Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Silent Patient, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Empathy, Identification, and Boundaries
Tragedy and Destiny
Honesty vs. Deception
Childhood Trauma
Silence vs. “The Talking Cure”
Summary
Analysis
When Theo comes to, he notices Paul Rose, young and tall and holding a baseball bat. Paul explains that he attacked Theo because he assumed Theo was a burglar. After Theo was out, however, Paul went through his stuff, and he realized who Theo really is: a psychotherapist, come to ask about Alicia. Though Theo is still in a great deal of pain, Paul leads him into the stinking, decrepit house.
This mix-up reveals two things. First, Paul is deeply distrusting, just as others in Alicia’s orbit (like Max) have been. And second, though Theo presents himself as reputable in his own narrative, he reads as suspicious to many of those around him.
Themes
While Paul makes Theo a drink, claiming it will soothe his head, Theo begins to pry about Paul’s relationship to his cousin. Paul explains that though he and Alicia grew up in the same house, they have lost touch, which he blames on Gabriel’s possessiveness. In fact, the last time they saw each other was soon after Alicia’s father, Vernon Rose, hanged himself. Before Theo can find out more, the conversation is interrupted by a banging on the wall—Lydia Rose wants to speak.
Alicia’s mother killed herself, but now, it becomes clear that Alicia’s father also died by suicide—no wonder Alicia worries about what she has inherited from her parents. Moreover, Gabriel’s possessiveness, combined with his passion for her father’s gun, suggests that he may not be as tender as Alicia makes him out to be.
Themes
