the secret life of walter mitty short story

As he exits the store, a newsie strides by shouting the latest updates on an infamous trial that has everyone’s attention. Letting the attendant safely park his car, Walter seeks out the nearest shoe store and buys those overshoes his wife reminded him about. Walter Mitty has experienced some problems with parking cars before and as a result, has a bit of chip on his shoulder. This fantasy is brought to an end by the voice of a parking-lot attendant. Like some sort of Depression-era MacGyver, Walter Mitty proves he is not just a great surgeon and best-selling author, but also capable of fixing the latest in medical technology using nothing but a fountain pen. A fancy modern machine connected to the operating table is making a ta-pocketa-pocketa sound, indicating a problem with anesthesia. Mitty is also the author of a landmark book on treating streptothricosis. The light has turned green and Walter’s car is still sitting, idling.Īs his leisurely and somewhat-aimless drive takes him past the hospital, he removes the gloves again-only this time they are surgeon’s gloves and he is a renowned doctor being consulted on the important case involving millionaire Wellington McMillan. Walter leaves with the gloves on, but takes them off at the first stoplight only to guiltily put them back on when a cop pulls up alongside him and tells him to get moving. As she exits the car, she reminds him not to forget to buy overshoes and to wear his gloves while he’s driving. In that real world, things are a bit more humdrum: Water Mitty is driving his wife to her hairdresser. Perhaps Walter was starting to get excited by the fantasy world he was imagining, letting it take over his actions in the real world. It is Walter's wife who drags him out of the fantasy that begins the story, when she exclaims that he is driving too fast. And ta-pocketa-pocketa sound that the hydroplane’s eight engines are making is actually being produced by the car that Walter is driving through his small town with his ever-vigilant wife by his side.

No crew of any hydroplane could ever be afraid when Commander Walter Mitty is at the helm.Įxcept that Water Mitty is no naval commander. The level of danger is causing anxiety among the crew, but not fear. That situation is made all the more precarious as a result of ice forming on the pilot’s window. That story is taking place aboard a naval hydroplane equipped with eight engines and facing what appears to be a life-and-death situation. The reader is thrust right into what might well be the climax of a more traditional story.

The secret life of walter mitty short story