Theme and Narrative elements in the short story - Essay Example

THE SECTRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY The plot of the story helps create the picture of an old man living a normal mundane life but craves some excitementin his life which he is resigned he will never get. Looking at the narrative, the plot is simple but very effective in bringing out the central themes around the narrative. The story starts off in a tense scene where Mr. Mitty is referred to as’ the old man’ by the crew of a navy hydroplane which he commands. In this scene, the author sets a serious tone and we are brought back down to reality with a bit of an anti climax.

The plot of the narrative moves from serious and grave situations to some very informal and very ordinary settings.In the first daydream, the plot shifts from the highly charged setting of the navy hydroplane to the exceedingly routine and normal domestic setting of MR. and Mrs. Mitty in the vehicle having a conversation. This helps to bring out the perfect image of a daydream. In the same passage, the tone moves from the very serious to the other extreme of very informal. At one point, the commander and his crew are in a life threatening situation and in an instant; we are jolted back to a reality where things are moving at a much slower pace.

It is funny and ironic that the wife even demands that the car speed be kept below forty while earlier he was daydreaming of being in a speeding aircraft.At the same time, we find Mr. Mitty oscillating from his daydreams where he is a big hero admired by every body and treated with deference by his peers, and the reality where he is an old man being told what to do by his wife and even a parking attendant. It’s rather ironic that he possesses a lot of control in his daydreams but very little in real life.

His wife dictates to him even what he wears and the speed at which to drive his car. This is very evident right from the first paragraph where we get to see how he feels about his wife telling him what to wear and buy. Though he tries to protest, his wife has the final word and eventually he buys the overshoes and puts on the gloves.The settings of the story are also vastly diverse with the daydream having some very exciting and sometimes risky settings while in reality he is on a normal run of the mill town street setting.

The first daydream starts off in a high adrenaline setting aboard a navy hydroplane heading into the eye of a storm and then we crash back tom reality in a town car sedately moving to town to do some shopping and drop the wife at the hairdressers.It is interesting to see how the setting and the plot intertwine to give a vivid picture of Mr. Mitty and the life that he leads. The plot takes us deep into his fantasy world while at the same time letting us into his real life. This lets us have a unique vantage point to view his life and make accurate judgments.

The tones set in the story range from serious like in the case of his daydreams as a commander or surgeon to disdainful like when he thinks of the car attendants. We can also see how he yearns for people to respect him more in real life but that not being the case; he opts to get this in his daydreams. He even yearns to be associated with the rich and the powerful as is the case in the second daydream where he is operating on a millionaire who is also a close friend ton the president.In conclusion, we can say that it is true that the author through the use of his plot development, tone, and the settings he employs, succeeds in creating the image of an old man living a very normal and mundane life but secretly yearning for more.

His daydreams are his avenues to get some excitement. By the use of these literary elements, the writer effectively gives his narration two viewpoints which are very different but in that irony lays the beauty of this piece.References