The book opens with a look into the past of the main
character, Teddy Daniels. Young Teddy goes out on a boat with his father, who
was a fisherman. After suffering severe sea-sicknesses, Teddy and his father
never went out on again. His father died years later, on a fishing boat. The
author then brings the book to the present, in 1954. Teddy is vomiting into a
toilet on a boat. He and his new partner, Chuck Aule, are U.S. Marshals, sent
to investigate a missing patient from Ashecliffe Hospital, located on an island
in Boston's outer harbor. When Teddy's seasickness passes, he exits the
bathroom and has a conversation with Chuck, in which they both find out more
about each other. Upon arriving on the island, the duo exits the boat, and
meets Deputy Warden McPherson. After a brief tour of the island, the duo meets
head doctor on the island, Dr. Cawley. They discuss the case in detail. Rachel
Solando, the missing patient, escaped during the night, in a two hour period.
She escaped a locked cell, made it past multiple guards, and disappeared onto
the island, all barefoot. She is nowhere to be found, and if she had tried to
swim and drowned, her body would have washed up on shore. Upon inspecting her
cell, they find a note left by Rachel. It seems to be gibberish, but Teddy sees
it as a code to be cracked. After talking to the staff of the hospital, it is
discovered that another doctor, Dr. Sheehan, had been present last night, but
left on vacation that morning. Teddy and Chuck are baffled as to how they could
let someone leave during a state of lockdown. They attempt to call the doctor,
but due to high winds from an incoming hurricane, are unable to reach him.
Later, at Cawley's home, Teddy and Chuck meet another doctor on the island, Dr.
Naehring. In a conversation with Naehring, Teddy reveals more of his past in
the military, and his experience liberating a Nazi death camp. After Cawley
refuses to show Teddy and Chuck the staff files, Teddy declares the
investigation over, and plans on leaving on the ferry in the morning. The two
men are shown to their room, which is shared with two orderlies. After a game
of poker, they retire for the night. Before Chuck and Teddy fall asleep, Teddy
reveals he was bluffing about leaving in the morning. He intends on completing
the investigation. That night Teddy has a dream about his dead wife, Dolores
(her maiden name was Chanal) His dead wife pleads to him to let her go, after
helping Teddy crack Rachel's code. In a conversation with Cawley, he explains
to the duo about the war in psychology. He says that it's a fight between
drugging patients or giving them physical treatments. When asked which side
he's on, Cawley says that he believes if you talk to a patient and understand
them, you will be able to breakthrough. Teddy then reveals the answer to the
code. It spells "Rachel Solando," the patient's name. It's a template for
future codes, according to Teddy, although he cannot figure out the last line:
"Who is 67?" Later, the duo conducts interviews with some other patients. The
interviews are for the most part, unfruitful. However, one surprisingly sane
patient, talks in a way that to Teddy seemed rehearsed. When Chuck gets up to
pour her a glass of water, she writes "RUN" in Teddy's notebook. In every
interview, Teddy asks the patients if they know a patient named Andrew Laeddis.
Afterwards, Chuck asks Teddy who Laeddis is. Teddy explains that Laeddis was a
maintenance man in his apartment building. He was a pyromaniac, and set a match
that burnt the apartment down and killed Teddy's wife when he wasn't home. The
next day, Teddy reveals he had been tracking Laeddis, and he was sent hear after
burning down a school because voices told him to. Teddy requested the Shutter
Island case because he intended on finding Laeddis, and possibly killing him.
Later, the two men are exploring the island, and find another code left by
Rachel. When exploring the cemetery for a headstone bearing the names Rachel
Solando or Andrew Laeddis, the hurricane arrives on the island, and bears
relentlessly down on the two men. They take cover in a mausoleum, where they
have a discussion that gives insight to both of their pasts. McPherson finds
them, and brings them back. They are given two of the orderlies' uniforms. They
meet with Cawley, who tells them that Rachel Solando was found on the beach.
They interview her, and she is quite insane, mistaking Teddy for her husband.
She hugs him, and then realizes he's not her late husband, and is angered.
Afterwards, Teddy has a severe migraine, and is given pills by Cawley, despite
his better judgment. The pills cause him to pass out, and he sees black smudges
on his hands. He thinks its shoe polish, but doesn't know how it got there. He
has an awful dream, featuring three children, most likely Rachel Solando's
children, who she drowned in a lake. While Teddy is unconscious, Chuck finds a
calendar in Dr. Cawley's desk. Four days, including that day, the day before,
and the next two days, were outlined in black. Written across the days was
"Patient 67." The next day, Chuck and Teddy sneak into the forbidden Ward C,
home of the most dangerous patients. The power is out from the hurricane, and
the electric security is offline. With the help of their uniforms, Chuck and
Teddy split up and search the facility. Teddy discovers a friend of his, George
Noyce. Noyce makes claims that they are doing bad things with patients' minds,
illegal brain surgery. Teddy promises Noyce that he will expose this place, but
Noyce tells him that he can't kill Laeddis and expose the evils of this
facility. To do that, he has to let Dolores go, and he can't trust Chuck, a man
he just met. Meeting up with Chuck, Teddy is handed a piece of paper. Chuck
found Laeddis' intake form, but Teddy says he will look at it later. Since
Laeddis was not found in Ward C, the men assume that he is in the lighthouse on
the island. They were told that it it was for "septic treatment," but it has
barbed wire fence around it and is constantly guarded. The men set out to the
light house, to find Laeddis and expose the illegal brain surgery. On the way,
Teddy finds more code, and climbs down a rock cliff to get to it, but Chuck
refuses to go because it is dangerous, and Teddy starts to lose trust in Chuck.
Teddy deciphers the code into a random jumble of letters, and climbs back up the
cliff. Chuck isn't there. Teddy looks down and sees Chuck's body. He climbs down
to get Chuck, and on the way, discovers Laeddis' intake form, and realizes Chuck
had tried to climb down and get it. When he gets to the bottom, Chuck's body
turns out to be a rock, and Chuck is nowhere to be found. Looking for Chuck,
Teddy finds a cave with a fire; he enters, and finds a woman. He realizes she is
the real Rachel Solando, because the one he interviewed was wearing black hair
dye that was left on his hands. Rachel says she used to be a doctor, but they
made her a patient by claiming she was insane. They did this because she tried
to stop the illegal brain surgery. She claims they attempting mind control, by
making extremely violent people impervious to pain or guilt. They discuss
insanity, and how once you are claimed insane, it's impossible to prove that
you're not. He falls asleep in the cave, and leaves in the morning on Rachel's
request, so she isn't found. Teddy is returning to the orderlies' quarters, when
the warden comes and picks him up in a car. When Teddy exits the car, the warden
tells him that he's never going to leave the island. Back at the civilized part
of the island, Teddy asks people like Cawley and his roommates if they've seen
Chuck, his partner. They tell Teddy that he never had a partner. Teddy talks to
one of the orderlies he played poker with, who is a bad liar. Teddy breaks him,
and his roommate tells him to run, to get off the island. Teddy is determined to
save Chuck, kill Laeddis, and expose the evils of the island. He heads to the
light house, so he can accomplish all of his goals. He causes Dr. Cawley's car
to explode, and uses the diversion to get to the light house. He knocks two
guards unconscious along the way, stealing one of their guns.
[SPOILER ALERT]
He enters the light house and
reaches the top, expecting to see either Laeddis or Chuck on an operating table.
Instead, Cawley is there, sitting at his desk. There is a curtain behind him.
Cawley tells Teddy his gun isn't loaded, and he's right. Cawley explains to
Teddy the Law of 4. He pulls the curtain, revealing a large sheet of paper with
Dolores Chanal - Rachel Dolores written on the top line, and Edward Daniels -
Andrew Laeddis on the second line. Cawley explains that the names contain the
same exact letters. Cawley also explains that the most recent code spells out
"You are him." Cawley calls in Dr. Sheehan, and Chuck walks in. Cawley tells
Teddy to look at Laeddis' intake form. It says that he is highly intelligent,
and imagines an entire different life for himself because he can't deal with
what he's done. Teddy gets angry, and Cawley hands Teddy his gun, which he was
forced to surrender upon arriving at the island. The gun is heavy, so Teddy
knows it is loaded. He shoots Cawley in the head, but only water comes out. It's
just a toy. Cawley explains that Teddy is Laeddis, and is on this island because
he is violent. Teddy gets a severe migraine, and passes out. In a flashback,
Teddy is returning from a massive manhunt at work. He finds an empty bottle of
his wife's medication. He looks outside, and Dolores is sitting in their gazebo,
covered in water. Teddy asks her why she's wet, and where his three kids are.
She claims they are at school, but it's a Saturday. Teddy (Andrew) knew his wife
was insane, but he ignored the signs because he couldn't deal with it. He sees
three logs in the lake behind his house, and immediately starts crying. He walks
out into the river, and brings back his three drowned children. He lays them on
the ground, and his wife climbs on top of him. She wants to use them as human
dolls, to give them baths and bring them on picnics. Andrew tells his wife he
loves her, and then shoots her in the stomach. When he wakes up, Andrew is
crying. Cawley tells Andrew that on the island, they treat patients with
humanity, not drugs or brain surgery. Unless they can convince Andrew that he is
not Teddy Daniels, they will be closed down because they're method of treatment
is unsuccessful. Andrew had been telling them his story of Shutter Island for
two years, since he arrived. The doctors thought that if they let him play out
his story, he might finally come to realize that he is not Teddy Daniels. Cawley
asks Andrew his name, and he answers Andrew Laeddis. When asked why he is on the
island, he says it is because he killed his wife, because she killed his
children, because he wouldn't get her help. Cawley says they had the same
breakthrough 9 months ago, but then he regressed. They are hoping that playing
out the entire story would have a permanent effect on Andrew. The next morning,
Teddy walks out into the sun and sits on some steps next to Chuck. It's a
beautiful day. Teddy tells Chuck they have to get off of the island. Chuck
shakes his head at Cawley and the warden, who are standing away from them.
Cawley and the warden walk towards Teddy, with four orderlies following them.
One of the orderlies is carrying a straight jacket.
character, Teddy Daniels. Young Teddy goes out on a boat with his father, who
was a fisherman. After suffering severe sea-sicknesses, Teddy and his father
never went out on again. His father died years later, on a fishing boat. The
author then brings the book to the present, in 1954. Teddy is vomiting into a
toilet on a boat. He and his new partner, Chuck Aule, are U.S. Marshals, sent
to investigate a missing patient from Ashecliffe Hospital, located on an island
in Boston's outer harbor. When Teddy's seasickness passes, he exits the
bathroom and has a conversation with Chuck, in which they both find out more
about each other. Upon arriving on the island, the duo exits the boat, and
meets Deputy Warden McPherson. After a brief tour of the island, the duo meets
head doctor on the island, Dr. Cawley. They discuss the case in detail. Rachel
Solando, the missing patient, escaped during the night, in a two hour period.
She escaped a locked cell, made it past multiple guards, and disappeared onto
the island, all barefoot. She is nowhere to be found, and if she had tried to
swim and drowned, her body would have washed up on shore. Upon inspecting her
cell, they find a note left by Rachel. It seems to be gibberish, but Teddy sees
it as a code to be cracked. After talking to the staff of the hospital, it is
discovered that another doctor, Dr. Sheehan, had been present last night, but
left on vacation that morning. Teddy and Chuck are baffled as to how they could
let someone leave during a state of lockdown. They attempt to call the doctor,
but due to high winds from an incoming hurricane, are unable to reach him.
Later, at Cawley's home, Teddy and Chuck meet another doctor on the island, Dr.
Naehring. In a conversation with Naehring, Teddy reveals more of his past in
the military, and his experience liberating a Nazi death camp. After Cawley
refuses to show Teddy and Chuck the staff files, Teddy declares the
investigation over, and plans on leaving on the ferry in the morning. The two
men are shown to their room, which is shared with two orderlies. After a game
of poker, they retire for the night. Before Chuck and Teddy fall asleep, Teddy
reveals he was bluffing about leaving in the morning. He intends on completing
the investigation. That night Teddy has a dream about his dead wife, Dolores
(her maiden name was Chanal) His dead wife pleads to him to let her go, after
helping Teddy crack Rachel's code. In a conversation with Cawley, he explains
to the duo about the war in psychology. He says that it's a fight between
drugging patients or giving them physical treatments. When asked which side
he's on, Cawley says that he believes if you talk to a patient and understand
them, you will be able to breakthrough. Teddy then reveals the answer to the
code. It spells "Rachel Solando," the patient's name. It's a template for
future codes, according to Teddy, although he cannot figure out the last line:
"Who is 67?" Later, the duo conducts interviews with some other patients. The
interviews are for the most part, unfruitful. However, one surprisingly sane
patient, talks in a way that to Teddy seemed rehearsed. When Chuck gets up to
pour her a glass of water, she writes "RUN" in Teddy's notebook. In every
interview, Teddy asks the patients if they know a patient named Andrew Laeddis.
Afterwards, Chuck asks Teddy who Laeddis is. Teddy explains that Laeddis was a
maintenance man in his apartment building. He was a pyromaniac, and set a match
that burnt the apartment down and killed Teddy's wife when he wasn't home. The
next day, Teddy reveals he had been tracking Laeddis, and he was sent hear after
burning down a school because voices told him to. Teddy requested the Shutter
Island case because he intended on finding Laeddis, and possibly killing him.
Later, the two men are exploring the island, and find another code left by
Rachel. When exploring the cemetery for a headstone bearing the names Rachel
Solando or Andrew Laeddis, the hurricane arrives on the island, and bears
relentlessly down on the two men. They take cover in a mausoleum, where they
have a discussion that gives insight to both of their pasts. McPherson finds
them, and brings them back. They are given two of the orderlies' uniforms. They
meet with Cawley, who tells them that Rachel Solando was found on the beach.
They interview her, and she is quite insane, mistaking Teddy for her husband.
She hugs him, and then realizes he's not her late husband, and is angered.
Afterwards, Teddy has a severe migraine, and is given pills by Cawley, despite
his better judgment. The pills cause him to pass out, and he sees black smudges
on his hands. He thinks its shoe polish, but doesn't know how it got there. He
has an awful dream, featuring three children, most likely Rachel Solando's
children, who she drowned in a lake. While Teddy is unconscious, Chuck finds a
calendar in Dr. Cawley's desk. Four days, including that day, the day before,
and the next two days, were outlined in black. Written across the days was
"Patient 67." The next day, Chuck and Teddy sneak into the forbidden Ward C,
home of the most dangerous patients. The power is out from the hurricane, and
the electric security is offline. With the help of their uniforms, Chuck and
Teddy split up and search the facility. Teddy discovers a friend of his, George
Noyce. Noyce makes claims that they are doing bad things with patients' minds,
illegal brain surgery. Teddy promises Noyce that he will expose this place, but
Noyce tells him that he can't kill Laeddis and expose the evils of this
facility. To do that, he has to let Dolores go, and he can't trust Chuck, a man
he just met. Meeting up with Chuck, Teddy is handed a piece of paper. Chuck
found Laeddis' intake form, but Teddy says he will look at it later. Since
Laeddis was not found in Ward C, the men assume that he is in the lighthouse on
the island. They were told that it it was for "septic treatment," but it has
barbed wire fence around it and is constantly guarded. The men set out to the
light house, to find Laeddis and expose the illegal brain surgery. On the way,
Teddy finds more code, and climbs down a rock cliff to get to it, but Chuck
refuses to go because it is dangerous, and Teddy starts to lose trust in Chuck.
Teddy deciphers the code into a random jumble of letters, and climbs back up the
cliff. Chuck isn't there. Teddy looks down and sees Chuck's body. He climbs down
to get Chuck, and on the way, discovers Laeddis' intake form, and realizes Chuck
had tried to climb down and get it. When he gets to the bottom, Chuck's body
turns out to be a rock, and Chuck is nowhere to be found. Looking for Chuck,
Teddy finds a cave with a fire; he enters, and finds a woman. He realizes she is
the real Rachel Solando, because the one he interviewed was wearing black hair
dye that was left on his hands. Rachel says she used to be a doctor, but they
made her a patient by claiming she was insane. They did this because she tried
to stop the illegal brain surgery. She claims they attempting mind control, by
making extremely violent people impervious to pain or guilt. They discuss
insanity, and how once you are claimed insane, it's impossible to prove that
you're not. He falls asleep in the cave, and leaves in the morning on Rachel's
request, so she isn't found. Teddy is returning to the orderlies' quarters, when
the warden comes and picks him up in a car. When Teddy exits the car, the warden
tells him that he's never going to leave the island. Back at the civilized part
of the island, Teddy asks people like Cawley and his roommates if they've seen
Chuck, his partner. They tell Teddy that he never had a partner. Teddy talks to
one of the orderlies he played poker with, who is a bad liar. Teddy breaks him,
and his roommate tells him to run, to get off the island. Teddy is determined to
save Chuck, kill Laeddis, and expose the evils of the island. He heads to the
light house, so he can accomplish all of his goals. He causes Dr. Cawley's car
to explode, and uses the diversion to get to the light house. He knocks two
guards unconscious along the way, stealing one of their guns.
[SPOILER ALERT]
He enters the light house and
reaches the top, expecting to see either Laeddis or Chuck on an operating table.
Instead, Cawley is there, sitting at his desk. There is a curtain behind him.
Cawley tells Teddy his gun isn't loaded, and he's right. Cawley explains to
Teddy the Law of 4. He pulls the curtain, revealing a large sheet of paper with
Dolores Chanal - Rachel Dolores written on the top line, and Edward Daniels -
Andrew Laeddis on the second line. Cawley explains that the names contain the
same exact letters. Cawley also explains that the most recent code spells out
"You are him." Cawley calls in Dr. Sheehan, and Chuck walks in. Cawley tells
Teddy to look at Laeddis' intake form. It says that he is highly intelligent,
and imagines an entire different life for himself because he can't deal with
what he's done. Teddy gets angry, and Cawley hands Teddy his gun, which he was
forced to surrender upon arriving at the island. The gun is heavy, so Teddy
knows it is loaded. He shoots Cawley in the head, but only water comes out. It's
just a toy. Cawley explains that Teddy is Laeddis, and is on this island because
he is violent. Teddy gets a severe migraine, and passes out. In a flashback,
Teddy is returning from a massive manhunt at work. He finds an empty bottle of
his wife's medication. He looks outside, and Dolores is sitting in their gazebo,
covered in water. Teddy asks her why she's wet, and where his three kids are.
She claims they are at school, but it's a Saturday. Teddy (Andrew) knew his wife
was insane, but he ignored the signs because he couldn't deal with it. He sees
three logs in the lake behind his house, and immediately starts crying. He walks
out into the river, and brings back his three drowned children. He lays them on
the ground, and his wife climbs on top of him. She wants to use them as human
dolls, to give them baths and bring them on picnics. Andrew tells his wife he
loves her, and then shoots her in the stomach. When he wakes up, Andrew is
crying. Cawley tells Andrew that on the island, they treat patients with
humanity, not drugs or brain surgery. Unless they can convince Andrew that he is
not Teddy Daniels, they will be closed down because they're method of treatment
is unsuccessful. Andrew had been telling them his story of Shutter Island for
two years, since he arrived. The doctors thought that if they let him play out
his story, he might finally come to realize that he is not Teddy Daniels. Cawley
asks Andrew his name, and he answers Andrew Laeddis. When asked why he is on the
island, he says it is because he killed his wife, because she killed his
children, because he wouldn't get her help. Cawley says they had the same
breakthrough 9 months ago, but then he regressed. They are hoping that playing
out the entire story would have a permanent effect on Andrew. The next morning,
Teddy walks out into the sun and sits on some steps next to Chuck. It's a
beautiful day. Teddy tells Chuck they have to get off of the island. Chuck
shakes his head at Cawley and the warden, who are standing away from them.
Cawley and the warden walk towards Teddy, with four orderlies following them.
One of the orderlies is carrying a straight jacket.