The Secret Life Of
Walter Mitty
By:
Daniel Fuggiti
Atom Mingle
Adam Kopach
Adam Nissenbaum
Nathan Marquez
Summary
The story "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" is about a man who
spends half of his life in the real world and the other half of it
in the dream world. Walter Mitty day dreams and fantasizes
about certain scenarios through out his day and while he is
running errands for his wife. His dreams are not entirely
random though. Things like driving a car and reading a
newspaper cause him to slip into these day dreams and
occasionally put his life in danger.
In his dreams he is a brave soul but despite being like this in his
day dreams, he is somewhat of a coward in the real world. At
the end of the story when he finally finds the courage to stand
up to his wife, he is "shot down" metaphorically by his wife
basically telling that his words mean nothing to her as well as
literally getting shot down in his day dream by the firing squad.
Major Conflicts
 (Man VS. Man) Walter Mitty keeps day dreaming. He has
arguments with his wife about him not doing the things that his
wife is asking him to do due to his day dreams. At the end of
the story he stands up to his wife and in his dream he is a
champion and is a hero because he finally stud up for himself
 (Man VS. Self) Walter Mitty uses his daydreams as a place to
escape from the dictatorship of his wife and uses them to help
build self of steam. The problem with his daydreams is that he
is in a daydream and not focusing on what is transpiring around
him so he can be a danger to himself.
Setting
 The setting of this story is not clear in the
story, but it seems to take place in a city
in the 1970’s out side of his day dreams.
In his day dreams, he appears in a court
room, a operating room, a airship, and a
drugstore.
Theme
The general theme seems to be courage.
Mitty is very courageous in his
daydreams and he try's to use the
courage he day dreams about to try to
change how is wife see’s him.
Literary Elements
 Point of View: The point of view is first person because
Walter Mitty is telling the story and sharing his thoughts
and emotions. In the story Walter Mitty stands up to his
wife and says, “ Have you ever thought that I was
thinking” showing emotion and his outlook on what he
thinks.
 Foreshadowing: In the story it shows when he is about to
enter or leave a daydream by showing,”…” I gives a hint
on what to come.
 Protagonist/ Antagonist: The protagonist is Walter Mitty
because the day dreams are about him and he is in the
story from start to end. The antagonist is Walter Mittys
wife because he is against him the whole story. When
Walter Mitty stands up for him self his wife doesn’t care
and forgets about it.
Notes
 It says at the end of the story that he
went up against a firing squad and what
he meant by firing squad was his wife
because she controls his life.
 At the beginning of the story he is day
dreaming while driving and his wife tells
him to slow down because she does not
like going over 40 mph. This is just to
show how he day dreams and detaches
from the real world.
Question 1
 How many times did Walter Mitty day




dream?
A. 3
B. 4
C. 5
D. 6
Question 2
 What was he doing for the day?




A. fishing
B. errands
C. road trip
D. going out to eat
Question 4
 What article of clothing did Walter need?




A. shirt
B. shoes
C. pants
D. Underwear
Question 3
 What did his wife tell him to get?




A. toilet paper
B. taco supplies
C. puppy biscuits
D. a job
Question 5
 What was Walter’s first day dream?




A. In a courtroom
B. firing squad
C. on the plane
D. captain of a ship
Question 6
 What type of person was his wife?




A. nice
B. controlling
C. patient
D. shy
Question 7
 Which of the following does NOT trigger
a day dream?

A. a news paper

B. driving to the mall

C. skipping around

D. driving past the hospital
Answers
 C
 B
 C
 B
 D
 B
 C