Walter Klyce

Mr. Shelton

English 8, Period 5

27 December 2002

Mitty vs. Smithers: Round 1

Walter Mitty is the main character of the short story “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” (1942), by James Thurber. He is an insecure man who does only what his wife or other people of authority tell him to do. In fact, he is so self-doubting that he spends much of his time day-dreaming of fantasies in which he is an esteemed surgeon, or an excellent shot with a pistol, or a courageous pilot, or really anyone more important than plain old Walter Mitty. Likewise, Mr. Smithers, the protagonist of the story “The Two Bottles of Relish” by Lord Dunsany (Edward Plunkett), also looks upon himself very poorly. Smithers tries to solve a murder mystery, but is so unintelligent and unimaginative that he can’t solve the mystery even when he has all the necessary facts. Smithers and Mitty have many common traits, but they also have several different characteristics about them.

Smithers and Mitty both have very low self-esteem. Mitty displays his lack of self-confidence in that he only listens to what other people tell him to do, and never does what he actually wants. And when Smithers says things like: “...you mightn’t think that a little man like me could make you shudder.”(44), he shows his lack of self-worth and appreciation. Both Mitty and Smithers seem to believe that they are not important, but it is usually difficult for the reader to decide whether they are just extremely humble or have inferiority complexes.

Also, neither Smithers nor Mitty is nor very educated. Neither of them knows very much about the world, and they illustrate this often. For example, when Smithers says: “...you don’t have to quote the whole of the Inferno to show that you’ve read Milton; half a line may do.” (44), he is trying to show how intelligent he is, when in reality he is only showing his illiteracy. And Mitty often invents details in his stories that he believes are real facts. Mitty demonstrates his stupidity when he talks about things like a Webley-Vickers or coreopsis, when they either don’t exist or are used in the wrong context. At times, it appears that neither character really has any idea what is going on around him.

These two men have their differences as well. Walter Mitty has a great imagination, which he uses in his fantasies, but Smithers has almost no imagination at all. Another contrast between them is that Smithers has a very business-like manner and always does his best at the things he does, while Mitty is more lazy and laid back. However, overall, Walter Mitty and Mr. Smithers have very similar personalities, as their stories show.

Bibliography

Plunkett, Edward. “The Two Bottles of Relish.” 21 Great Stories. Mentor: New York. 1969. 41-55 (of 352) pages.

Thurber, James. “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.” 21 Great Stories. Mentor: New York. 1969. 271-277 (of 352) pages.

On my honor, I have neither given nor received aid on this work.