The opening lines of the novel, The Outsider by Albert Camus, set the tone for the book: "Mother died today. Or maybe yesterday, I don't know" (pg. 9), it is a dreary and depressing sentence, so are the thoughts of a character by the name of Meursault. However, the circumstances that took place, plunged him into a spiral of events. Strangely, his thoughts stayed the same, yet his life changed dramatically. Conversely, the story "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" by James Thurber, is seemingly contrary to the novel The Outsider. In the beginning of the story, Lieutenant Burg was saying to the Commander, "We can't make it, sir. It's spoiling for a hurricane..." The Commander's brave reply was, "...We're going through!" (pg. 73) The story promised excitement, fast pace and interesting events full of heroism. There was one small detail; it was a daydream of Walter Mitty whose life was lonely and discouraging. It was his way of dealing with the reality of his miserable life. Even though these stories do not seem to be comparable, by examining them a little closer, is revealed that the characters have many things in common. Meursault and Mitty were trying to escape the realties of their

With every action, or lack of, Meursault and Mitty were pressing on to their inevitable death. Meursault's came because he did not want to conform to society and was facing death penalty by the guillotine. The events that led to his execution were his deep beliefs - the obsession for the truth. This truth was a negative one; nevertheless it was the truth that he was willing to die for. Meursault was condemned to death mostly of showing lack of emotion, especially because he did not cry at his mother's funeral. There is a question that arises. Is it that, "In our society any man who doesn't cry at his mother's funeral is liable to be condemned to death" (pg. 118, from Afterword)? In Mitty's case he finally stood up and rebelled against his nagging wife, which led him in a different direction in his daydream. Outburst towards his wife spun him into the bravest act yet - he bravely stood in front of the "firing squad." It appeared that none of his dreams ever had closure, none that is, except 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" (pg.81). Is it possible that the dream of execution did not signify the death of Mitty, but in his real world the death of slavery to his wife? Perhaps he realised that he had to fight not only in his fantasies but also in his real world. Or, could it be that Mitty wanted to give up, and because he was a coward in the real world, he committed suicide in his dream instead real life? In both stories, all the events that led to final moment would enable one to believe it was a suicide wish. Tragically, Meursault's death was the real punishment and Mitty's, even though it was in his daydream, was real to him.

lives; yet, they came face to face with them because of the decisions they made throughout their lives, which led them to their ultimate destruction.

As hard as Meursault and Mitty tried to run away from the reality of life, it was inevitable to come face to face with the

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Approximate Word count = 1398
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)