There are several interpretations as to what is THE ultimate truth in this movie. It can be categorized as two main interpretations, whether Teddy’s story is true or not.1. Teddy’s version of the story: The story of Sammy Jankis is actually Leonard’s. Leonard’s wife survived the attack and it was Leonard who killed his wife through insulin overdose. Leonard had killed the actual attacker a long time ago.a) Most literal interpretation is to take in everything Teddy said as true. Teddy was indeed an undercover cop who helped Lenny’s revenge. Afterwards he’s been taking advantage of Lenny and used him to kill wrong man.- We know that at least one person died (Jimmy Gratz) because of Teddy. How many more people were involved in his murder is unknown. b) Amnesia is ‘psychological’ rather than ‘physical’: Leonard’s amnesia isn’t a result from physical (the attack on his head), but from a psychological, mental illness. Sammy Jankis=Leonard Shelby. Leonard tries to escape from the truth (that he is the one who killed his wife) by manipulating his own memories. It could be the reason why he keeps saying that Sammy’s (who is actually Lenny himself) condition is psychological rather than physical. He subconsciously knows that his condition is a brainchild of his own imagination. - This theory isn’t very likely, because by trusting Teddy’s story we must assume that his wife DID die because of Lenny. (Also, Lenny tries to escape from the painful memory: the fact that he killed his wife). In order for this to be true, Lenny must have had actual amnesia. This means Leonard is unable to manipulate his own memories, since he will forget that he killed his wife. c) Lenny has gotten his revenge while his wife was alive. (which means part of Teddy’s story should be lie) The tattoo scene that’s briefly shown confirms this theory. In order to find a motive in his life, he keeps repeating the murder.- The tattoo scene can also be interpreted as some kind of foreshadowing of what happens to Lenny after the murder of Teddy. Chronologically, Teddy’s death is the last scene of the movie. Maybe Lenny subconsciously knows that by killing Teddy, who’s been manipulating him, he finally gets his revenge. We can assume that the death of Teddy finally ends the cycle of murder. (Therefore he symbolically engraves “I’ve done it” on his chest.)2. Teddy’s version of the story is a lie: The story of Sammy Jankis is true. He suffered a similar symptom as Leonard after the car accident. He accidently killed his wife. Leonard hasn’t gotten his revenge yet. Everything in this movie happens in Leonard’s perspectives; therefore we don’t know who Teddy actually is. a) We can also assume that (even though very unlikely) Teddy is the actual John G. b) Teddy is not an undercover cop; he somehow knows Lenny
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