Compare and Contrast of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty by James Thurber and The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin - Essay Example

Page Your Compare and Contrast two literary works The two stories that I choose to write about are “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” by James Thurber and “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin. After reading the two stories I realized that marriage has a deep effect on the weaker partner. In both the stories the protagonist of the story are so suffocated by their demanding and overbearing partners that while one chooses to escape the reality by dreaming the other chooses freedom even though it comes in the form of death. Even though the genre of both the stories is different, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty takes a humorous look at marriage and The Story of an Hour is more intense, but both deal with the negative aspects of marriage. Besides the main theme of marriage I think the writers also discuss how male and female react differently to situations. If the basic concept is woven around failing marriage then the two protagonists being of different gender provide an understanding as to how the two genders react in the condition. In the next few pages I provide a summary of both the stories and then discuss the two main themes of the stories, gender roles and marriage, under separate headings. Finally a conclusion is provided to the discussion. “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” by James Thurber The story deals with the life of Walter Mitty, and old man, who has a dominant wife who bosses around her way while Walter Mitty helplessly listens to her. In order to escape from this reality he lives in a secret world, a world where he is the boss, he daydreams. In fact he daydreams so often that it is only when somebody else nudges him that he’s brought back to reality. It is interesting to see how he dreams of himself as being a supergenious surgeon or a brave soldier. The writer has used humour to describe the situations however, underneath this humour lies the failure of a person and his inability to do or say anything against a dominant person. It is to be noted that even though it would seem that a dominant wife is the most probable reason for Mitty’s secret life however, the author does suggest that Mitty is the one who follows people cowardly. Despite that marriage can be considered as one of the themes of this story and hence it’s being discussed here. “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin Here unlike the previous story the protagonist is a woman who apparently has a weak heart. Her husband has died in an accident and her well wishers are wondering how to break the news to her considering her condition. However, to reader’s surprise the woman is more happy than sad on hearing about her husband’s death. Thus, Kate Chopin too discusses the negative side of marriage. Even her condition can be partly blamed on the marriage and the stress it must have brought on her. She is happy to learn that she might finally be free. She is overjoyed. Even though it seems a little cruel but the author provides a different aspect of human nature. It could be that the protagonist felt nothing for her husband anymore, maybe the burden of marriage and a strained relationship had killed all her feelings. In the end it is learned that her husband had not dies in the accident. However, to everybody’s astonishment the protagonist dies of a heart attack. She finally does get her freedom. Marriage as a theme In our society marriage is the legal certificate that recognizes the existence of a man and a woman as husband and wife. However, this institution seems to have its own stresses and responsibilities and writers have now and then discussed the various aspects of this institution. Here we discuss the two stories that bring the negative aspect of the institution to light. Marriage involves understanding your partner in order to carry on the relationship, which is the same with any other relationship. However, when two people live together the sense of mystery is lost and when one of the partners happens to be of dominant nature the other inevitably suffers. It’s the same with Walter Mitty, he is the weaker one among the two and submits to any conflict that arises and hence is always bullied by his wife. The story shows that in a marriage if one of the partners is overbearing it has a negative effect on the personality of the other. In this case Mitty’s only escape is his dreamland where he’s the one in limelight who is perfect in everything he does. The constant nagging by his wife must have led to his low self-esteem even though it is not necessary that he would have a high level of confidence prior to marriage but living with someone who constantly nags you certainly further lowers the level of confidence. It must be because of this that Mitty is unable to resist the orders from anybody else too. Instead of making it a grim story about a failing husband, the author has very intelligently made it all very interesting and humorous. He shows how people tend to escape bad relationships and their day to day problems. The author contrasts the two worlds of Mitty by certain incidences like when he dreams of himself the furious commander, who revs his engine up to 8,500., is woken up by his wife who does not even allow him to go above 40 km/hr. He’s so smothered by his wife’s attitude that his only escape is his dream land. He does chores for her while she sits calmly in beauty parlour. He has to make sure that he reaches before her at the hotel as she hates waiting. People like Walter Mitty are unable to express their feelings not just because they lack self confidence but also because their past experiences affect them a lot. A single failure breaks them and when they are nagged about it instead of being pushed to do better they end up losing all their confidence. The source of inspiration could have been his wife but instead she serves as the source of gloom. His wife also shows concern for him and asks him to see a doctor since Mitty seems to drift from reality too often. Even though the author does not suggest directly that his dominant wife is the reason for his behaviour as he’s also shouted at by a policeman , a park attendant and laughed at by a woman, but even so she hasn’t helped in any way either, and has only worsened the condition. The story shows a typical married couple where wife tends to be the one who holds the strings of the house. The author has shown negative side of marriage suggesting that women even though weaker than man are crueller and clever and hence can easily manipulate people around them. He shows husbands as being the cowardly types who always get bossed around by their wife. The other story by Kate Chopin also shows the negative aspect of marriage. Here too the weaker one feels smothered by the relationship. However, unlike the previous story which was full of puns, this story attracts attention because of the chock value of the story. It is completely unexpected that a wife will be happy on learning about her husband’s death and it is still more shocking to learn that the woman dies when her husband arrives safely. The protagonist tries to suppress her feelings initially but ultimately she recognizes the feeling and is happy to learn that she’s free. She feels like she has finally been freed from the clutches of the institution of marriage. Her behaviour shows marriage in a negative light. She’s weak hearted and after reading the story it can be said that the strenuous condition she was living in must have partly been the reason for her ill health. Even though it is never directly suggested that her husband was bad in any way but the author shows the protagonist as being the one with low confidence, it is her husband who is the dominant one in their relationship. She is the one who is being smothered by the relationship. She did not stop to ask if it were or were not a monstrous joy that held her. A clear and exalted perception enabled her to dismiss the suggestion as trivial. She knew that she would weep again when she saw the kind, tender hands folded in death; the face that had never looked save with love upon her, fixed and gray and dead. But she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely. And she opened and spread her arms out to them in welcome (Chopin). The author shows that women are very sensitive, and when she’s not cared for and loved by someone as close to her as her husband. The protagonist is happy as she compares her past to what her future can be. Breaking away from a difficult relationship she is happy to be independent again. She had no other way to escape the relationship and the death of her husband came as a relief to her. Difficult relationships are always very suffocating and when its marriage people need to be ore concerned about other’s feelings. Maybe the husband was not dominating but he was certainly insensitive, not caring about his wife. He must have remained busy with his business while his wife yearned for the love and care she deserved. The protagonist is not shown as a completely cruel person because she does think about how she would cry on seeing his dead body. She does think about her love for him but the sense of being free is much more empowering and brings joy to her. The two stories are very different but both show the negative aspect of marriage. While “The Story of an Hour” can be called feminist, it’s the same with “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”, it is also sexist. Both the stories show marriage in terms of the opposite sex. However, it would be more appropriate to consider the stories in the context of individual behaviour. In both cases the protagonists are inept at expressing their feelings and hence suffer from stress that is brought about by people bullying them and ordering them. Lack of love and care from their respective partners has pushed them into the path where they want to escape from the clutches of the strangulating relationship. While Mitty chooses to escape through his dreamland, Kate’s protagonist chooses death over a difficult relationship. Gender role as a theme Even though it might seem that discussing role of genders in the two stories is not appropriate since as I’ve said earlier it should basically be considered as individual behaviour. However, despite that I think the reaction of the two protagonists is because of their gender. Kate’s protagonist, a female, is shown as a sensitive type who has developed a heart condition. As the events unfold it can be said that her condition can be partly because of the stress of a bad marriage. While Mitty tries to counteract the strenuous condition through his dreamland. The two people have different reaction to bad relationship. Females are not considered as the bread earner and hence they submit themselves to all the atrocities unable to speak against wrong, especially during the time when this story was written. Kate’s protagonist is a female who bears through such relationship while her health degrades. She can’t just escape into a dream land, she does want her freedom but it would be appropriate to say that as long as her husband is there even her dream land is governed by his orders. She is not even allowed to dream. She dreams of being happy and independent only when she hears the news of her husband’s death. Unfortunately for her when the news turns out to be false and her husband arrives she’s unable to see her dreams being crushed and succumbs to death. This death must be her ultimate freedom. On the other hand, Mitty is the one who earns bread. Even though he’s a coward and escapes arguments but atleast he has his dream lad to rely upon. In his dream land he’s the one who holds the strings. Men always want the power, they want people to listen to them, and their ego is much bigger than that of women. It is for the sake of this ego that Mitty dreams about his power, the power he always desires. Yet it is his inherent nature that does not allow him to escape the bad relationship in reality so he can only confide in his dreamland. Conclusion From the above discussion it can be concluded that both the stories show the negative aspects of marriage but from the view of opposite sex. It can be seen that marriage becomes difficult when either of the two partners become dominant and uncaring. In either case it is the one who can not speak and stand for themselves that suffers. Furthermore gender also plays a role in deciding how the person tackles with the situation. Since women are supposed to be the weaker sex, they only care for the love that they deserve; they are not as concerned about being the boss as men are. Men are under constant pressure of showing that they are the boss and hence they grow up with the feeling of being powerful. In case they are unable to show their power, they dream about situations where they are powerful and are loved by all. The two observations become clear on reading the two stories. References James Thurber (1942) "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty", in My World and Welcome to It. Reproduced by arrangement with Rosemary A. Thurber and The Barbara Hogenson Agency. Chopin, Kate “The Story of an Hour” Spark Notes Editors (2007). Retrieved June 20, 2011, from http://www.sparknotes.com/short-stories/the-story-of-an-hour/. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Study Guide. Bookrags.com. Retrieved June22, 2011, from http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-waltermitty/. The Story of an Hour Themes. Spark Notes Editors (2007). Retrieved June 20, 2011, from http://www.sparknotes.com/short-stories/the-story-of-an-hour/themes. Read More