The other way of seeing Walter Mitty (and, consequently, the story of "Walter Mitty" as a whole) involves identifying some darker themes in Thurber's work. This interpretation is probably sparked by the fact that Mitty's final fantasy is of a firing squad, which is a bit ominous. Is Mitty just endlessly persecuted by his more logically-minded foes in the real world? Are his fantasies defeated by reality? Or does he remain, as Thurber writes, Walter Mitty the Undefeated?