5 REASONS WHY TEDDY DANIELS IS NOT A GOOD COP
- He suffers from intense migraines: Teddy Daniels experiences extremely painful migraines while on the island and it often puts his investigation to a halt. Although he tries to deny the medication give to him by the Warden, he cannot withstand the pain of his migraines. "Fingernails pried open the left side of his skull and poured a shaker of thumbtacks in there..." (Lehane 179). For a normal person, this wouldn't be such a big deal- they could go somewhere quiet and rest, but for Teddy, his job is so demanding that he needs to be constantly aware of what is going on. Suffering from a migraine keeps him from being taken seriously if he often takes ill.
- He has woman problems: Throughout the book, the reader is able to get small glances at who Teddy's wife was as a person. She was quite the charmer when they first met but then Teddy describes her as someone who has changed- something he doesn't like. Dolores, died in a burning building, now haunts Teddy during his investigation. Before she died, it was as if she could not be controlled by Teddy, she became a pretty unstable being. "Teddy hated when she did this. Memory Lane. She couldn't adapt to the present, to who they were now, warts and all, so she drove winding lanes into the past to warm herself" (Lehane 127). For Teddy, along with everything else going on, having his dead wife constantly be coming up is extremely distracting and Teddy isn't the best multi-tasker.
- He has an inability to follow the strict guidelines: On Shutter Island, there are three wards. Ward A and Ward B are the separated men and women's ward. Then there's Ward C. Maximum security for the maximum offenders. All the 100% insane people live in Ward C, like Rachel Solando, who was in for drowning her three children while he husband was away at work. Upon arriving on the island, Teddy and Chuck are told that only authorized officials are allowing into Ward C and even though the two are federally appointed marshals, it doesn't matter. But being the officer that Teddy is, he convinces Chuck to sneak into Ward C disguised as orderlies in order to gain more information about Rachel Solando and who the mysterious 67th patient is. Chuck tries to get Teddy to leave, immediately regretting the decision to enter, "We need to go right back out, Teddy. We need to leave. This is bad. You can feel it, I can feel it" (Lehane 221). Again, being the great cop that Teddy Daniels is, he proceeds into Ward C.
- His need for danger: During an intense tropical storm on their first few days on the island, Teddy and Chuck are determined to find Rachel Solando, this missing inmate, and set out on a search to find her. A clue left by Rachel infiltrates Teddy's mind and he is set on discovering out what it really means. The only set back being that it is pouring rain and the men are soaked to the bone. Eventually, some of the orderlies come driving down the beach in a Jeep searching for the two stray marshals. " 'This has just been upgraded from a tropical storm to a hurricane. Winds are coming in at around a hundred miles an hours right now. By midnight, they're expected to hit a hundred fifty. And you guys go strolling off in it?'" (Lehane 158). By putting himself in danger, Teddy is only looking the quickest route to getting killed. Especially with such a high security mental institute plus having no authority, Teddy and Chuck should've aired on the side of caution but instead they go wherever the storm takes them.
- **SPOILER!!!**
He isn't a real cop: Yes, unfortunately true but Teddy Daniels is just a crazed mental patient at Shutter Island. The whole gig of him trying to find out about the mysterious Rachel Solando was just an act to amuse Teddy and hopefully try and get him back to normal. All was an experiment done by the doctors and orderlies. When Teddy tried to plea his case that he's actually a real cop, they give him his gun and let him shoot. "And Teddy shot him dead center in the chest. Then he raised his hands a half an inch and shot Cawley in the face. With water" (Lehane 339).
