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
It’s August 2nd, and Alicia has just received a phone call from Paul Rose; though he won’t give details, he tells her that he needs help. Not wanting to say more over the phone, he drives from Cambridge to London. When he arrives, Alicia notices how terrible he looks. Paul confesses that he’s been gambling, and that he’s been losing a great deal of money.
Like Alicia’s, it seems that Paul’s experience in the Rose household has led him to self-destructive behavior as an adult. And given that Paul spends most of his time trapped in the house with Lydia, it makes sense that he would seek solace and escape on the floor of a casino.
Themes
Unable to resist Paul’s pathetic pleading, Alicia agrees to write him a check for 2,000 pounds—though when he takes the check, he is disappointed in the amount, as he claims to need 20,000 pounds. Paul leaves and Gabriel returns. When Alicia explains the afternoon, Gabriel is frustrated, reflecting that Alicia has no obligation to support Paul. But Alicia feels guilty that Paul is “still trapped” in their family home, “still eight years old.”
Paul seems to want to use his cousin more than he wants to actually support her (which aligns him with the similarly exploitative Jean-Felix). But even though Alicia notices this dynamic, she feels a kind of survivor’s guilt at having made it out of her childhood home—while Paul has not been so lucky.
Themes
The next day, Alicia is working on her Gabriel-as-Jesus painting when Jean-Felix lets himself into her studio. He applies pressure on her to paint more in time for the exhibition, and Alicia tries to keep her frustration to herself. Though they are old friends, Alicia has always felt that Jean-Felix harbors feelings for her. And at the same time, she resents his self-involvement, feeling as if he never asks her any questions or expresses care about her beyond her art.
Alicia seems to spend much of her time catering to (and being exploited by) the men in her life, whether it is Jean-Felix pressuring her for art or Paul Rose pressuring her for money. But also, this passage is notable because it shows once again just how much Theo’s perception (of Jean-Felix as a schmoozy manipulator) aligns with Alicia’s.
Themes
Unable to mask her anger, Alicia tells Jean-Felix that he needs to give her advance notice before he shows up in her studio. He is hurt, but Alicia can’t stop herself—after months of deliberation, she tells Jean-Felix she no longer wants him to be her gallerist. Jean-Felix blames Gabriel, but Alicia assures him that she’s been planning to break from the gallery “for a while.” This upsets Jean-Felix: “you’ve been acting for me?” he asks.
Jean-Felix’s accusation—that Alicia has just been “acting”—creates an interesting parallel between Alicia and Theo’s wife Kathy, an actual actress. Though Alicia’s diaries often present the author as a victim, is it possible that Alicia is, like Kathy, actually deceptive and dishonest?
Themes
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Before he goes, Jean-Felix asks Alicia to come to a play with him that Friday: Euripides’s Alcestis. Alicia agrees, not wanting to anger Jean-Felix further, and he leaves. Alicia tells Gabriel what happened, and Gabriel admits that he never liked Jean-Felix. Privately, Alicia wonders if Jean-Felix cares about her artworks more than he cares about her as a person. Either way, she is unable to deny that she is “afraid of him.”
In addition to providing the origin story for Alicia’s knowledge of Alcestis, this chapter-ending passage foreshadows the murder to come. At this point, the narrative is overflowing with fearful men: Gabriel and his gun, Max’s imposing presence, Paul Rose and his gambling problem, and now the all-too-persistent Jean-Felix.
Themes
