Table of ContentsThe Symbolism of Fire and Water in “Shutter Island”ConclusionWorks Cited “What interests me is the way the story continues to change and the reality of what is happening continues to change, and how, until the very final scene, it all depends on how the truth is perceived. – Martin Scorsese, director of Shutter Island. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Scorsese's film achieves this shift in perception by using strong symbolism to provide clues. During the film, two common symbols are fire and water. These symbols give meaning and connect all the ideas, and the purpose of the symbols becomes clear during the final scenes. The main character, Teddy Daniels (Andrew Laeddis), also identifies the island's lighthouse as a key location for the madness that reigns on the island. There are different shots and angles of the lighthouse, showing a difference in reality and perception. The film primarily revolves around the perception of reality and truths, as well as the fundamental and related ideas of reason and madness. The strong use of these symbols creates a deeper insight into the ideas of the film. Fire and water symbolism in "Shutter Island". The fire in the film shows the insight of Teddy's mind, the constant use of fire in his dreams and hallucinations. around his madness. The fire is also associated with Dolores in the film. He says she died in an apartment fire and that "Laeddis lit the match that killed my wife." When in reality, he lit the match figuratively. He did this while ignoring the fact that his wife, Dolores, suffered from mental illness. She said she was hearing voices, that someone was in her head. This is how he lit the “match” that started the “fire” that saw Dolores kill their children. Teddy is also plagued by memories of his time in Dachau. Dachau is a former German concentration camp located in southern Bavaria between 1933 and 1945. When Teddy was in World War II, he was among the soldiers who took over the camp, what he saw left him with haunting memories. Teddy had a hallucination about Dachau while at Dr. Naerhing's house, it was caused by the fire and the music from the record player. During this hallucination, he sees ashes falling on Dachau and the frozen bodies, piled on top of each other. These ashes could mark the beginning of his madness, the place where his problems began. Whenever Teddy is associated with fire, a hallucination always follows, this is Teddy's "trigger" for a hallucination. Water is necessary for life, as is Teddy's desire for truth. Water in the film is used in opposition to fire, it is used to represent Teddy's sanity, truth, reality. In this case, water often prevents Teddy from finding the truth. The truth about what's going on, what Teddy is really looking for. He basically wants to know what happened to him. In the opening scenes of the film, Teddy and Chuck are on a ferry to the island, Chuck asks if he's okay but he replies "Yeah, well, I just, uh, I can't, I can't withstand water." In this scene we also see shots of Teddy behind a chain link fence, this shot depicts the fact that he is incarcerated. On a symbolic level, Teddy getting sick from the water really makes him sick. The reality of what happened to his family. Chuck also introduces himself, telling Teddy that he is from Seattle, the most "watery" of American cities. Chuck is Dr. Sheehan, Teddy's doctor, so it makes sense if he's from a watering hole. A.