The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Summary

How It All Goes Down

"The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" tells the story of the aging Walter Mitty on a trip into town with his overbearing wife, Mrs. Mitty.
Walter is inept at many things; he is an absent-minded driver, he can't handle simple mechanical tasks, and he forgets things
easily. What makes Walter exceptional is his imagination.

While Walter goes through a day of ordinary tasks and errands, he escapes into a series of romantic fantasies, each spurred on
by some mundane reality. As he drives his car, he imagines he is commanding "a Navy hydroplane" through a terrible storm (1).
When he rides past a hospital, he imagines he is a world-famous surgeon saving a VIP's life. When he hears a newsboy
shouting about a trial, he imagines he is a crack shot being interrogated in the courtroom. As he waits for his wife to finish at the
hairdresser's, Walter sees pictures of German plane and imagines he is a British pilot willing to sacrifice his life for his country.
Lastly, as Mitty waits outside against a wall for his wife to buy something in a drugstore, he fantasizes that he is a bold and
brave man about to be shot by a firing squad. The story ends with the inscrutable Walter Mitty awaiting this romantic death.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" Summary

 The story begins with a Commander trying to get an "eight-engined Navy hydroplane" through a storm (1). He is a
brave and unstoppable man and clearly has the admiration of his crew.
 Of course, this scenario turns out to be little more than a fantasy in the mind of Walter Mitty, who isn't so much piloting
anything as he is driving his wife into town. Mrs. Mitty complains that he's going too fast.
 Walter drops his wife off to get her hair done and gets ready to do the list of errands she's prepared for him. Mrs. Mitty
reminds him not to forget to buy his overshoes (rubber rain boots) and insists that he wear his gloves while driving.
 Mitty drives away and is chastised by a cop for dawdling while putting on his gloves. He drives past a hospital and
launches into another fantasy. This time, he's a famous doctor trying to save a millionaire and friend of the president's
named Wellington McMillan.
 In this fantasy, Mitty is introduced to the other doctors performing a surgery on the millionaire. They both express their
admiration for Mitty as a doctor. When one of the machines breaks during the operation, Mitty deftly uses a fountain
pen to fix it, buying the surgeons ten minutes to continue. When the other doctors get stuck, Mitty steps in to save the
day.
 Walter's fantasy is interrupted by a boy shouting at him to back up. It seems he entered the parking lot through the
exit lane. The parking attendant just tells him to leave the car there, and he'll park it properly.
 Mitty leaves the car and muses that people like that parking attendant are always so arrogant. He remembers once
trying to take the chains off his tires himself and getting them tangled. The mechanic grinned at him the same way the
parking attendant did. Now Mrs. Mitty makes him drive the car to the garage every time he wants to remove the
chains.
 Next time, thinks Walter, he'll wear his arm in a sling so that the men at the garage won't laugh at him.
 Walter remembers that his wife wants him to buy overshoes and makes the purchase at a shoe store. Then he can't
remember the second thing his wife told him – twice – not to forget to buy. As he runs through a list of possible items,
Mitty decides that he hates these weekly trips to town that they make.
 While he's thinking, a newsboy goes by shouting about the Waterbury trial. This leads Mitty into another fantasy. This
time, he's a great pistol shot being interrogated in a courtroom. His defense lawyer argues that Mitty could not have
killed the victim, since his right arm was in a sling on the day the murder took place. But Mitty interrupts his lawyer
and shouts that he could have killed the man with any gun of any make with his left hand from three hundred feet
away.
 "Puppy biscuit," says Walter Mitty. He suddenly remembers the thing he's supposed to buy – puppy biscuits. A
woman going by laughs at him and thinks he's a crazy guy who just said "puppy biscuit" to himself for no reason.
 Mitty goes into a store to buy puppy biscuits, but can't remember what the right brand name is. He has to describe
what the box looks like to the clerk.
 After his purchase, Walter goes to the hotel lobby to wait for his wife. He notices a copy of Liberty magazine with
pictures of German bombers on it.
 Mitty fantasizes that he is an Air Captain, willing to sacrifice his own life for the good of his country.
 Walter is interrupted by his wife's arrival. She scolds him for not putting on the overshoes he bought. "I was thinking,"
responds Mitty. "Does it ever occur to you that I am sometimes thinking?" (14).
 Mrs. Mitty responds that she is going to take his temperature when they get home.
 The two of them leave the hotel lobby together. Mrs. Mitty runs into a drugstore to grab something, and Walter is left
standing against the wall outside. He imagines he is about to be shot by a firing squad, but faces it boldly and bravely
 "Walter Mitty" was published in 1939, the year after World War IIbegan. Can you see the
influence of this major event in the story at all?
 Is "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" ultimately a funny or tragic story? Does it have to be
one or the other?