Fantasy Versus Fiction
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Fantasy Versus Fiction
Alaina Davis
ENG 125
Katie Newbanks
May 2, 2011
Fantasy Versus Fiction
Pocketa-Pocketa-Pocketa… this sound is first heard in reference to the "Navy hydroplane" that Walter steers through a violent storm; he imagines it is the "pounding of the cylinders" (Thurber, 1939). Later, in Walter's fantasy surgery, the "new anesthetizer" gives way and makes the same sound (Thurber, 1939). Finally, when Mitty imagines himself a British pilot, flame-throwers make the same noise. It could be that this is the sound of the car engine, which Walter first hears when he is driving into town with his wife – although we do hear the "pocketa pocketa" again when Walter is sitting in the lobby, not in his car. No matter where the "pocketa pocketa" originates, we do know that the sound provides a solid link between the real world and Walter's fantasies, as well as a common link between his multiple fantasies. It is one of the many comic elements of the story the same funny sound cropping up repeatedly and it lends a tangible, permanent element to Mitty's various fantasies. He imagines being a surgeon, he fantasizes that "Coreopsis has set in" (Thurber, 1939). This is not so much a disease as it is a plant, rather similar to a daisy. Walter imagines a gun in the courtroom a "Webley-Vickers 50.80,” or a gun with a three-foot barrel. (Thurber, 1939). This is part of the humor of the story. His fantasies read more like exaggerated parodies of adventure stories than like genuine drama.
Mrs. Mitty admonishes Walter to buy overshoes at the store; she also insists that he wear his gloves while driving. It seems to us that a lot of what she does to Walter has to do with sheltering him from the world. After all, she will not let him do simple things for himself (like take his own temperature, or make basic decisions), and this is a big part of the reason he spends so much time fantasizing. If this is true, then the gloves and overshoes might...
Alaina Davis
ENG 125
Katie Newbanks
May 2, 2011
Fantasy Versus Fiction
Pocketa-Pocketa-Pocketa… this sound is first heard in reference to the "Navy hydroplane" that Walter steers through a violent storm; he imagines it is the "pounding of the cylinders" (Thurber, 1939). Later, in Walter's fantasy surgery, the "new anesthetizer" gives way and makes the same sound (Thurber, 1939). Finally, when Mitty imagines himself a British pilot, flame-throwers make the same noise. It could be that this is the sound of the car engine, which Walter first hears when he is driving into town with his wife – although we do hear the "pocketa pocketa" again when Walter is sitting in the lobby, not in his car. No matter where the "pocketa pocketa" originates, we do know that the sound provides a solid link between the real world and Walter's fantasies, as well as a common link between his multiple fantasies. It is one of the many comic elements of the story the same funny sound cropping up repeatedly and it lends a tangible, permanent element to Mitty's various fantasies. He imagines being a surgeon, he fantasizes that "Coreopsis has set in" (Thurber, 1939). This is not so much a disease as it is a plant, rather similar to a daisy. Walter imagines a gun in the courtroom a "Webley-Vickers 50.80,” or a gun with a three-foot barrel. (Thurber, 1939). This is part of the humor of the story. His fantasies read more like exaggerated parodies of adventure stories than like genuine drama.
Mrs. Mitty admonishes Walter to buy overshoes at the store; she also insists that he wear his gloves while driving. It seems to us that a lot of what she does to Walter has to do with sheltering him from the world. After all, she will not let him do simple things for himself (like take his own temperature, or make basic decisions), and this is a big part of the reason he spends so much time fantasizing. If this is true, then the gloves and overshoes might...