Born with a prophecy claiming he would one day kill his father and marry his mother, King Oedipus is immediately set up for failure. However, this does by no means make him an incompetent ruler. Quite the opposite in fact. edipus proves to be a man renowned for his intellect which is exemplified when he solves the riddle of the sphinx, a supernatural mythological being who held the city of Thebes captive. Furthermore, his is a man of swift action and great insight.
This is perhaps best represented with his response to the priest’s complaint, he responds adeptly, “But I have not been idle; one thing I have already done – The only thing that promised hope. My kinsman Creon… has been sent to the Pythian house of Apollo. ” Oedipus is indeed one that is faithful and compassionate to his people, this is further exemplified as he orders Creon to “Speak before all. Their plight concerns me now, more than my life”. The text quickly ascends Oedipus to the epitome of heroism. Ironically, this also proves to be the key to his downfall.
In contrast, Walter Mitty’s life could be seen as quite an average, unexceptional life. He works as the Negative Assets Manager of the Photo Archive at the Life Magazine (a job that most would envy greatly). For those of you who do not know what negative assets are, they are simply black and white pictures. Rather than a life of royalty, Walter lives a life of little importance with no story to tell. However, it has been the singular privilege of Walter’s unexceptional career to handle the works contributed by Sean O’Connell, a photography superstar who roams the world in search of exotic subjects.
It is very clear from the beginning that Walter clearly admires Sean and wishes he could be more like him. That his unexceptional average life could be one of a more exotic kind. In his own fantasies we see that he is the adventurous hero and that proves to be his major flaw which causes him a great deal of criticism and humiliation and stands as the downfall of his character. This aspect is similar to Oedipus as he too possesses a quality that ultimately proved to be his downfall, which was his overconfidence, hubris and arrogance.
When Walter is confronted with the jaunty and uncomfortably nosy EHarmony tech support guy, ‘Tod’. Tod urges Walter to complete the ‘been there, done that’ section of his profile, which Walter had left blank. Walter tells Tod that he really hasn’t really been to any place or done anything worthy of putting in his profile. In the middle of this conversation with Tod, Walter goes into his first fantasy, diving into a building to save his love interest’s three legged dog. Throughout the movie, Tod continues to pester Walter regarding his profile.
However, as Walter’s character progresses and he does more things he eventually tells Tod about his adventures. By the end of the movie, Walter had a very impressive ‘been there, done that section and receives hundreds of ‘winks’, the sites equivalent to Facebook likes. This drifting in and out of reality and fantasy sets up Walter as an unreliable narrator. Which begs the question, did Walter’s grand life affirming adventure actually happen or not? Throughout the movie fantasy elements have been woven in.
This starts with the beginning of Walter’s adventure as he stares into a picture of Sean O’Connell, and Walter images Sean in the black and white picture beckoning to him. In the next scene, Walter is running past famous covers of the Life magazine, with the latest one being Walter in a space suit and the heading ‘The making of a Brave Man’. Furthermore, in the next scene as Walter is taking off in a place the words ‘Life’s Purpose’ are painted on the runway. Are these fantasy elements imposed on real life, or are they an indication that Walter is in another one of his fantasies.
However, Walter does indeed have several ‘real moments’ through his journey. After being rescued from a shark in the icy waters of Greenland, he touches a crewman’s face to reassure himself that what had taken place actually happened. The entire movie is loaded with allusions, symbolism and metaphors. When Walter lands in Greenland he rents a car from a strange man in a booth. “Do you have any cars here” he asks, “Yeah, a red one and a blue one” the man said. “I’ll take the Red one,” Walter replies. Does this happen to ring a bell with anyone?
Now it is understood that the central plot for Walter is to find the mysterious 25th print for the final issue of the Life magazine. This negative is what Sean called ‘his greatest work”, and ‘life quintessence’. When Walter finally finds Sean he is occupied with capturing a picture of a snow leopard, otherwise known as a ghost cat. He then states “Beautiful things don’t ask for attention. ” Perhaps this is a metaphor for Sean himself, a man who proved exceptionally difficult to find. When Walter finally learns that he was in possession of the missing negative the entire time.
It was placed in the wallet that Sean had gifted to him with the Life Company’s motto engraved. “To see the world, things dangerous to come to, to see behind walls, draw closer, to find each other, and to feel. That is the purpose of life. ” In the end, “Life quintessence” is the embodiment of Walter in a very literal sense. The missing print becomes the metaphor for the whole adventure and represents Walter’s transformation from a weak and timid character with no life or story to the Hero he always desired who possesses rich experiences.