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Part 1, Chapter 5
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Silent Patient, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Empathy, Identification, and Boundaries
Tragedy and Destiny
Honesty vs. Deception
Childhood Trauma
Silence vs. “The Talking Cure”
Summary
Analysis
When Theo enters Diomedes’s office, he is surprised to find that there are musical instruments of all kinds strewn about the space. Diomedes explains that music is his passion, and that he runs a kind of music therapy for both patients and students. Diomedes also tells Theo that he was the “deciding voice” at Theo’s interview—he believes that Theo is very talented, and that he could one day take over the Grove.
Theo’s promise as a therapist, implied in the deft way he handled Elif, is now confirmed. This passage also elaborates on Diomedes’s eccentricity: he is a jack-of-all-trades musician, and he is forthcoming about information that might be better kept private.
Themes
At the same time, though, Diomedes is worried the Grove will be shut down, as it is anything but cost-effective. He confides in Theo that the Trust that funds the clinic is ready to close it, and he believes that Stephanie is “in league with them.”
Like Yuri, Diomedes seems to distrust Stephanie’s more practical approach to care. The Grove’s impending shutdown reflects the financial reality of the British healthcare system post-2008, but it also raises the stakes of all of the therapists’ work—if they don’t get tangible results, they are likely to lose their jobs.
Themes
Theo changes the subject, asking Diomedes about Alicia’s care since she has arrived at the Grove. Diomedes admits that he tried and failed to treat Alicia, eventually giving up when her silence persisted. Theo hints that he would like to treat her, and Diomedes warns that Alicia is a “silent siren,” tempting therapists as a difficult case and then dashing all their hopes. Nevertheless, he encourages Theo to set up a meeting with Alicia, via Yuri.
Theo might have a particular “resonance” with Alicia, but something about her silence—her illegibility—is tempting to all therapists. And when Diomedes (who is Greek, like author Michaelides) describes Alicia as a “siren,” he is further linking the patients at the Grove to the characters in ancient Greek mythology.
Themes
