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Mental Illness and Delusion
Themes and Colors
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Shutter Island, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Conspiracy and paranoia are common themes in Cold War fiction, including Shutter Island. Historically, it was a time when United States citizens were distrustful of their government, as rumors of secret experiments and conspiracies ran amuck. In the novel, Lehane alludes to real government secrets such as MK Ultra, an illegal human experimentation program, which saw the CIA testing powerful hallucinogens such as LSD on mentally unstable test subjects. Lehane plays with this real history to get the reader to believe that, as Teddy suggests, a real conspiracy could occur on Shutter Island. Indeed, for most of the novel, it looks like Teddy is right. Almost everyone seems to lie to him, as if they are all aiming for the same secret goal. The deeper Teddy digs, the more the official story Dr. Cawley told him does not add up, which only adds to his paranoia. Ultimately, Teddy—who turns out to be Andrew Laeddis—is correct; there is a conspiracy, but it is a conspiracy of his own making. Andrew is a patient at Ashecliffe Hospital, and everyone plays along with his conspiratorial delusions because they think it might help him get better and accept the truth of his past. Andrew acknowledges the truth for a moment—which is sordid and bleak—but returns to his delusions the following day. For Andrew, the possibility of a grand conspiracy is much more compelling and motivating than the relatively dull and depressing conditions of his daily reality. As such, the novel presents paranoia as a state of mind that provides a thrill for those experiencing it. However, although paranoia might be compelling, it likely bears little relationship to the truth, and it threatens to undermine mental health.
Related Themes from Other Texts
Compare and contrast themes from other texts to this theme…
Conspiracy and Paranoia ThemeTracker
The ThemeTracker below shows where, and to what degree, the theme of Conspiracy and Paranoia appears in each chapter of Shutter Island. Click or tap on any chapter to read its Summary & Analysis.
How often theme appears:
chapter length:
Chapter
Prologue
Pro
Chapter 1
1
Chapter 2
2
Chapter 3
3
Chapter 4
4
Chapter 5
5
Chapter 6
6
Chapter 7
7
Chapter 8
8
Chapter 9
9
Chapter 10
10
Chapter 11
11
Chapter 12
12
Chapter 13
13
Chapter 14
14
Chapter 15
15
Chapter 16
16
Chapter 17
17
Chapter 18
18
Chapter 19
19
Chapter 20
20
Chapter 21
21
Chapter 22
22
Chapter 23
23
Chapter 24
24
Chapter 25
25
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Conspiracy and Paranoia Quotes in Shutter Island
Below you will find the important quotes in Shutter Island related to the theme of Conspiracy and Paranoia.
Chapter 1 Quotes
“But do we lose our past to assure our future?” Chuck flicked his cigarette out into the foam. “That’s the question. What do you lose when you sweep a floor, Teddy? Dust. Crumbs that would otherwise draw ants. But what of the earring she misplaced? Is that in the trash now too?”
Teddy said, “Who’s ‘she’? Where did ‘she’ come from, Chuck?”
“There’s always a she. Isn’t there?”
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Chapter 3 Quotes
“Ah,” Cawley said, “now we’re getting into the true horrible beauty of the full-blown schizophrenic’s paranoid structure. If you believe, gentlemen, that you are the sole holder of truth, then everyone else must be lying. And if everyone is lying...”
“Then any truth they say,” Chuck said, “must be a lie.”
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Chapter 15 Quotes
“They knew. Don’t you get it? Everything you were up to. Your whole plan. This is a game. A handsomely mounted stage play. All this”—his arm swept the air above him—“is for you.”
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George Noyce smiled through the stream of tears and shook his head very slowly. “You can’t kill Laeddis and expose the truth at the same time. You have to make a choice. You understand that, don’t you?”
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Chapter 17 Quotes
“If you are deemed insane, then all actions that would otherwise prove you are not do, in actuality, fall into the framework of an insane person’s actions. Your sound protests constitute denial. Your valid fears are deemed paranoia. Your survival instincts are labeled defense mechanisms. It’s a no-win situation. It’s a death penalty really. Once you’re here, you’re not getting out. No one leaves Ward C. No one. Well, a few have, okay, I’ll grant you, a few have gotten out. But they’ve had surgery. In the brain.
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Chapter 21 Quotes
“This is it,” Cawley agreed. “This is the lighthouse. The Holy Grail. The great truth you’ve been seeking. Is it everything you hoped for and more?”
“I haven’t seen the basement.”
“There is no basement. It’s a lighthouse.”
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Chapter 25 Quotes
Teddy said, “I don’t know, Chuck. You think they’re onto us?”
“Nah.” Chuck tilted his head back, squinting a bit in the sun, and he smiled at Teddy. “We’re too smart for that.”
“Yeah,” Teddy said. “We are, aren’t we?”
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