The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Part 2

Bruce W. Nickerson, Esq, performs the American Classic short story by James Thurber: "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty". Bruce gave his first performance of this classic when he was but a Sophomore at Modesto High School. This performance was recorded 2/5/2011 at the Good Shepherd Episcopal Church talent show in Belmont, California.

Mitty is a meek, mild man with a vivid fantasy life: in a few dozen paragraphs he imagines himself a wartime pilot, an emergency-room surgeon, and a devil-may-care killer. The character's name has come into more general use to refer to an ineffectual dreamer, appearing in several dictionaries. The American Heritage Dictionary defines a Walter Mitty as "an ordinary, often ineffectual person who indulges in fantastic daydreams of personal triumphs". The most famous of Thurber's inept male protagonists, the character is considered "the archetype for dreamy, hapless, Thurber Man".

Although the story has humorous elements, there is a darker and more significant message underlying the text, leading to a more tragic interpretation of the Mitty character. Even in his heroic daydreams, Mitty does not triumph, several fantasies being interrupted before the final one sees Mitty dying bravely in front of a firing squad. In the brief snatches of reality that punctuate Mitty's fantasies we meet well-meaning but insensitive strangers who inadvertently rob Mitty of some of his remaining dignity.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Mitty Recorded via Apple© iPhone4

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• Secret Life of Walter Mitty
• James Thurber
• Bruce Nickerson
• Good Shepherd Church
• Belmont
• CA