Shutter Island

The novel Shutter Island was authored in 1954 by Dennis Lehane. In this novel, the writer mystifies the theme of madness, which guarantees that the reader is kept in suspense towards the end of the story. In addition, Teddy Daniels -- the main character -- is shrouded by confusion, which renders him unable to figure out the fate of his wife and kids. Distinctly, Teddy Daniels, the main character, originally had an absolute believe that one of the inmates housed at the psychiatric facility stationed on the island actually murdered his wife. However, as the story unfolds, dramatic events occur which are meant to convince Teddy that he is one of the psychiatric patients at the facility.  Ultimately, the writer plots the story in a way that leaves both the main character as well as the readers unable to make clarifications on the reality.

The theme of madness is represented in this novel as a mystery. If the doctors in the psychiatric ward are experimenting on conditioned insanity to the visiting FBI agents, then the book tries to convince the reader that madness can be conditioned on an individual. On the other hand, if Teddy Daniels is truly mad, the author is therefore carefully painting the picture of madness to the readers in an artistic manner.

In the book, insane characters are represented as individuals who are unable to distinguish between reality and fantasy. This inability plunges the victims into their own world of imaginations and false assumptions, which can be modified by constant supervision by psychiatric specialists and also psychotropic drug prescription. Furthermore, the failure of the insane to be convinced on the reality only acts to deteriorate their recovery process. For instance, the realization by Teddy that he killed his wife is expressed as a breakthrough in his treatment process and an early sign of his healing as a psychiatric patient.

The book attempts to make us learn that madness can affect everyone despite their social or professional status. In fact, the author of Shutter Island reveals that there is a probability that all are mad, only the degree of the madness varies. The entire journey of teddy from the FBI workstation to the facility in the island can entirely be conceived in his mind. However, if the reader chose to believe that there is an experiment undertaken at the facility and that Teddy was merely a subject of the experiment, the reader is made to believe that insanity can be conditioned through confusion on the subjects.

The psychiatric patients at the island are detached from the public and prescribed the psychotropic medications. They victims of insanity were constantly and periodically evaluated through interviews and careful observations. The questioning of the psychiatric patients serves the psychiatric professionals in determining if the patient is on a recovery path or if there is contrasting deterioration of mind health. In case of an observed worsening of the condition, further medications and isolation can be recommended.   However, a patient who resolves to completely admit the reality and abandon his ‘imaginations’ is recommended by the professionals as having undergone full recovery from madness. In contrast, Teddy and Chuck think that patients should not be treated by prescriptions of experimental drugs. Actually, both of them are suspecting that the government is experimenting on new psychotropic drugs and most of the patients at the psychiatric facility in Shutter Islands are a subject to the experiment.