Both these men seem to be sad people who have no control over their own life and have no intention of actually making their lives more interesting, so they used fantasy to make sure they are happy with their lives. In my opinion they both consider their lives so bad now they don’t think they can save themselves from what they have become. In actual fact they are lazy. Mitty is being ruled by his wife and that is forcing him into his fantasy world of power and military status. Michael is making his life more complicated by telling lie after lie about his life, because one day it will catch him up and make his life more miserable.
The structures in both stories are different but in some cases can be similar. They both use the switches between reality and fantasy. In Walter Mitty the switches are a lot more obvious and the fantasy is distinguishable from the reality. His fantasy is a lot different to the normal world he lives in. In the ‘Poor Relation’s Story’, Michael leads his two lives but they are a lot closer than Mitty’s two lives. He tries to be the opposite of himself. But it is a real person he could be. The two lives are two that exist in the real world anyway but he just wants to be the other side of society and be successful. It is hard to see the transition from reality to fantasy life and this makes the story seem more interesting.
Walter Mitty and Poor Relation’s story both use language that is commonly used and is easy to follow. However in the Poor Relation’s Story it uses a wider range of vocabulary using such words as abhorrence, repudiated, and adjured. And Poor Relation’s also uses longer sentences and uses descriptive language to describe the atmosphere and the tension he feels. In Walter Mitty technical terms are misused to describe noises that cannot be heard. Such words as pocketa pocketa. Which is used to describe the noise of the car engine. Speech is used in both stories. It is used more in The Poor Relation’s Story because speech is used to let the reader know what is going on in relation to the story.
The stories build up in both texts and end up in a fantasy world. Walter Mitty ends it by calling himself the undefeated. He pictures himself as an action hero. In the Poor Relation’s Story it ends with him telling a ‘friend’ about his castle. He tells him of the castle in the air that he lives in. He really enters the realms of make-believe. He is beginning to go into the unbelievable fantasies. And this is what both will end up experiencing total denial when they try and accept their real lives.
The author uses both stories to put forward his views on life as a man, and what is expected of a man in society. Also how a man wants to be. It uses both stories to explain that a man wants his status to be that of a bold powerful man that is in charge. A man is supposed to be in charge and be dominant. The Poor Relation’s story lets us know that a man I genuinely accepted in society if he has a good job and a wife. This is also how men feel in general so if they don’t meet the requirements they feel are needed to be a man then they feel socially inadequate. Walter Mitty has his own ideas as to what a real man is and that is an action hero or military leader who has power. He feels a man needs power to be a man. The authors probably feel the same way and they express their feelings through literacy.
Overall both the stories are very effective to show that people aren’t happy with the lives they are given and use their imagination to find themselves lives they are happy with. The Poor Relation’s Story show you how far a person can go to be accepted in society. To actually lie to your family about your whole life. Walter Mitty is unhappy with his life and is fed up with his wife treating him like dirt but he is unable to stand up to his wife. They are two sad characters that need to resort to fantasy to find a more interesting life to be proud of. To be able to say I’m a man.
