Father Flynn is he really a man of god or does he have the devil inside him? The play Doubt by Patrick Shanley is based around Sister Aloysius accusation of rape against Father Flynn. Sister Aloysius believes this because after the boy Donald Muller had a private talk with Father Flynn he had alcohol breath. Sister Aloysius tries to prove Father Flynn forced Donald to drink the alcohol to allow him access. While Father Flynn claims he was scolding Donald Muller for drinking alcohol from the altar and didn’t want to reveal what had happened because it would force him to remove Donald Muller from the altar boys. Based on the Evidence in Patrick Shanley’s play, Doubt: A Parable, I conclude Father Flynn is Innocent because of Sister Aloysius fixed opinion and Sister Aloysius belief of human nature. …show more content…
Sister Aloysius already had a set opinion about Father Flynn before ever meeting him: Sister James: “‘He [Donald Muller] has a protector.’ Sister Aloysius ‘Who?’ Sister James: ‘Father Flynn.’ Sister Aloysius, who has been fussing with mulch is suddenly rigid.” (Shanley 19).
Sister Aloysius has such different views from Father Flynn that she refuses to see any good in him. Due to this she always suspects the worst and, refuses to accept any other explanation. So when she finds out Father Flynn had a private talk with Donald Muller instead of thinking about what is best for the boy Sister Aloysius accuses Father Flynn of rape forcing Flynn to reveal what happened. This accusation not only forced Father Flynn to have to remove Donald Muller from the alter boys being the only group he enjoyed it also removed Father Flynn the only person Donald Muller would look for guidance from his
life. Sister Aloysius made this assumption with no evidence because she believes that people will always take advantage of the weak: [Sister Aloysius speaking] “The little sheep lagging behind is the one the wolf goes for.”(Shanley 21). This proves that Sister Aloysius believes humans are naturally wicked and, only with a strong protector will the weak be able to survive. Due to Sister Aloysius mindset on human nature she does not accept that Father Flynn could actually be trying to help Donald Muller. Also her already set opinion of Father Flynn makes it impossible for her to believe that Father Flynn is Donald Muller’s guardian angel, so she does everything to force Father Flynn from Muller’s life leaving him at the mercy of the other kids. If Sister Aloysius was correct in her assumptions after the removal of Father Flynn from Donald Muller’s life he should be happy but instead he was: “Sister Aloysius has Donald been acting strangely? Mrs. Muller No.”( Shanley 46)This is because Father Flynn was not a hidden monster, but Donald’s guardian angel who even hurt his own reputation to guard Donald Muller. The strongest argument against Father Flynn is his quick departure after learning Sister Aloysius discovered he had been removed from two parishes in the last five years, but there is a perfectly good reason for his departure. He wanted to protect what was left of Donald Muller’s reputation. If Father Flynn stayed and Sister Aloysius did discover some reasons to convict Father Flynn he would be able to simple prove his innocence but, it may reveal that Donald Muller is gay turning the entire school against him. Sister Aloysius believes she is helping Donald Muller, but her fixed mindset on Father Flynn and people in general make it impossible for her to see the harm she has created. On the other Father Flynn did whatever he could to protect Donald Muller but, in the end he has to leave due to Sister Aloysius misjudgement. What will become of Donald Muller as his protector has left leaving him with a misguided principal that is to set in her ways to save him?
Alyss concludes, “This marriage would please her mother, for her family’s sake” (Beddor 171). Alyss acts as a people pleaser when she accepts Leopold’s proposal. She doesn’t love Leopold, but accepts his proposal only to make her mother happy. Alyss has decided to no longer stand out and become like “every women” (Beddor 191). Alyss desires to conform and submit to ideas of society. She becomes normal and no longer stands out like odd Alyss. Mrs. Liddell exclaims “ The dress she had purchased months before, but which Alyss had always refused to wear it because she feared it would make her look normal”, Alyss now wears it ( Beddor 151). Alyss starts to dress like everyone in England. She no longer looks like a former Wonderlander, but becomes by all appearances a proper young
... If anyone is being accused of molesting a child, the reputation that they’ve got will be ruined forever. There’s no going back, she leaves him with nothing, other than a dirty slate, whether or not he is guilty. This nun gets her way, and her certainty drove her to believe something that was never proved to be true. Her authority and the wall she’s created between herself and everyone else makes her credible. His compassion was mistaken for something that he didn’t do. She had the upper hand, with her manipulation skills. The Sisters are her puppets as she remained in control of her parish. Father Flynn’s leave does affect Sister Aloysius, her certainty vanishes but the only thing that somewhat puts her at ease, is that she wants to believe that his leave, was his confession. Sister Aloysius has doubts that crush her in the ending scene. She caused her own demise
Another scene I believe is important that is missing from the play is the scene where sister James sees Father Flynn putting the white t-shirt back in the locker which is pivotal to the whole premise of the story, without Sister James seeing that she would have never brought it up to Sister Alyosius and we would been left to question Sister Alysosius’s accusations even more.
... Nonetheless, the signs also point to Father Flynn hurting him, because he was violating him. People’s assumptions are based upon personal experience and gut feeling, also on their upbringing; nature and nurture. Shanley uses inference in this play to create doubt in the audience’s minds'. The verdict is never in, on Flynn; guilty or not guilty. Shanley’s audience is left to be the jury.
Throughout the play, Sister Aloysius contradicts herself in her statements, demonstrating that an audience can’t know what she is thinking. When she first brings up the subject of Donald Muller, Aloysius tells Father Flynn that they “must neither hide Donald Muller, nor put him forward,” in other words, they must treat him differently from the other students (Shanley 30). Yet, when Flynn mentions that he was giving Muller special protections, she insists that Muller “must be held to the same
Over the course of the play, Albus completes the archetypal hero cycle. His call to action comes in the form of a plea for help from a stranger. Delphi asks indirectly asks Albus to bring her cousin back from the dead by changing the course of time. Once he hears this, Albus is set into action, advancing to the next step. He gains a follower by recruiting his best, and only, friend, Scorpius, who reluctantly agrees to tag along. Once, Albus and Scorpius make their plan, they cross the threshold by exiting through a train window and immediately face their first task. The trolley lady confronts them on the roof of the train and transforms into a sort of monster. Once they get past her, Albus and his companion face many other tasks ranging from a fight with a bookcase to attempting to change one aspect of the past without destroying the world as they know it. Eventually, after the tests have all been tackled and mostly go wrong in some way, they discover that Delphi has been deceiving them all along and is actually evil. Upon this realization, the two teens get their parents and other adults involved through another test, and prepare for the epic battle, going back to the day when Harry’s parents were killed. They wait for Delphi to appear and once she does, she gains the upper hand over the adults.
Firstly, Father Flynn is much more modern than Sister Aloysius would like him to be. Father Flynn suggests that in the Christmas Pageant the school should, “include a secular song” (Shanley 28). The reader is now aware that Father Flynn is not a traditional priest. The reader now thinks that Father Flynn wants to modernize the church. This statement is significant because it reveals the gap in ideals between Father Flynn and Sister Aloysius. Sister Aloysius does not want modern ideas in the church because she thinks that the corrupt the good nature of the current traditions. Also, Father Flynn uses a ballpoint pen. Sister Aloysius found a ballpoint pen in Sister James’s room once and commanded Sister James to take away any ballpoint pens she found because ballpoint pens do not promote good penmanship. Because Father Flynn uses a ballpoint pen, Sister Aloysius has a hatred for Father Flynn. Finally, Father Flynn adds sugar to his tea. While this fact may seem insignificant, it is not that way at all. Sister Aloysius and Sister James do not add sugar to their tea because it is considered sinful. It is more traditional to drink tea without sugar. However, Father Flynn puts three spoons of sugar into his tea. This contemporary style to drinking tea enrages Sister Aloysius because she does not want any modern customs in her
Firstly, Alice’s betrayal centers on her husband, Arden. She betrays Arden in two ways; she does not remain faithful to him, and she plans his murder in a cunning way. Alice and Mosby’s love affair continually reveals itself to Arden, but Alice always dismantles his accusations. For example, Arden tells Alice she said Mosby’s name when
Finally, Sister Aloysius never proved that Father Flynn is guilty and accuses him without any proof. Sister James asks Sister Aloysius that if she “ever prove it [to]… [Her] self?” (57) And Sister Aloysius tells her “no” (57). Sister Aloysius never proved that Father Flynn is guilty, but she tells Sister James that she “was sure” (57) that Father Flynn is guilty of giving the altar wine to Donald Muller. She makes Father Flynn resign from the school by lying about his past. Sister Aloysius demanded the truth of what happened in the rectory and Father Flynn told her that Donald Muller was with him in the rectory to tell him not to be removed from the altar boys because Donald Muller was caught drinking the altar wine. After telling her the truth she still looks at Father Flynn as guilty.
...der further than what we have in front of us. We want to impose our opinion on everything. We want to relate to it in a way that can only be done through out imagination. So, due to this, when we are not given the flexibility, then the context no longer becomes entertaining. The viewers do not want to be told how to think. Given these points, if they are influenced to believe that Sister Aloysius is a cruel individual like the movie portrays, then at the end of the movie and book when Sister Aloysius says, “ I have doubts! I have such doubts!” they will take that as a confession from her, and be further lead to believe that the accusations against Father Flynn are false. I think John Patrick Shanley chooses specific diction to create a conflict that has no precise resolution,he wanted the reader get lost in story and enter into their own story manifested within.
Father Flynn tells Sister Aloysius, “Even if you feel certainty, it is an emotion and not a fact.” I think he means that without concrete evidence, you cannot rely on your emotions for the truth. In Father Flynn’s sermon he discusses doubt and truth. He says, “Doubt can be a bond as powerful and sustaining as certainty.” Sister Aloysius treats her doubt as the truth, and ignores any uncertainty she has. Throughout the story, Father Flynn denies and wrong doing and cites that there is no evidence of any misconduct. Doubt becomes battle with two viewpoints. When questions are asked, they are answered with more questions, leading to more
Prince Leopold is noting things he thinks makes Alyss special. The author conceded that her Beauty was undeniable and that Prince Leopold thought her a delectable puzzle creature. Although Beddor conceded that Alyss is beautiful he also writes about how mature she is according to (Beddor 98). The author implies that Alyss has matured over the years by saying “She would not allow herself to think of him. She had to be realistic the marriage would please her mother. She would do it for her mother,for her family's sake. Alyss has grown up and is now basing her decisions, not from what would make her happy, but what would make her mother happy and that is hard for her. So when Alyss says “The marriage would please her mother”(Beddor 98). She is really trying to convince herself that marrying Prince Leopold is the right thing to do. Despite the fact that, Beddor implies that Alyss is mature he also suggest that she is well-mannered. On page (90 and 97 Beddor) suggests that Alyss is well-mannered by allowing Alyss to say “Yes Mother...Yes father” and “If you think it’s best your highness”. Alyss says “Yes mother” and “Yes Father because she has just realized that she will not be returning home. Since Alyss realized that she will never return to wonderland she decides to make the most of what she got by being nice to the
Alyss’s parents are killed by Redd’s evil army, her father King Nolan was ambushed by Redd’s troops led by her best fighter the Cat and her mother Queen Genevieve was killed by Redd. Alyss was forced to flee Wonderland through the Pool of Tears. She ends up in London and meets a man named Leopold. Leopold proposes to Alyss and she says yes. Whenever she talks about Wonderland they just make fun of her. She said “I had to turn my back on Wonderland.” But on her wedding day she sees Dodge and notices the scar on his face and realizes it’s him. Redd’s troops attack and Dodge defends Alyss and they flee back to Wonderland through the Pool of Tears. She led an army to attack Redd and her forces but they didn’t know if she was capable of leading them. They were all asking “‘But can she lead
In the aftershock of the horrific event at her high school, Alys appears to be an emotional wreck. She fails to comprehend how her brother could act in such a way. Her and her family deal with reporters lined up in their driveway, and people distrusting their family, despite the fact that it was Alys’ brother who was at fault and not his family. For example, Alys’ boyfriend Ben had always been at her side no matter what. But after the tragedy and the fact that Luke had shot his little sister, Katie, Ben’s family even threatened Alys and her parents to stay away from them at all costs.
In the beginning of the novel, Alyss is characterized as immature, ingenious, and troublesome. The author portrayed Alyss as immature when she states ‘“It’s pretty good, I suppose,”