"Miniver Cheevy"

To sum up Miniver’s outlook on life, he is stuck in the past and pessimistic. He daydreams about the wonders of living with the Knights of the Round Table, fighting in the Trojan War, and being part of a powerful, rich Italian family. He cannot live in that era though, and that is directly stated in the text. He fails to realize that he cannot go back with a time machine. It is almost like he regrets his birth; he’d rather not live at all if not in that time period. I find him immature in this aspect. Similar to how some cannot let go of a grudge. He cannot accept the fact that some things you cannot decide, like time of birth. He is so caught up in this that he loathes the fabric of modern military clothes, since it is unworthy compared to the traditional iron armors. He is so upset that he cannot be a part of his dream that he forgets to live in his own time period. He slightly realizes this in the end, “Miniver coughed, and called it fate, and kept on drinking.” Miniver sees that his fate is otherwise that what he desired, but he still decides to be inactive about it. He makes the worst of his situation. He can move on and accept the thing that he cannot change, but chooses not to. This leads to him throwing his life away and spending his time downing out a bottle of liquor. Usually, someone spends their life regretting a life-altering mistake that they made themselves. He is not living the life he is capable of because he is dwelling on what could have been. He fails to help himself recover when all he does is regret a cause that was controlled out of his power.