58 pages • 1 hour read
Dennis LehaneShutter Island
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2003A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
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BetaChapters 21-25 (Day 4: The Bad Sailor)Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 21 Summary
This chapter kicks off Shutter Island’s climax, and the puzzle pieces of the plot start to make more sense. Teddy immediately notices the room has sheets taped to the wall, and Cawley has Teddy’s suit coat, his notebook, and Laeddis’ intake form on the desk in front of him. Cawley tells Teddy his rifle is not loaded, and when Teddy verifies that information, he invites the marshal to take a seat. Cawley tells Teddy that Dr. Sheehan is on his way, and when Teddy asks where he has been, Cawley explains that Sheehan has been on the island the whole time.
Cawley laments the loss of his car, and Teddy offers a half-hearted apology before asking for a glass of water. Cawley gives him one and then lists his symptoms, which Teddy already knows because “‘a woman doctor’” told him as much (323). Cawley corrects him, telling him he is actually experiencing withdrawals from chlorpromazine, an anti-psychotic medication that Cawley says Teddy has been taking “‘for the last two years’” while he has been a patient at Ashecliffe (324). Teddy does not believe Cawley, so Cawley removes the sheets from the wall to reveal four names connected by lines:
EDWARD DANIELS—ANDREW LAEDDIS
RACHEL SOLANDO—DOLORES CHANAL
Cawley asks Teddy what the names have in common beyond thirteen letters, and the throbbing in Teddy’s head gets worse. Cawley points out the names are anagrams for one another, but Teddy refuses to acknowledge the truth. The chapter concludes with Cawley’s revelation: Teddy is the sixty-seventh patient at Ashecliffe Hospital. Teddy is Andrew Laeddis.
Chapter 22 Summary
Teddy flat-out denies he is Andrew Laeddis, so Cawley lays out the evidence. He tells Teddy that he has been at Ashecliffe for twenty-two months and suffers from delusions as a result of a crime he committed. Teddy’s military background makes him the most dangerous patient at Ashecliffe, which is why Cawley constructed this elaborate role-playing experiment. Cawley also recounts the details of Teddy’s dreams—like the hole in Dolores’ stomach and the logs floating in the pond—that the doctor could not possibly know unless he is telling the truth. Cawley then reveals crime scene photos of three dead children: Edward Laeddis, Daniel Laeddis, and Rachel Laeddis. Cawley explains Teddy moved his family out to the country to help treat Rachel’s manic depression, but it did not work. Instead, Teddy started drinking and “‘ignored all the signs’” that Rachel was a danger to herself and others (335). As a result of Teddy’s willful ignorance, Rachel killed their children.
Teddy’s head is pounding, but he continues to insist he is a federal marshal and demands his freedom. Instead, Cawley returns Teddy’s gun. Once Teddy verifies that the gun is his, Cawley tells Teddy to “‘blast away. Because that’s the only way you’re ever getting off this island’” (339). Teddy hears the door opening behind him as he shoots Cawley in the face with water instead of a bullet. When Teddy swings around to shoot the next intruder, he comes face-to-face with Chuck.
Chapter 23 Summary
Seeing Chuck takes the wind out of Teddy’s sails, and he drops the gun. Chuck—who is actually Dr. Lester Sheehan—apologizes and tells Teddy that he and Cawley felt that they had no other choice in order to save him. Teddy starts to get angry, both at himself for being so trusting and at Sheehan for deceiving him. Sheehan and Cawley explain that they only staged Teddy’s own delusion. When Teddy counters with the fact that they could not fake a hurricane, Cawley says, “‘but you can predict one from time to time, Andrew’” (345). The doctors knew a storm was critical to Teddy’s fantasy, so they waited for one before they implemented their plan.
Teddy stubbornly refuses to capitulate, and Cawley and Sheehan grow more and more desperate. They explain that Noyce was in Ward C because Teddy assaulted him, that Teddy designed all of Rachel’s codes, and ask Teddy to explain how his government-issued weapon could suddenly become a squirt gun. Finally, they ask Teddy to decipher the last code he found, which works out to “YOU ARE HIM” (349). Cawley explains that if Teddy refuses to accept he is Andrew Laeddis, he will receive a transorbital lobotomy. Cawley begs Teddy to accept his help, but Teddy continues to insist Cawley is wrong.
Chapter 24 Summary
Teddy heads to Ward C in shackles. He recognizes the nurse who sedates him as the one who pretended to be Rachel. Teddy falls asleep and dreams that “Dolores was insane” (352). Teddy’s dream comes in snippets that follow Dolores’ increasing instability—she burns down their apartment building, her paranoia and delusions are getting stronger, her children fear her, and even Teddy is afraid. And yet, they never discuss seeking professional help because “doctors were for crazy people,” and Dolores “wasn’t crazy…just tense” (355).
Teddy’s dream then jumps forward in time. He has just gotten home from a two-week assignment in Oklahoma, and Dolores comes in from the backyard, staggering and soaking wet. Teddy realizes she has taken a whole bottle of laudanum after he forgot to lock it away in the cellar. As follows her out to the gazebo, he sees his children floating lifeless in the pond behind his house. Teddy rushes into the pond and pulls them out, weeping over their bodies. Rachel tells Teddy she wants to put the children in the kitchen where they can be “‘their living dolls’” (368). In a moment of clarity, Rachel tells Teddy that she needs him to free her, so Teddy tells her that he loves her and shoots her in the stomach.
Teddy wakes up crying hysterically and finds Sheehan and Cawley waiting for him. Sheehan asks Teddy who he is, and he says he is Andrew Laeddis. He tells them the whole story—that his wife Dolores killed their children, and that he cannot face having failed his family—but Cawley says it is not enough. Teddy had a breakthrough nine months ago but relapsed, but this time, Teddy says he will not regress, and the chapter ends as he begins his story once again: “‘My name is Andrew Laeddis. I murdered my wife, Dolores, in the spring of ‘fifty-two…’” (366).
Chapter 25 Summary
This chapter opens on a sunny day. Andrew/Teddy gets dressed for the morning and heads outside to smoke a cigarette. He notices Cawley and the warden talking but is unconcerned because he “felt as good as he’d felt in a long time” (368). But it seems as though Andrew’s progress is short-lived. Someone offers him a light, and Teddy realizes it is Chuck. He asks him if he ever found out what was in the warden’s book, and when Chuck says no, Teddy tells him they have “‘to find a way off of this rock’” (369). Chuck nods to Cawley and the warden, and they start walking toward the pair with four orderlies in tow. Teddy asks Chuck if he thinks they are onto them, and Chuck responds, “‘nah…we’re too smart for that’” (369). Teddy agrees, and the book concludes.
Chapters 21-25 Analysis
The concluding chapters of Shutter Island are a classic example of the reveal, which is a cornerstone of both thrillers and mystery novels. In both genres, the mystery deepens as the plot progresses until someone—usually the protagonist—brings the clues together and lays out the truth for the audience. This structure means that these novels tend to climax late in the plot, and because the climax also brings the plot to resolution, these novels tend to have very brief conclusions.
In this case, Shutter Island has the “antagonist” deliver the grand reveal, and in doing so, throws the roles of “villain” and “hero” into question. Cawley begins delivering piece after piece of damning evidence that proves Edward “Teddy” Daniels is actually Andrew Laeddis. As more facts come to light, Teddy’s and Cawley’s roles in the novel start to shift. Teddy, whom readers had long assumed to be the novel’s hero, comes under scrutiny. While he might be the victim of an elaborate government cover-up designed to make him go insane, Cawley’s knowledge of “unknowable” facts—like Teddy’s dreams—suggests that Cawley is telling at least a partial version of the truth. Teddy has been a pretty standard anti-hero up until this point; he is damaged by past trauma, but he uses those experiences to try and do the right thing. But as more of Teddy’s past comes to light, readers question whether Teddy is actually Shutter Island’s protagonist. He neglected his responsibilities to Dolores and his children because he was “‘embarrassed’” by the truth, and instead of owning his mistakes, he hides them under a series of elaborate delusions that put others at risk (335).
Likewise, the more Cawley reveals, the more he moves away from the traditional role of antagonist. Teddy has positioned Cawley as the face of Asheville Hospital, and, as a result, he represents the evil Teddy works to expose. But as Cawley tells Teddy about his history as Andrew, it becomes clear that Cawley truly wants to help Teddy before time runs out. Both Cawley and Sheehan have worked with Teddy for two years to help him find peace, even though that has meant risking their careers in a last-ditch attempt to save Teddy from a lobotomy. But that does not mean Cawley becomes Shutter Island’s protagonist. While he might be trying to help Teddy, he also has ulterior motives: he wants to use Teddy’s case to prove that psychotherapy is as effective at treating mental illnesses as surgery or medication. By the end of Shutter Island, Teddy and Cawley both occupy neutral territory. Whether they end up heroes or villains is yet another issue of perception; it depends on whether readers believe Teddy (that Cawley is manipulating him into involuntary imprisonment) or Cawley (that Teddy is dangerously mentally ill and needs extreme intervention).
But Lehane refuses to end Shutter Island with a definitive sense of closure or a clear sense of Teddy’s future. When readers last see Teddy, he is enjoying a smoke with someone he believes to be Chuck as Cawley, the warden, and orderlies approach him with a straight jacket. This ending can be interpreted multiple ways. On the one hand, perhaps Teddy was right all along—he is not Andrew Laeddis, and has only gone along with Cawley to avoid a lobotomy. Talking to Chuck could be part of his plan to escape Shutter Island; Teddy could be faking another round of psychosis to implement his plan to get off the island. On the other hand, this scene can also be read as a confirmation of Cawley’s perspective. Teddy/Andrew’s reprogramming—whether as a result of Cawley’s psychotherapy, an ineffective lobotomy, or both—has failed once again. This is evidenced by the fact that Teddy continues to talk to Chuck, not Sheehan, about whether Cawley suspects his duplicity even as the doctor approaches. But there is also a third, middle option: both Teddy and Ashecliffe Hospital are exactly what they appear to be. Teddy might be mentally ill, and perhaps even hallucinating Chuck, but Cawley might still have exacerbated his illness to protect his research. After all, he does tell Teddy that he will not let Ashecliffe Hospital go “‘without a fight’” (292).
Effective psychological thrillers make readers question what they think they know, and Shutter Island is no exception. Lehane’s ambiguous ending reinforces the idea that an individual’s perspective often makes the truth unknowable. Lehane forces readers to confront the ways in which the facts of Shutter Island are reshaped by their own perspective while reading the novel. This goes beyond determining whether Teddy’s or Cawley’s story is the truth, though. Throughout the novel, Lehane puts readers face-to-face with questions of their own morality. For example, if readers believe Teddy is a hero, they must also justify his morally-ambiguous actions, such as his decision to murder Andrew Laeddis. And if they can rationalize Teddy’s desire to murder a mentally ill man, they must also question their own interpretation of right and wrong. Ultimately, the vague ending of Shutter Island reminds readers that both the truth and reality are dependent on the perspective of the beholder.
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