Introduction
“I’m Going” and “The secret life of Walter Mitty” are two masterpieces that revolve around individuals who hope, but are unable, to fulfill their wishes.
The authors recount the stories in a rather humorous way by enlisting unrealistic characters. The protagonists of the stories are unable to make decisions; they can only make tales about their lives.
The two stories chronicle undecided couples who have dreams, but they cannot, or not willing, to work towards achieving their dreams.
Consequently, their dreams remain fantasies and the aspect of escapism creeps in slowly into the lives of these surrealistic couples.
However, there is a difference in how the stories have been narrated; for instance, “I’m Going” revolves around a real life whereby, a couple is unable to reach consensus on almost all life issues and thus keep blaming each other for not making efforts.
On the other hand, “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” revolves around a man, who is uncomfortable with his life and thus, keeps on escaping to a world of fantasy.
Comparisons
The similarities of the two stories lie in the fact that, they revolve around married men with the desire to satisfy their wives’ emotional needs.
However, they are faced with the challenge of not having the means to achieve their desires due to their economic situations. On top of their need to fulfill their individual needs, they realize that they have responsibilities, especially their wives who need their attention too (Bernard, 1915, p. 16).
It becomes quite hard for them to balance between what they desire to do individually, and at the same time, be the men that their wives want then to be.
In “I’m Going”, Henry engages in humorous conversation with his wife; they seem to have opposing interests in life. In their effort to get something that will interest both of them, they realize that they cannot feel comfortable with each other.
There is a desire for both of them to be on their own, just to feel fulfilled, yet they cannot realize the desire because they need each other’s company.
In “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”, Walter desires to have a specified lifestyle for his family, but that desire is beyond his capability (Yates, 1974, p.165). Therefore, he resolves into an imaginary world with the hope that it will help in making him feel respected.
There is also a similarity in the outcome of the lives of the two men where they end up not satisfying their desires. The fantasy life of Mitty never happens, as he never works towards realizing his dreams.
He keeps thinking that what he wants and desires will be fulfilled simply by escaping his current situation. In the process of wanting to satisfy his needs and the needs of his wife, he ends up being a nuisance and even hurting her in the process.
His wife becomes impatient of his fantasies that are contrary to the life they are living (Clugston, 2010, p. 26). On the other hand, the desire for Henry to satisfy the needs of Jeanne ends up in frustrations.
His inability to make up his mind on what he wants disgusts his wife to a point where she contemplates leaving. Even though the couple thinks they will be better if they gave each other space, they realize that they need each other for companionship.
The characters in both stories are victims of their environment or past experiences. In “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”, Walter’s fantasies revolve around his environment and his wishes.
For instance, before he daydreamed about the navy hydroplane, his wife had complained of him driving so fast. Secondly, just before he daydreamed about being a surgeon, he had just put on surgical gloves and was driving past the hospital.
His fantasy about the courtroom drama preceded the shout of a newspaper carrier. The fourth fantasy happens when Mitty, in the process of waiting for his wife, is reading literature with the topic of Germany conquering the world.
Finally, his last daydream of the firing-squad scene happened when he was smoking. Consequently, when the reader considers the life of Henry and Jeanne, in “I’m Going”, their lives are based on their interests and hobbies.
Their unwillingness to be together is simply because Henry feels he will enjoy more when he goes for horse racing alone, rather than when he is with Jeanne.
On the other hand, Jeanne confesses that she enjoys going for a walk alone. Such experiences are mainly the basis on which the story revolves, and they are unable to reach a compromise and agree on what both will be pleased.
Contrast
Despite the similarities, there are numerous differences considering the setting and the plot of the two stories. “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” is more of a monologue where the couples are not active in the entire scenario.
Mrs. Mitty is not aware of what is running through her husband’s life and has remarkably little idea that he is fantasizing. The outcome of life they share makes Mitty escape into a secret life, which the wife cannot participate.
On the other hand, “I’m Going” involves two active participants who are free and sincere about their feelings. They share their fears and anxieties and confess their weaknesses.
Compared to Mitty where he would rather hide his wishes from his wife and simply imagine, Henry confesses to Jeanne that he cannot go with her to the races because he will have to pay more, and fail to enjoy himself (Bernard, 1915, p. 20).
The suggestion for them to take a walk, instead of going to the races, is also met with a sincere confession from Jeanne that she will not feel comfortable walking with Henry.
The story of “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” displays many scenarios that make up the ultimate scene; the author takes the audience through different scenarios with different settings to bring out his point.
On the other hand, “I’m Going” involves a couple in a similar setting. Even though they pick events from different scenes, the plot of their story does not change.
It takes place in their house from the beginning to the end. As Tobias (1969) observes, “The Secret Life of Mitty” is mainly composed of fantasies, which is the striking feature in the entire story (p.23).
Apparently, the other scenes are only to build up on the daydreams of Mitty. “I’m Going” is a real life story that exposes the fears of two sincere individuals.
Unlike Mitty who finds it hard to accept his status, Henry has accepted life and tries to make his wife understand his actions (Clugston, 2010, p. 36).
The couple realizes that the reason why they may not be together, as they would wish, is their differences that become an obstacle to each other.
The two stories revolve around conflict of finances, and the way the couples would like to spend the resources. In “The Secret Life of Mitty”, it is more about him and the way he would obtain what he wants for him and his family, as opposed to facing the realities of life (Thurber, 2008, p.26-25).
On the other hand, “I’m Going” is all about Jeanne’s concern on how Henry spends his time and money. The conflict that Jeannie is facing is all about having a responsible husband who will make time for her and use his money well.
She feels that Henry gambles a lot with his money and time. Moreover, Jeanne feels that the conflict facing their life would be solved if Henry was a little bit sensitive to her needs and grant her the attention she craves for (Felski, 2003, p.65), rather than act selfishly by going to the races alone.
Mitty, on the other hand, feels that his conflict would be solved if he had one of the lives that he was fantasizing. His hopes and dreams are all about being in a position to provide for the needs of his family and satisfy his desires.
Conclusion
In the two stories, even though the narration revolves around a couple, they both seem to have individual lives where they are unable to merge. Mitty is into fantasy while his wife is real with life.
Henry likes going to horse races alone while Jeanne prefers going for walks. Despite having a clear understanding of their weaknesses, none of the involved parties is willing to give in, for the sake of the other. The stories thus share similarities of the same margin as their differences.
Reference List
Bernard, T. (1915). I’m Going! A Comedy in One Act. (B. H. Clark, Trans.). New York: Samuel French.
Clugston, R. (2010). Journey into Literature. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
Felski, R. (2003). Literature after Feminism. Chicago: University of Chicago Press
Thurber, J. (2008). The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. (Creative Classic Series). New York: The Creative Company.
Tobias, C. (1969). The Art of James Thurber. Ohio: Ohio State University Press.
Yates, Norris. (1974). James Thurber’s Little Man and Liberal Citizen. In C. Holmes (Ed.), Thurber: A Collection of Critical Essays (pp. 28-36). New York: Prentice-Hall.