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
Theo visits the gallery alone, taking in the Alcestis by himself. To his shock, he notices that the shadows of the painting actually join together to form a man—the man outside the window. Jean-Felix walks in on Theo, annoyed at the intrusion. Theo intentionally provokes Jean-Felix, bringing up the fact that he knows Alicia wished to leave the gallery. Theo wonders how Jean-Felix will react to this news.
Alicia’s art is a form of communication, but her message winds up being different depending on who interprets her work—and how closely they look. With the new information from Alicia’s diary, Theo is able to approach the painting from a new light, seeing it as an expression of Alicia’s innocence rather than an explanation of her guilt. Maybe the man in the shadows is to blame for Gabriel’s death, and Alicia is a victim after all, not a villain.
Themes
Theo then calls Paul Rose, and the two agree to meet at a pub near Paul’s house (so as not to disturb an already-angry Lydia). Finally, Theo calls Max Berenson, telling him about the diary and revealing what Alicia had written about Max’s feelings for her. Theo wonders what all these men will do now—and he reflects that it would be “dangerous” to underestimate Max.
Just as Alicia is trying to understand the identity of the masked man, Theo’s decision to provoke Max, Paul, and Jean-Felix seems like an attempt to find out which one of them has been stalking Alicia. Once again, Theo’s trajectory and Alicia’s seem to operate in exact parallel.
Themes
