Mitty does not realize is that he already is
quintessential in another way: he is the typical example of a mundane, mid-life crisis
victim. Quintessence is who Mitty is, as well as who Mitty is not; he is the driving force
that develops Mittys character and in turn, the storyline.
In the film, Mitty works for LIFE magazine. His relationship with his job creates
an important setting for the film. The magazines motto, To see the world, things
dangerous to come to, to see behind walls, to draw closer, to find each other and to feel.
That is the purpose of life (The Secret Life of Walter Mitty) embodies the quintessence
Mitty is searching for, thus playing a vital role in Mittys life. The magazine is what sets

Mitty off in his great adventure of finding photographer Sean OConnell and the missing
film negative for the last cover of the magazine the adventure that changes the course of
his life.
While being a motivating factor, the magazine also plays an ironic role in Mittys
life. The magazines goal is to capture the beautiful moments of life and humankind, and
encourage readers to be immersed in the remarkable reality of the world. However, Mitty,
someone who has had a long career working for LIFE, does not see this remarkable
reality as something he can accomplish. Instead, he uses his daydreams to fuel his
longing for quintessence. In the end, it is LIFE which inspires him to stop being
quintessentially predictable and safe, and instead become quintessentially one with
himself and the in-the-moment action of life.
Quintessence plays a role in setting through Mittys daydreams as well. The story
and the movie share Mittys tendency to zone out of reality, finding him in a vivid
imaginary situation. The backdrops for these scenes of adventure are filled with what
Mitty desires far above the actual daydream itself: quintessence. Adventurous, beautiful,
and courageous moments are what essentially form Mittys version of the ideal life. He
creates quintessential moments in his imagination, hoping that by doing so he can reflect
those into his own life which Mitty eventually accomplishes.
A final way in which quintessence is an essential part of the theme of both the
story and the film is that it is, in actuality the main theme. Sean OConnell, the daring
photographer is a figure that Mitty admires and looks up to. Sean, however, admires
Mitty and his innocent quintessence. Near the end of the film, Mitty learns what
quintessence is from the missing negative. He sees himself in the photograph and begins

to grasp the understanding that he has been quintessential all along; quintessence is not
something you search for, but it is something you are. Sean himself says, Number 25 is
my best ever, the quintessence of life, I think (The Secret Life of Walter Mitty). Number
25 refers to the missing negative, the negative that ends up being with Mitty the whole
time.
Mittys search for the negative could have been in vain, as he possessed the
photograph before he ever went on his adventure to find Sean. Instead, Mitty gains
something of much more value that the photograph itself; he gains insight into his own
beauty. The negative is a photo of Mitty; this photo is deemed to be the cover of LIFE
magazine, a magazine that promotes quintessence. The picture showed to Mitty that he
himself is quintessence; he embodies the very piece he was searching so hard to find.
Coming full circle, Mitty understands that his daydreams are more than
daydreams they are the inspiration and potential that lie within. He blossoms and
accepts that he is beauty, he is courage, and he is quintessence. The film and the story
reflect this realization in similar ways. The film ends with Mitty standing up for himself
to demeaning co-workers and leaving LIFE to dive into the true and most important
adventure of all: his real life. The story ends with Mitty standing up to his wife, asking
her Does it ever occur to you that I am sometimes thinking? (Thurber) He then goes
outdoors into the rain, takes a drag of his cigarette, and while smiling, readies himself for
another adventure.
While the movie touches on other important themes such as living in the moment,
courage, and accepting reality, the written story mostly shares the theme of selfacceptance. Mitty in the conclusion of both the film and the story understands that the

quintessence of life is in being yourself, loving yourself, and finding peace and solace in
the little moments of life and adventure.
Quintessence lies inside every person; it is the character, setting, and theme for all
lives. Quintessence himself greets Mitty each day, as he greets us all. The Secret Life of
Walter Mitty is the classic coming-of-age story that teaches all to appreciation of life
and what it offers, but to also appreciate ones own self and the life they can create. The
film is a visual prose interpretation of a timeless short story, both of which are full of
questions, and both allowing readers or viewers to answer these questions for themselves.
Each question though ties back to the central force of the story as a whole: what is the
quintessence of life? Just like Mitty, who learns that he himself is quintessence, this
question forces readers to think of their own lives, and understand how they are the
quintessential piece to their stories.

Works Cited

Definition of Quintessence." Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 09 Oct.

2016.
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. Dir. Ben Stiller. Perf. Ben Stiller. Twentieth Century
Fox Home Entertainment, 2014. DVD.
Thurber, James. "The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty (James Thurber 1939)." Scribd. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 9 Oct. 2016.