Introduction “I’m Going” and “The secret life of Walter Mitty” are two masterpieces that revolve around individuals who hope, but are unable, to fulfill their wishes. The authors recount the stories in a rather humorous way by enlisting unrealistic characters. The protagonists of the stories are unable to make decisions; they can only make tales about their lives. The two stories chronicle undecided couples who have dreams, but they cannot, or not willing, to work towards achieving their dreams. Consequently, their dreams remain fantasies and the aspect of escapism creeps in slowly into the lives of these surrealistic couples. However, there is a difference in how the stories have been narrated; for instance, “I’m Going” revolves around a real life whereby, a couple is unable to reach consensus on almost all life issues and thus keep blaming each other for not making efforts. On the other hand, “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” revolves around a man, who is uncomfortable with his life and thus, keeps on escaping to a world of fantasy. Comparisons The similarities of the two stories lie in the fact that, they revolve around married men with the desire to satisfy their wives’ emotional needs. However, they are faced with the challenge of not having the means to achieve their desires due to their economic situations. On top of their need to fulfill their individual needs, they realize that they have responsibilities, especially their wives who need their attention too (Bernard, 1915, p. 16). It becomes quite hard for them to balance between what they desire to do individually, and at the same time, be the men that their wives want then to be. In “I’m Going”, Henry engages in humorous conversation with his wife; they seem to have opposing interests in life. In their effort to get something that will interest both of them, they realize that they cannot feel comfortable with each other. There is a desire for both of them to be on their own, just to feel fulfilled, yet they cannot realize the desire because they need each other’s company. In “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”, Walter desires to have a specified lifestyle for his family, but that desire is beyond his capability (Yates, 1974, p.165). Therefore, he resolves into an imaginary world with the hope that it will help in making him feel respected. There is also a similarity in the outcome of the lives of the two men where they end up not satisfying their desires. The fantasy life of Mitty never happens, as he never works towards realizing his dreams. He keeps thinking that what he wants and desires will be fulfilled simply by escaping his current situation. In the process of wanting to satisfy his needs and the needs of his wife, he ends up being a nuisance and even hurting her in the process. His wife becomes impatient of his fantasies that are contrary to the life they are living (Clugston, 2010, p. 26). On the other hand, the desire for Henry to satisfy the needs of Jeanne ends up in frustrations. His inability to make up his mind on what he wants disgusts his wife to a point where she contemplates leaving. Even though the couple thinks they will be better if they gave each other space, they realize that