Which line from “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” best develops Walter’s character? (1 point) Responses “‘You’re not a young man any longer.’” “‘You’re not a young man any longer.’” “‘The Old Man’ll get us through,’ they said to one another.” “‘The Old Man’ll get us through,’ they said to one another.” “They’re so damn cocky, thought Walter Mitty, walking along Main Street; they think they know everything.” “They’re so damn cocky, thought Walter Mitty, walking along Main Street; they think they know everything.” “Then, with that faint, fleeting smile playing about his lips, he faced the firing squad; erect and motionless, proud and disdainful, Walter Mitty the Undefeated, inscrutable to the last.”
Each of the lines provided contributes to the development of Walter Mitty's character in different ways by shedding light on his self-perception and how he copes with the mundanity of his life through fantasy. However, the line that most quintessentially captures the essence of Walter’s character and the theme of the story might be the last one:
"Then, with that faint, fleeting smile playing about his lips, he faced the firing squad; erect and motionless, proud and disdainful, Walter Mitty the Undefeated, inscrutable to the last."
This line occurs at the end of the short story when Walter Mitty, facing a mundane task in his real life, imagines himself in a heroic and dramatic situation. It encapsulates his penchant for escaping into fantasy as a means to assert his dignity, courage, and worth in the face of a banal and unsatisfying reality. The phrase "Walter Mitty the Undefeated" speaks to the resilience and defiance that he displays, if only in his imagination. It shows the reader how he perceives himself within his daydreams—a stark contrast to his everyday life, where he often appears ineffectual or belittled, particularly by his wife. This line serves to fully encapsulate the depth of Walter Mitty's character—as a man whose secret life of daydreams is where he feels most alive and most himself.