Comparison of the Fantasies and Daydreams of Michael and Walter Mitty Essay Example for Free

Comparison of the Fantasies and Daydreams of Michael and Walter Mitty Essay Michael and Walter Mitty are two men who use fantasies and daydreams to escape from their unhappy lives. They both use them to improve their own experience. Both men are seen as weak, seen as failures by the rest of the world. They both are in denial. Walter Mittys fantasies stem from boredom and are used to boost his self-esteem. I never see a man could hold his brandy like you, sir. In his fantasies, he plays the character of someone superior, a rebel, or a lifesaver, such as a Commander, a doctor, a criminal, or a Captain. The complete opposite of who he is, a nobody. He changes himself completely because he is unhappy with who he is as a person. Walter is not as clever as his characters; Coreopsis has set in. When Walter says this, he thinks he is sounding clever as he is performing an operation but he is not bright because coreopsis is a flower. Michael needs his fantasies to survive desperate situations. He is lonely I am not an attractive companion and has no job. Michael uses his fantasies to deny his situation, to have something he doesnt have in real life. He imagines a family, a successful business, and a large house. These are not unrealistic dreams, they could have happened, but in Michaels case they did not. My Castle is not a splendid place, but it is very comfortable, and it has a warm and cheerful air, and it is quite a picture of Home. Michael cares more about the people there, his family, and his perception of home than material comforts. I have enough and am above all moderate wants and anxieties. Walter is married and feels smothered by his wife who hassles him and feels there is something wrong with him for losing himself in his fantasies. Its one of your days. I wish youd let Dr Renshaw check you over. This may anger and annoy him, which pushes him even further into his fantasies. He never involves her in his daydreams, which suggests that he is not close to her and would rather be alone. Michael almost had a happy marriage but Christiana betrayed him. After her he had no other partner and is lonely, he wants a family. Walter feels inferior to other men. Theyre so damn cockyThey think they know everything. Walter tries to do a man thing by taking the chains off his own car, but fails. When he sees a young, grinning man take them off easily he feels annoyed that he, himself cannot. In his fantasies, he is a strong man, or a smart man. He uses his fantasies to deny his personality. Michaels fantasy starts when he is asked to start a story to entertain his relations but from the depth, length, detail and thought gone into this dream, we know he has thought about this many times before. Walters are triggered by certain pictures or situations. Driving his car triggers a fantasy involving a Navy plane, a hospital triggers him into a doctor, and the Waterbury trial triggers a trial situation where he is a gun-shooting criminal. Pictures of bombing planes and ruined streets trigger a pilot fantasy. Michaels dreams are set in his castle, his home. The scene does not change. I reside, mostly, in a Castle. Walters are set in different locations, on different levels, the ground, and in the air, hurtling eight-engined Navy hydroplane in the courtroom and door of the dugout. This suggests Walter wanted to be as far away, from where he is now as possible. Michaels fantasies are about family, about others. About who he wishes he could be with, his grandchildren, children, wife and his business partner and his family. About closeness with friends and family. It is very pleasant of an evening, when we are all assembled together which frequently happens. Walters revolve around himself. What he does, how he saves people or places and in one dream about what he has done to another person. Michaels could have happened if it wasnt for decisions made by two people, Christiana and his business partner. Walters are pure fantasy, which get facts and words wrong. Michaels and Walters fantasies are an escape from their humdrum lives to a happier place where they would rather be.