Shutter Island Reflection Paper

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“Shutter Island” is a film that is non merely dedicated to presenting unflawed scenery and a plot line about a mental establishment locked off with a deep. dark secret off from civilisation. but alternatively. the bulk of the movie is really a character survey with Teddy Daniels as the chief topic.

Teddy Daniels has a troubled yesteryear that is reflected in flash dorsums and dream sequences. Teddy Daniels is now a U. S Marshall. but anterior to that. he was a veteran of war. where he saw some of the most viciously hideous and mind-scarring scenes conceivable. the sort of things that could poison a man’s head and leave him haunted by them for life. Teddy is besides a “retired alcoholic” as one of the doctor’s at Ashecliffe Hospital reveals saying that it is obviously obvious that he used to imbibe.

The topic of alcohol addiction is subsequently elaborated on in a flashback scene where his late married woman asks him why he drinks. It appears that Teddy is non merely haunted by the labors of war or his alcohol addiction. but besides by the fact that a adult male who set fire to his place killed his married woman and kids. In short. Teddy’s life has been fuelled by mentally marking events. that someway lead him to Ashecliffe Hospital.

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in what he believes to be “fate” when he learns that the adult male who killed his household is really a patient at the infirmary ; Andrew Laediss. Before long. Teddy shortly learns of the corruptness on the island. Curious experiments are being carried out.

Thesis Statement For Shutter Island

These are subsequently revealed to be leukotomies. which are used in order to settle the reprehensively insane for good. When Teddy uncovers the “truth” . he tries to go forth the island to no help. This is when the turn starts to go apparent. Teddy Daniels is non a U. S marshal at all. he is really a patient at Ashecliffe Hospital. and he has been for several old ages. Mentally scarred by the issues in his life. which are revealed non merely to be the labors of war. but besides the fact that his married woman besides went insane and drowned their kids. it was Daniels. really revealed to be called Andrew Laediss. who killed his married woman out of retaliation. Throughout the movie. Teddy suffers concerns. These concerns are really from his backdowns from his medicine which he suffers when he creates his alternate personality and gives everyone “roles to play. ” something that is besides referenced earlier on in the movie. Teddy Daniels is reprehensively insane and he is for good haunted by his yesteryear. He creates personalities for everyone at the infirmary and he goes about his life pretense he is person else as a method of “escapism” from world. His narrative is unbelievable and the truth is really hinted at throughout the movie which will go forth viewing audiences merely necessitating to watch the movie a 2nd clip because the intimations are impossible to disregard one time the turn is revealed. Gratuitous to state. Leonardo DiCaprio plays the character to flawlessness and Teddy Daniels. still to this twenty-four hours. is undeniably one of the most in-depth. detailed and most developed movie characters of the 2010 decennary therefore far.

Leonardo DiCaprio as Edward “Teddy” Daniels
Mark Ruffalo as Chuck Aule
Ben Kingsley as Dr. John Cawley
Max von Sydow as Dr. Jeremiah Naehring
Michelle Williams as Dolores Chanal
Emily Mortimer as Rachel Solando
Patricia Clarkson as Dr. Rachel Solando
Jackie Earle Haley as George Noyce
Ted Levine as Warden
John Carroll Lynch as Deputy Warden McPherson
Elias Koteas as Andrew Laeddis
Jill Larson as Old Manacled Woman
Ken Cheeseman as Doctor 1
Ruby Jerins as Little Girl
Robin Bartlett as Bridget Kearns
Christopher Denham as Peter Breene
Matthew Cowles as Ferry Boat Captain

The stoping of shutter Island seems equivocal but to me it was reasonably distinct. Teddy wakes up to the world that he is really Andrew Laedis. though he is warned by Dr. Cawley and Dr. Sheehan that he has regresses into his fantasy universe before. However. Andrew is smart. When Dr. Sheehan sits with him on the stairss that following forenoon. Andrew knows that the physicians and Warden are detecting his behaviour. The thing is. his guilt and hurting are still so heavy that he knows he can non populate with them. Rather than unrecorded with the cognition of his hurting. he chooses to feign that he is still Teddy Daniels and allow them lobotomize him. so that he can eventually be free of his load. That’s what the line to Dr. Sheehan approximately “living as a monster. or deceasing as a good adult male. ’ means – Andrew would instead be mind-wiped as “Teddy Daniels” than unrecorded with the wickednesss of Andrew Laeddis. Although small information is available to analyse Teddy based on his childhood he can be examined on many other elements of Sigmund Freud’s theories about the unconscious. While he is populating in his fantasy life as an research worker on the island. his unconscious ideas frequently appear in his dreams. He sees his married woman come to him imploring him to give up on his pursuit for Andrew because he will non wish what he finds out and she doesn’t want him to acquire injury. He besides dreams of Rachel Solando coming to him with her children’s bloody organic structures. inquiring him to help her in disposing of them. As he holds the children’s bodies they come alive inquiring why he didn’t salvage them. This absolutely illustrates the psychoanalytic theory that dreams have two degrees of content.

The manifest content is that Teddy thinks the dreams come from the fact that he is losing his married woman and merely can’t accept her decease and allow her travel and that the macabre feeling of the island is acquiring to him doing him to hold incubuss of the insane adult female he is look intoing. It is subsequently clear that the latent content of the dreams reveal the concealed significance of his ain experiences. In other words. there was no Rachel Solando. Teddy created her as a contemplation of himself because Dolores was a frenzied depressive who drowned their kids in a lake one twenty-four hours when he wasn’t place. When he returned and realized the tragic occurrences there was nil he could make. hence the incubuss of the kids asking as to why he couldn’t salvage them. In his dreams she frequently walks to him soaking moisture to which he asks her “Why are you all wet. babe? ” . This phrase seems to stalk him because those are the first words he said to her when he came place that twenty-four hours she went brainsick. Teddy feels personally responsible for their decease because at the clip he was an alcoholic and while he loved his married woman. he refused to see her for who she truly was and ended up killing her after detecting the kids. In the dreams she tells him to give up because he is unable to get by with cognizing the truth. This leads on to how Teddy distorts his world to protect himself against his intolerable hurting and guilt through the usage of defence mechanisms.

All of the memories of what truly happened to Dolores and the kids become pent-up and replaced with false semblances that his married woman was wrongfully murdered and he re-created himself as a hero in order to get by. In conformity with this mechanism he suffers from station traumatic emphasis from which the disturbing memories indirectly begin to uncover themselves in his dreams. Dr. Sheehan who in his head was his spouse reveals that for they had decided to seek an luxuriant role-playing experiment in which they went along with all of Teddy ( Andrew ) ’s psychotic beliefs in an effort to convey his head back to the existent universe and therefore salvage him from a encephalon leukotomy ( a signifier of psychosurgery ) which was forced to be their last resort. When the truth is foremost revealed Teddy’s initial reaction is to fall back to the defence mechanism of denial. He refuses to accept that what they claim is what truly happened and is repetitive upon the fact that they have been dosing him with drugs in order to brainwash him and maintain him from detecting the truth about the ghastly human experiments that have been taking topographic point at the infirmary. Projection is besides used when he accuses the Doctor’s of doing up this narrative about what happened to him in order to protect themselves. These are both efforts to free his head of the anxiousness arousing stimulations that he is unable to accept has any association with what happened in his life.

Even before the truth is revealed while Teddy still believes that he is a hero we see this anxiousness reflecting through during his probe at Shutter Island. When the hospital’s chief psychologist makes a remark about Teddy forbearing from intoxicant and Teddy responds with a witty onslaught the physician notes his “excellent usage of defence mechanisms” . This may associate to his inexplicit memory because although Teddy at foremost does non hold any intuitions about the pragmatism of his ain individuality he seems to believe that everyone else is out to acquire him which serves as unconscious memories act uponing witting behaviour doing him to invariably be on defence about the purposes and actions of the people around him. When Teddy eventually comes out of his phase of denial and accepts the truth. the physicians fear that he will get worse and travel back into repression. It was noted that this had happened before with their other efforts to bring around him. Teddy fakes falling back into that phase in order to salvage himself his self-respect. he reveals his purposes by stating “which would be worse. to populate as a monster or to decease a good adult male? ” . This lets us cognize that Dr. Sheehan’s remedy proved effectual. but Teddy would instead non populate in that province of wretchedness or seek to travel on with his life cognizing the flooring truth. Teddy Daniels besides known as Andrew Laeddis is an highly interesting character to analyze in footings of personality.

Before his matrimony to Dolores he likely could hold been analyzed for wholly different properties ; nevertheless the events in his life served as strong situational factors to determine the individual he would turn into. Before it is realized that he is really one of the reprehensively insane captives. Teddy could be described as smart. witty and independent. He stands up for himself even when he suspects that the bulk of the island is involved with the confederacy. After recognizing the truth behind all of his actions it is clear that his life is relatable to many of Freud’s theories which are all used to help him in “distorting world to protect him against hurting or threatening urges originating from the id” . It is besides really interesting that in his surrogate world he views himself as a good. guiltless individual who is looking to put bad things right. This could come from his unconscious cognition that he committed a violent offense and wants to take all of the incrimination off himself by portraying himself as a hero. The warden of Ashecliffe Hospital makes an interesting point of mention to the dark side of Teddy’s personality and human nature in general by stating him “You’re every bit violent as they come. I know because I am every bit violent as they come. Don’t embarrass yourself by denying your ain blood lecherousness. boy. Don’t embarrass me. If the restraints of society were removed. and I was all that stood between you and a repast. you’d check my skull with a stone and eat my meaty parts” . Teddy killed his married woman because he felt that after what she had done. it was the right thing to make and his surrogate personality serves as a cover-up because he “should” experience guilty that the type of force isn’t acceptable. no affair what Dolores had done to merit it.