Why is one of the patients signalling Teddy to shush in the movie Shutter Island?

Why is one of the patients signalling Teddy to shush in the movie Shutter Island? - Black and Silver Camera

In the beginning of Shutter Island, when Teddy and Chuck are about to enter Ashcliffe, there is a female patient in the garden that signals a shush to Teddy. What is the significance of this gesture?



Best Answer

As the movie reveals that it is a planned experimentation on Teddy to bring back his memory, I assumed that Teddy was a patient of that place, that the lady knows Teddy and what he had done. As everyone was present there she could not directly talk to Teddy and say what she wants to say. She was just trying to convey a message to him with that gesture: Do not fall in their trap, you have done things. However this was my take on the scene.

Here according to https://www.cram.com/essay/The-Importance-Of-Opening-Scenes-In-Shutter/F3VLZLF2BXZW,

The creepy old lady does the shush sign to Teddy because the doctors had told everyone in the hospital about the experiment they are conducting with Teddy, and that they are not supposed to say anything to him about it. The lady is mentally ill and she was telling Teddy to be quiet, in essence not to spoil the secret.




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Why is one of the patients signalling Teddy to shush in the movie Shutter Island? - Black and Silver Camera on Brown Wooden Table
Why is one of the patients signalling Teddy to shush in the movie Shutter Island? - Close-up of Person Using Camera
Why is one of the patients signalling Teddy to shush in the movie Shutter Island? - Shallow Focus Photography of White Camera



Why did the lady shush Teddy in Shutter Island?

The creepy lady in the yard at the beginning of the film does the "shush" motion at Teddy because she knows him, knows that she's playing a game and has been instructed not to spoil it. She's a crazy lady enjoying a game, that's all.

Why does Teddy get headaches in Shutter Island?

Teddy experiences migraine headaches, flashbacks of his experiences as a U.S. Army soldier during the liberation of Dachau and also vivid dreams of his wife Dolores, who was killed in a fire set by arsonist Andrew Laeddis. Teddy explains to Chuck that he took the case to find Laeddis, believing he is on the island.

Is Teddy the 67th patient?

Cawley assures Teddy that there is no 67th patient, and tells him that Rachel has actually been found. In her cell, accompanied by Cawley and Chuck, Teddy asks Rachel what she did yesterday, using the sighting of a "known communist subversive" as a pretext for the question.

Why does Teddy have a plaster on his head?

Whenever Teddy is pretending to be a U.S. Marshal, he had a bandaid on the left part of his forehead. Almost as if a wound. Teddy has a band aid on his head to represent him having amnesia and constant headaches. In one scene a doctor of the institute calms Teddy down and tells him that he truly is wounded.



Shutter Island — Notice The Details




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