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
“From then on,” Theo writes, “things moved fast.” Led by Chief Inspector Steven Allen, the police arrive at once, asking Theo to make an official statement. As he prepares to do so, he is shocked to notice Yuri dealing drugs to Elif in the fishbowl. And strangely, Jean-Felix has arrived and has been waiting for hours. Theo does not know what to make of any of this new information.
The pacing of the novel picks up—the chapters get shorter, and each plot point gets less focus—mirroring the “fast” pace of the investigation. The realization that Yuri is dealing drugs further adds to the sense that no one is who they seem, and that Yuri in particular might be guiltier than he was on first glance.
Themes
