Doubt Play Conflict

Most people have had some sort of conflict affect their lives at least once. That conflict could alter a person’s views of the world around them. In the play Doubt by John Patrick Shanley, conflict is used to grasp the reader’s emotions and cause the reader to rethink their preconceived notions about the characters in the play. Doubt takes place in 1964 in St. Nicholas, which is a school and Catholic Church in New York. The play focuses on a priest named Father Brendan Flynn and a nun named Sister Aloysius Beauvier. The conflict highlighted in this play is between these two characters. After Father Flynn starts taking an African American student under his wing, named Donald Muller, Sister Aloysius suspects Father Flynn is up to no good. She

believes that Father Flynn made advances on Donald since he is more or less helpless in his school. Sister Aloysius’s investigation into the horrible actions of Father Flynn involves another nun and teacher named Sister James. Within this investigation, both sides of the argument provide evidence to support whether Father Flynn is innocent or guilty. In the end of the story, Father Flynn transfers to another parish because Sister Aloysius claims that he had been to three parishes in five years. Because of the evidence presented in the play, Flynn is innocent because he was trying to help out Donald Muller and Sister Aloysius has a grudge on Father Flynn.
Donald Muller is the first African American student in St. Nicholas. Because of this, his fellow students did not treat him too kindly. So, Father Flynn took Donald under his wing and tried to help him get through school. First of all, Father Flynn helps out Donald by having him be an alter boy. Being an alter boy is a delight to Donald because he can get involved in the church and feel like he matters in school. Donald Muller loves being an alter boy because when his position was about to be taken away from him, he “begged not to be removed from the alter boys” (Shanley 34). The reader is aware from here on out that Donald loved his position as an alter boy. Also, it is not likely that Donald would be sad to be removed from the alter boys if Father Flynn had made advances on him. Being an alter boy helps Donald out by making Donald appear as if he is important to his father. Donald’s father beats him frequently for being inadequate, so if Donald has a job, then he will appear more meaningful to his father. Finally, being an alter boy also helps out Donald because it shows the other children at the school that Donald is no different from them. It must be very difficult to Donald to be the only African American student at St. Nicholas. So, in order for Father Flynn to make Donald appear more normal, he made Donald into an alter boy just to help Donald be more accepted in school. Donald’s love for being an alter boy is proof that Father Flynn is innocent and that he was only taking Donald under his wing. Also, Father Flynn helps Donald out by talking to him privately in the rectory. While this idea is regarded by Sister Aloysius as being proof that Father Flynn is guilty, this simply is not the case. Because Father Flynn has one-on-on chats with Donald, it can boost Donald’s morale in school. If Donald has a problem, he can resolve it with Father Flynn. Also, the rectory is where preparation for being an alter boy takes place, so the meetings with Father Flynn could just be for helping Donald out with his job. Finally, the rectory is where Father Flynn took Donald to tell him that he was fired from his job as an alter boy because, “Mr. McGinn caught him [Donald] drinking alter wine” (Shanley 33). The reader is now aware that the reason that Donald was brought to the rectory alone was for Father Flynn to tell Donald that he could not be an alter boy any more. Father Flynn is innocent because he did not do any wrongdoing in the rectory; he was only telling Donald that he could not be an alter boy any more. Because Father Flynn was helping Donald get through school, Father Flynn is clearly innocent.
Father Flynn is also innocent because Sister Aloysius has a grudge on Father Flynn and is trying to remove him from his position.

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

church.
Sister Aloysius also has a grudge on Father Flynn because he is higher on the church hierarchy than herself. Firstly, Sister Aloysius expressed her distaste for the system because she believes it could dilute the truth. She would need to report her suspicions to Monsignor Benedict, and she states, “The man’s (Monsignor Benedict) guileless” (Shanley 22). The reader is now aware that Sister Aloysius does not trust her superior because she believes that his will only believe his superiors. Sister Aloysius’s statement is significant because it reveals her distrust towards the catholic hierarchy. Also, Sister Aloysius does not use the appropriate system of communication towards Father Flynn in the end of the play. Instead to holding a meeting with another nun, who is necessary to talk with a priest, Sister Aloysius talks to Father Flynn alone. This further reveals Sister Aloysius’s grudge towards Father Flynn because she is unwilling to talk to him respectfully. Finally, Sister Aloysius has a grudge on Father Flynn because the hierarchy system puts only men in charge on the church. Sister Aloysius shows her power in the school and displays the traits needed to run an organization. However, because she is a woman, she is unable to climb the catholic hierarchy because she is a woman. She could be simply jealous of Father Flynn and his position above her. Because of Sister Aloysius’s grudge on Father Flynn, Father Flynn is obviously innocent.
On the opposite side of this argument is the idea that Father Flynn is guilty. One piece of evidence supporting this claim is that Father Flynn left St. Nicholas in the end of the play. However, this is not a substantial piece of evidence because, “I [Sister Aloysius] was lying. I [Sister Aloysius] made no such call” (Shanley 58). The reader is suddenly thrown the fact that Sister Aloysius lied to Father Flynn about Father Flynn’s past. This statement by Sister Aloysius provides evidence against the idea that Father Flynn is guilty because she lied about her claims against Father Flynn. It is most likely that Father Flynn left St Nicholas to escape the constant torment by Sister Aloysius. Another claim that supports Father Flynn being guilty is the talk between Sister Aloysius and Mrs. Muller, Donald’s mother. In the talk that these two women have, Sister Aloysius practically forces Mrs. Muller to confess Donald has had an unnatural relationship with Father Flynn. Sister Aloysius states, “I [Sister Aloysius] can’t be certain” (Shanley 45). The reader is now aware that Sister Aloysius has no evidence to back up her claim against Father Flynn. Sister Aloysius’s statement is significant because it uncovers her uncertainty behind her idea that Father Flynn is guilty. In this conversation between Mrs. Muller and Sister Aloysius, Mrs. Muller also supports the idea that Father Flynn is innocent because all Donald talks about to Mrs. Muller is how Donald loves Father Flynn. So, despite the talk between Sister Aloysius and Mrs. Muller bringing up some troubling facts, these two key ideas in the conversation completely debunk the idea that Father Flynn is guilty. The idea that Father Flynn is guilty can be easily disproven by these two counterclaims.
From all of the evidence above, it is clear that Father Flynn is innocent due to two important facts. These facts are Father Flynn was trying to help Donald fit in and Sister Aloysius has a grudge on Father Flynn. So, while any person is looking through a conflict between two people and that person is trying to form an opinion on the matter, that person should clearly look through all of the evidence first to make their final decision on the matter. In the end, this decision could be the decision that proves a person’s innocence.