Grant Newman- Shutter Island

Grant Newman

Shutter Island

Dennis Lehane

Mystery

Just Right

p. 93

1. Right now, Teddy Daniels, a US Marshall is on Shutter Island, where a mental hospital, called Ashecliffe Hospital, is located. Since getting there, he's learned some strange things about the hospital, mainly one patient, named Rachel, not being able to be found. He's been questioning some of the employees, mainly doctors about what goes on at the hospital, and if they know anything about the disappearance. But, Teddy just figured out from a clue that he was given that Rachel never left the institution, the Law of 4. Teddy's just adjusting to life in this asylum, and he is also in the process of figuring out what goes on normally here. When he asked one of the nurses about anything unusual, she said, "This is a mental institution, for the insane, Marshal. Usual isn't a big part of our day." (p. 65). From this, you can tell that the workers have accepted that things are just a little big strange and out of whack at this hospital.

2. I'm curious about this book still. I can already tell this book will contain a lot of mysterious elements, and will leave you guessing, as it already has. The author is a great suspense writer, and he leads you on like you're the detective, only finding out things when Teddy, the main character, does. Not knowing what's going to happen only heightens the want to keep reading and find out what will happen, so it's really kept me reading so far. It's not boring in the least, and I enjoy his different characters. The story is a little strange so far, with the asylum, and all the crazy people probably going to do crazy things. The doctors that Teddy has met are very strange and quirky, all with differences, and they all seem a little suspicious. Overall, Lehane, the author, has done a great job setting up what promises to be a very good mystery.

3. A theme I've seen in the novel so far is two different "norms". The marshals who are here to investigate the case already can sense that these people, including the employees, live very differently than they do. They accept that people do weird, unexplainable things, and that that's just part of how their life is. Like the quote from the nurse above, they seem to have adjusted to their environment, and the asylum aspect of it, and accepted it for what it is. The other side of the "norms" would be the people that don't spend most of their time on Shutter Island. That would be Teddy, and his crew of marshals. They try to investigate, without much cooperation, further into the situation, and get weird answers from these weird people. The whole island seems to have a little quirk in the head. They're finding it very strange and unusual what's happening, and they're starting to get an idea of what a normal, if you could call it normal, day is in this environment. These two ideas of normalcy are colliding, and their attempts to find out more are slowly progressing, but without much help.

4. My favorite character is Teddy. He's a smart character that is probably very good at solving puzzles, as he already has solved one about Rachel. He's an individual that has obviously experienced a lot in his life. He talked about death camps with one of the doctors, and his experience sounded very harsh. Teddy knows a lot about the world, but he's just beginning to discover what lies in store in Ashecliffe Hospital, and what weird things go on there. He seems like a strong character and one who can deal with problems if they occur. He's gotten some desirable answers out of people he's interrogated, but not many, and he just has to work with it. That's not an easy thing to do, but he does it anyway. Teddy, who is a hard-working, smart character, and one who has experienced a lot, is my favorite in Shutter Island.

5. My least-favorite character was one of the doctors Teddy talked to, Dr. Naehring. He's a weird person who Teddy interrogated about the goings-on at the hospital. He could tell, eerily, that both of the interrogators' parents had died when they were younger. That made Teddy a little mad, I think, and he accused him of using "parlor tricks" on him. He wasn't giving him much information, which wasn't helping Teddy's cause. His weird attitude, and personality makes Dr. Naehring my least-favorite character.

6. A prediction I have for the rest of the novel is that someone, maybe a doctor, will die in the novel, and Teddy will have to figure out who killed him.