Do you ever question the nature of your reality? The ambiguity throughout the film, Shutter Island, creates a sense of uncertainty for the identity of Teddy Daniels, whom is played by Leonardo DiCaprio. Various, contrary conclusions can be assumed and supported by evidence throughout the movie. Throughout the film, reality must be questioned constantly. Upon viewing the movie numerous times, the meaning of the movie becomes clear. The conspiracies about Shutter Island being a secret government facility or the doctors brainwashed Teddy Daniels by the end of the film, aren’t necessarily ill-informed, however the claim that Teddy Daniels is in fact a secondary personality that is used by Andrew Laeddis is backed throughout the movie in the form of numerous visual instances. Andrew Laeddis desperately needs to realize that his wife, Dolores, had mental issues that caused her to kill their children. In retaliation, he killed his wife. Andrew feels guilt due to the fact that he neglected his wife’s problems in the wake of his post-traumatic stress from his experiences in liberating a prisoner of war camp. The hurt and guilt drive Andrew to create the narrative of Teddy Daniel’s which includes conspiracies about Shutter Island and a hunt for a patient who doesn’t exist.

The film begins with U.S. Marshall Teddy Daniels on a boat heading toward the mental hospital on Shutter Island. Teddy is extremely sea sick. Initially this seems like a miniscule detail, however the element plays a key role in the understanding of the movie later on. Teddy meets his predetermined partner, U.S. Marshall Chuck, for the investigation of a patient, Racheal Solando, who has disappeared. Rachael was confined due to the fact that she murdered her children.  Dr. Cawley, the head therapist, leads the two agents on a tour of the island with a small army of guards. Cawley is less than cooperative, this creates suspicion from the viewer and Teddy’s point of view. As a hurricane cuts off communication with the mainland, more dangerous criminals "escape" in the confusion, and the bamboozling, improbable clues multiply, Teddy begins to doubt everything; his memory, his partner, and ultimately his own sanity.

Teddy’s investigation of the island is an elaborate roleplay that Dr. Cawley and Dr. Sheehan designed. Opposing them is Dr. Naehring and the Warden who believe that someone such as Andrew Laeddis is far too unstable and rogue for traditional therapeutic solutions. In their opinion, Andrew should be strapped down and lobotomized. Hence, the role play game is the last ditch effort to bring Andrew Laeddis back to reality. 

At the beginning of the film when “The Marshals” come to Shutter Island, the guards become noticeably more edgy. The guards know that Teddy Daniels is actually that of a psychopathic pyromaniac, Andrew Laeddis, and aren’t too eager about playing into the role play. In doing their jobs, the guards number one priority is the safety of other patients as well as the staff of the asylum. The fact that the doctors are letting arguably one of the most dangerous patients run amuck causes the guards to be noticeably more tense when “Teddy” is around them. This heightened level of uneasiness can be seen because the guards grip their guns tighter and are always keeping a close eye on him. 

 Water provides all the visual ques and imagery needed for further interpretation. Water obviously surrounds Shutter Island and traps Teddy on the island. Water serves to obscure Teddy’s view throughout the film. Rain makes it difficult for him to see out of the back seat of the car after his meeting with Dr. Cawley.  Rain also smears the word “run” written by Mrs. Kearns in Teddy’s notepad. The ocean separates him from the lighthouse, prevents him from leaving the island. The hurricane that blows in is keeping him on the island which will lead him to the true identity of the missing patient. Water is representative of reality and the truth of the happenings of Laeddis’s family. Dolores drowned their children, so water shows what really happened instead of thinking that his wife died in a fire, the opposite of water. It seems that whenever water is nearby, he gets closer to reality. This is all showing that he is getting closer to the reality that the missing patient is in fact Andrew Laeddis. Teddy obviously can’t ever successfully find Andrew Laeddis because they are the same physical being just taking on two identities. 

Fire is representative of Teddy and Andrew’s insanity. Every time Teddy is by any sorts of fire, he becomes irritable and/ or has hallucinations. For instance, the explosion of Dr. Cawley’s car causes for a hallucination of his wife and daughter. Another example, when Teddy is in the cave with who he believes is Rachel Solando, the nurse who he was originally looking for. Teddy states that he is a cop, however she slips up and says: “You’re the marshal.” She couldn’t possibly know that he was a marshal because Teddy was simply wearing the normal uniform of an officer at the asylum. Dr. Solando is simply a figment of his imagination and only feeds into the idea of his narrative. Fire symbolizes the fantasy world that he is in, whereas in contrast the water symbolizes the reality that he faces. 

During the staff interview scene, when Teddy and Chuck are interviewing the nurses, the nurses are obviously finding the interview absurd. One nurse actually says about how “far from normal” their jobs are. The staff during this interview are all but enthusiastic about the role-play. Chuck still however pushes the staff to answer Teddy’s questions. During the interview with Mrs. Kearns, she writes “run” on a napkin, she obviously knows who Teddy really is and that everything is predetermined. She also knows that Teddy has the chance to escape during the role play.  

In the final line of dialogue, before Teddy rises to his feet to walk into the presumed lobotomy, he asks Chuck, “Is it better to live as a monster or die a good man?” Andrew was aware of the fact that Dr. Cawley, among others were watching his behavior. He also knew that if he accepts the fact that he is Andrew, he would be set free, and if he pretends to be Ted, he would be lobotomized. The guilt formed from the acceptance of his actions was so painful that he chooses to act as Teddy and as a result get lobotomized. If he acted like Andrew, they would have let him go with a full conscience and knowing the fact that he is the killer of his wife. DiCaprio’s character realized that he was Andrew, but choose live as Ted, forgetting everything and choosing to “die a good man.”

In conclusion, Shutter Island is a film where interpretation and meaning of the film is in the eye of the beholder. Simply taking the movie for face value causes a lack of debate and requires little imagination. The film will always be up for debate as there is no definite ending or answer to the perplexing questions the movie arises. The simple fact is that many of the theories about the movie have little evidence from the movie in support, thus further supporting the claim that Andrew Laeddis created the secondary identity of Teddy Daniels to cope with the reality that he in fact was the killer of his wife. 
