The Tide Rises Analysis

Andrew’s inability to properly cope with the guilt from his family’s death is the second step that leads to his complete madness, and in due course his demise. Drinking used to be his escape – from the war, and from the reality of Dolores’s breakdown. “[It allowed him to] ignore all the signs/ ignore [the concerns everyone] told him” (Lehane 118). After the catastrophic event, he gives up drinking perhaps to honour his wife. This leaves his mind clear and able to comprehend his role in their deaths. He realizes that he had always been aware that Dolores was mentally unstable, but “[he] refused to see it
[, thinking] she was [just] weak. [He] told [himself] sanity was a chose, and all she had to do was remember her responsibilities” (Lehane …show more content…
Because her changing behaviors are scaring him, he reprimands her by shouting that “[she has] to get [herself] together. [She has] responsibilities to think about/ [and needs to] get [her] f****** head right” (Lehane 45). He believes that if had stopped drinking, he would’ve been able to believe her when she told him that, that “she had an insect living inside her brain” (Shutter Island). He would’ve been able to get her the help she needed and prevented the whole catastrophic death. Because the guilt is too much for him to handle in his sobriety, he turns to creating an eluding reality. “[He creates] a dense, complex narrative structure in which [he is] the hero” (Lehane 117) who had no responsibility in his family’s death. He wholeheartedly believes that he is a U.S Marshal, named Edward “Teddy” Daniels. He also believes that …show more content…
At the insane asylum, Andrew continues to elude his reality by living in the fantasy world he has concocted to escape his guilt. Overtime, his delusions become so strong that he “damn near [kills a patient/ former friend named George Noyce] for calling him by his real name (Laeddis as opposed to his fake name Edward)” (Lehane 123). Known for being the most dangerous patient because of his extreme violent behaviors, the assault on Noyce is the last straw for the asylum’s warden and Dr. Naehring, a neurosurgeon, who push for Andrew to finally be lobotomized. Fighting back against Dr. Naehring’s orders, Andrew’s primary psychiatrist (for the past two years) and the man who created the asylum, Dr. Cawley, beg to be given one more chance to help Andrew. In order to help him, they “construct the most radical, cutting edge role play ever attempted in psychiatry” (Shutter Island). In being able to live out his fantasy with total freedom, Andrew’s delusions become stronger – he convinces himself that his gun is real even though it “is filled with water” (Lehane 122). Despite his immense denial – at the end of the experiment, Andrew appears to realize the truth and admits his past, thus for, the lobotomy is not administered. However, at the end of the novel, upon meeting with Dr. Sheehan, Andrew says that “[he] has to get off [Shutter Island].