The Silent Patient

The preface quote from Sigmund Freud emphasizes the significance of non-verbal communication, something highlighted by both Indira and Theo in relation to Alicia. The significance of non-verbal communication also appears in Alicia’s paintings, which come up in greater detail in Part 2.

Diary experts provide more insight into Alicia’s past. Her voice strengthens as she reveals candid, troubled memories of her mother Eva’s apparent suicide. Even more troubling is the fact that her mother purposefully had Alicia in the car with her when she drove her car into a wall, suggesting she would have had no qualms taking her own child’s life either—or perhaps even meant to. The tone is contemplative and dark as Alicia writes vivid flashback-like descriptions of significant past events—notably the day her mother dies. She provides a sensory experience full of detailed imagery, like the heat of the day and the contrast of the yellow Mini (car) and the red brick wall.

The reflective, thoughtful writing in Alicia’s diary serves as a stark contrast to the woman described by Theo in the narrative’s present-day: An over-medicated shadow of a human who, when she does finally come out of her stupor, it is only to launch a vicious attack—according to Theo, less human and “more like a wild animal; something monstrous” (84).

Alicia’s diary also delves further into her relationship with Gabriel, furthering the mystery: Why did Alicia kill her husband? The fact that Alicia subconsciously gives Jesus her husband’s face while painting him suggests a power dynamic, already hinted at in the Prologue, in which Gabriel is the leader and she the follower—his disciple. She tells Gabriel, “I don’t think you’re the son of God […] It’s just something that happened organically while I was painting. I haven’t consciously thought about it” (69). Gabriel points out that she might want to reflect on that, hinting at the fact that actions people undertake subconsciously can reflect important facts about them.

Religious allusion appears not only in the Jesus portrait but also in Gabriel's name. Gabriel is one of the archangels, a heavenly messenger who announced the birth of Jesus to the Virgin Mary. Another religious allusion appears in the name of Lazarus. In the New Testament, Lazarus is a figure raised by Jesus from the dead. The name also appears in the parable of Luke, in which Lazarus is the name given to a beggar who would stay at the gates of a rich man in hopes of getting some scraps of food—when the rich man and Lazarus died, Lazarus was taken to "Abraham's side" (a place of comfort and rest) and the rich man went to "Hades" (a place of torment).

It’s thus fitting that Lazarus seems to have an almost God-like role at The Grove and even within the novel’s narrative. In Chapter 5, Lazarus is the one who gives Theo only six weeks to get Alicia talking. His actions set the stage for the narrative in a top-down manner, as if he were a God creating a world and characters, and then watching it play out. With the deadline, he drives the narrative, providing a sense of urgency. This use of a deadline or timeline is an often-used narrative device in the thriller genre to amplify suspense and add a sense of danger or urgency to the work.