Shutter Island

The first chapter of Shutter Island opens with Teddy’s memory of his first experience on the sea. His father, a fisherman, hopes to teach Teddy the trade, but Teddy panics when he sees the water stretching “out around them until it was all that was left in the world” (9). Teddy is overwhelmed by the vast emptiness of the ocean, and it makes him feel alone. From that first moment, water becomes a pervasive motif throughout Lehane’s novel, and it appears in nearly every chapter, and as everything from rain to sweat.

When water appears in a work of literature, it usually symbolizes purification or hope. Lehane consciously subverts this notion in Shutter Island. Instead of purification, the presence of water in Lehane’s novel almost always symbolizes the loss of control. In the book’s opening scene, for instance, the ocean makes Teddy face his own insignificance, and the realization makes him feel isolated and afraid. The same is true when Teddy and Chuck are trapped in a mausoleum by the hurricane. They watch the wind and water swirl as they realize that their situation on the island has spiraled out of control. The marshals assumed that they were in charge of the investigation, but as Chuck points out, it seems more likely that Cawley and his staff have been “‘looking at [Teddy]’” instead of the other way around (151). Throughout Shutter Island, Lehane uses water to reiterate the inherent chaos of life, and he reminds readers that people actually have very little command over the world around them.

Because Lehane uses multiple forms of water throughout the novel, he is also able to assign additional symbolic value to each form water takes. For instance, the ocean symbolizes isolation as well as a loss of control. Shutter Island is far enough away from the mainland that the only way to leave is by ferry—trying to swim for shore across the cold, rough waters would mean certain death. But Teddy’s journey to Ashecliffe Hospital symbolizes another sort of reclusiveness, too. His obsession with Dolores, his guilt, and his need for vengeance have closed Teddy off from reality. He is stuck on the island of his mind, surrounded by the ocean of his denial. That is why at the end of the book, Cawley tells Teddy his only hope is to “‘swim toward sanity’” (350). Thus, Lehane uses water as an overarching symbol in Shutter Island while still assigning each instance its own unique symbolic value.

When Chuck and Teddy are investigating Rachel Solando’s disappearance, Teddy realizes that many of Rachel’s codes center around the number thirteen, like having thirteen letters in her name, or using thirteen rocks to send a message. Cawley says that schizophrenics tend to fixate on numbers, especially repeating ones. He explains, “‘[m]ost schizophrenics live in a state of fear...[s]o most schizophrenics are also deeply superstitious. Thirteen plays into that’” (50). Consequently, the number thirteen introduces the idea of luck into Shutter Island, and Lehane uses its recurrence to explore the idea of control.

Lehane questions how much of life can be explained away through good or bad luck. For instance, Teddy’s guilt over his family’s death comes from his denial of Dolores’ mental illness. He assumed her paranoia and depression were somehow her own fault. But after Dolores drowns their children, Teddy understands her mental illness was not something she caused. Instead, he explains Dolores’ illness was “‘not some proof of moral weakness or lack of fortitude,’” she is just the victim of circumstance (360). Dolores was the unlucky victim of statistics—someone has to have manic depression, and Dolores drew the short straw. Lehane, however, does not believe that truth excuses Dolores’ actions or absolves Teddy of culpability. Rather, Lehane argues that while some things are just bad luck, people remain responsible for their reactions to their situations.

When Rachel Solando disappears, she leaves three coded messages behind. Each is designed to help Teddy uncover the truth, both about her disappearance and Teddy’s role on Shutter Island. Teddy and Chuck find her first clue in her bedroom, which puts them on the trail of Patient Sixty-Seven. The second clue decodes to Andrew Laeddis’ name, which Teddy takes as proof of his presence on the island. And while the last clue is not deciphered until the end of the novel, it is the most important, and reads “YOU ARE HIM,” which reinforces Cawley’s argument that Teddy and Laeddis are one in the same (349).

Coded messages play a critical role in supporting Lehane’s larger discussion about the truth. Because Shutter Island structurally mirrors a detective novel, readers begin looking for clues with the assumption that they will follow genre convention and thereby help reveal the facts of the case. It initially seems as if that will be the case: Teddy begins unraveling each clue to find an answer, which moves the plot forward to its next act. But that is where the similarities end. Like so many other elements in Shutter Island, Lehane subverts the way coded messages work. The clues are of Teddy’s own design as part of his delusion. The messages are not from Rachel; he leaves them for himself. And while the coded messages lead Teddy to the lighthouse and his final confrontation with Cawley, they do not necessarily reveal the truth. Shutter Island’s climax is shrouded in doubt—it is up to the audience to decide whether they believe Teddy or Cawley. Like everything else at Ashecliffe Hospital, the coded messages are not what they seem, and Lehane uses them to show that even things people assume are “facts” can ultimately be fiction.