We will explain What does the ending of Shutter Island mean? The ending of the movie “Shutter Island,” directed by Martin Scorsese and based on the novel by Dennis Lehane, is intentionally ambiguous, leaving viewers to interpret it in various ways. The film concludes with the main character, Teddy Daniels (played by Leonardo DiCaprio), who may also be Andrew Laeddis, sitting with Dr. Sheehan on the steps of the hospital. Teddy/Andrew asks, “Which would be worse: To live as a monster, or to die as a good man?” This line is the crux of the ambiguity.
Teddy is actually Andrew Laeddis: In this interpretation, Teddy has been Andrew all along, a patient at the hospital undergoing an elaborate role-play therapy for the murder of his wife, who killed their children. His line at the end suggests that he’s aware of his true identity but chooses to pretend to be Teddy again. He prefers to undergo lobotomy (implied as the next step in his treatment) rather than live with the guilt and pain of his actions as Andrew.
