Symbolism In The Movie Doubt

“Somebody being shot in front of you, or you yourself shooting somebody became just like drinking a glass of water.” (Ishmael Beah). “A Long Way Gone” was written by Ishmael Beah and published in 2007. It is a written masterpiece that captivates its readers by telling us his story, a former child soldier. In this he narrates the pain, the suffering and the fear that he endured for three years, literally fighting for his life against the rebels that caused all the chaos and the mayhem. Reading the book was like a rollercoaster ride of emotions and I am going to share what I believe are the three most important scenes. This include Ishmael hiding and surviving from the rebels, Ishmael transitioning and being trained into a child soldier, and Ishmael’s recovery and rehabilitation.

When first writing in my journal I struggled with how deep to go with my discussion questions and what I should be asking my classmates. I feel that I have struggled with this because I lack confidence on what I am trying to prove or say in my writing. When reading in the past I have never pushed myself to question the author’s purpose or ask questions that invoke much thought. Up to this point in the year writing in my journal as well as annotating in the text, has helped my reading and writing immensely. My journal this year mostly contains quotes from texts and points from in class discussions that I felt were useful to understanding the novel and its purpose. I do not journal as much as

Sister James believes that Father Flynn is innocent and that he is protecting Donald. She argues that Sister Aloysius just doesn’t like Father Flynn: “You just don’t like him … And you’re letting that convince you of something terrible!” (Shanley 35). Sister James thinks that Father Flynn is being a friend to Donald and that he is being truthful about his innocence. She also thinks that Sister Aloysius is being mean and doesn’t like Father Flynn for the way he runs the school. But in fact, Father Flynn did have a private conversation with Donald that did involve alcohol. Father Flynn even admits to Donald having alcohol: “Mr. McGinn caught him in the sacristy drinking altar wine. When I found out, I sent for him” (Shanley 33). Father Flynn admits to meeting with Donald and proceeds to make up a story, knowing that Donald won’t tell on him. I believe that Father Flynn manipulates the situation with Donald to take advantage of the young boy. In my opinion, Father Flynn’s behavior is strange and he leaves the church to run from Sister’s Aloysius’

First off, Father Flynn is being victimized by the fixated principal Sister Aloysius. She accuses him of inappropriately having relations with a child. Every action Father Flynn makes, Sister Aloysius seems to have a certain reprisal for his decision. Sister James, the history teacher for the 8th graders realizes that Sister Aloysius is adjudging Father Flynn’s opinions and calls her out on it:

Sister Aloysius and Sister James talk to Father Flynn who soon becomes very defensive. Father Flynn was asked about why he and Donald had a secret meeting after gym class. Flynn states, “It was a private matter.” This statement is concerning in the Sister’s eyes, because what can a private meeting be about with a 12 year old boy. This exemplifies that Father Flynn has something to hide because why would he hide the fact that a 12 year old kid drank he church wine from the principal. Father Flynn also tries to stop and changer direction in his conversation with the Sisters. If Flynn had nothing to hide he should have just told the Sisters the truth. Flynn stands and tells the Sisters that he does not wish to continue the conversation when in my opinion; he should try to clear his name here and now. I believe whether or not he abused the boys in the Nicholas school, he definitely had a secret to hide. Sister Aloysius lied and told Father Flynn that she had called his last parish and she spoke to one of the nuns. Flynn states that Sister Aloysius should have spoken to the pastor not the nuns in his last parish. Why does it seem like he doesn’t want Sister Aloysius to talk to the nuns? Did he really have a secret? It makes me very suspicious when he says, “You have no right to go rummaging through my past!” (Shanley 53) If you truly have nothing to hide then you should be fine with

Father Flynn works very hard to defend himself when he was getting accused. Sister Aloysius and Sister James called Father Flynn for a meeting about the winter pageant, but they have an underlying cause. Sister Aloysius brings up the suspicions she has about his relationship with Donald Muller. Father Flynn gets very offended and defensive of his actions to the sisters. He goes on about how he is different when it comes to discipline compared to the iron fist of Sister Aloysius. He seems almost too focused on coming up with excuses for why he is abnormally close with Donald. His actions make him seem very skeptical about his intentions and actions in regards to Donald Muller. Father Flynn then goes and talks to Sister James separately to talk with her about the accusations. By talking to Sister James alone, Father Flynn not only broke the rules but also seems suspicious. Father Flynn seems suspicious by talking to Sister James due to him taking time out of his day to go and try to convince her of his innocence. During the conversation between Father Flynn and Sister James, Father Flynn seems to threaten Sister James in a way: “You might lose your place as well” (Shanley 40). Father Flynn goes out of his way to convince Sister James of his innocence, which is very odd behavior considering she is at a lower position than himself. Father Flynn also goes and talks to Sister Aloysius against the

In the past 5 years, He has changed parishes 3 times. He never told anyone why he changed parishes so much. In one of his sermons he expresses that, “ I’m sick. No one knows I’ve lost my last real friend. I’ve done something wrong.” (Shanley 6). Father tells the congregation that he has done something wrong but he does not tell anyone what he did. This sermon is right before Sister James finds out about Flynn and Donald’s relationship. When Sister James and Sister Aloysius confront the situation to Father Flynn, He denies everything. He says, “It was a private matter.” (Shanley 32). After all the arguing, Father Flynn threatens Sister Aloysius and Sister James starts to believe Flynn.

Estrella appears to be a child from a different country who has moved with her family to

Based on the evidence in Patrick Shanley’s play, Doubt: A Parable, I conclude Father Flynn is guilty because of his abrupt leaving and his demeanor.

Sister Aloysius spends her entire time trying to prove Father Flynn guilty where she also tries to persuade Sister James into thinking he is guilty too. She criticizes Father Flynn for his nails, the amount of sugar he takes, and his request for “Frosty the Snowman”. Aloysius sounds certain throughout the play that he is sinful, but changes her mind at the end: "I have doubts! I have such doubts!" (Shanley 58). Sister Aloysius, who doubts herself, consequently, proves his innocence. Confessing that she has doubts, significantly contradicts her claims of him being guilty of sexual abuse. However, when gaining all the facts, Father Flynn leaves the church once again because of a promotion making it his fourth parish. The substantial evidence verifying Flynn is guilty is when he leaves: "His resignation was his confession" (Shanley 58). Once again moving to another church, he confirms that he is guilty of sinning and runs away to avoid any consequences. Father Flynn accepts the promotion right away before the situation gets even more out of hand leaving with a clean slate. Nonetheless, I believe that Father Flynn is indeed guilty taking into account all the evidence the author

It might seem that Sister James and Sister Aloysius have explored different experiences that have showed their characters. The first experience shows compassion and concern, but the second experience gives hardness and countless doubts. In fact, it is because of her that we, the public, end up thinking that she was right because the mystery all left us in doubt. The doubt that sister Aloysius do not have pieces of evidence makes the play very

When Father Flynn confronts Sister Aloysius one on one about the topic he finally figures out what had started Sister to think this way of him: “On the first day of the school year, I saw you touch William London’s wrist. And I saw him pull away.” [Father Flynn responded] “That’s all?” [and Sister Aloysius confessed] “That was all” (Shanley 52). Towards the end of the conversation between the two it starts to seem that Sister Aloysius is realizing how crazy it sounds of what she is accusing him of based on this sole fact that she saw. The fact that she sounds defeated not only through the way a person can read it but also how in the film when she said the last line she sounded defeated. It started to grow when Sister James told Sister Aloysius that she believed that Father Flynn was innocent after he was able to provide the reason he wanted to keep it a secret, and Sister Aloysius responded by saying: “I’ll bring him down. With or without your help” (Shanley 35). With this one simple sentence you can see that Sister Aloysius is not willing to stop at anything in order to get Father Flynn kicked out of the church. With all of the evidence pointing to his innocence and every person agreeing with Sister James; Sister Aloysius is still as stubborn as a bull in order to prove him guilty on her own. Even when Mrs. Muller says that she

Sister Aloysius thinks there is a inappropriate relationship going on with Father Flynn and Donald Muller; The first black boy at St. Nicholas. Donald is most defiantly the “black sheep” of St. Nicholas. Donald gets special attention, good and bad. Sister Aloysius attacks the most innocent of actions saying, ”On the first day of the school year, I saw you touch William London’s wrist. And i saw him pull away.”(Shanley 52) which

Sister Aloysius uses a black and white and non sequitur fallacy to show that school is a place that needs authority. Aloysius attempted to try to show that she outranks Sister James. She does not like ball point pens and continues to enforce their ban. Scavenging through sister James classroom, Aloysius found a ball point pen and told James that she did not want the students "writing like monkeys." They would result in writing like monkeys because it "lead to laziness." This statement is an a non sequitur fallacy. It is very clear that she has no logic or evidence to support her conclusion that it will lead to laziness. Her authority can not be trusted with unreasonable, fallacious rules, and statements. She gets away with these flawed arguments

Sister Aloysius is reacting to Father Flynn sermon and responding to the close relationship between Father Flynn and Donald Miller that was informed to her from Sister James observations. As noted in the movie Sister Aloysius first suspects Father Flynn after his sermon in regards to doubt. The next dinner she is among the other nuns she states, “This past Sunday what did you think that sermon was about?” She questions Sister James. Sister James is stunned of the question and responds by stating, “He was talking about doubt.” Then Sister Aloysius states, “All be alert I am concerned about matters in St. Nicholas school.” Sister James informs Sister Aloysius of her observation of the relationship between Father Flynn and Donald. When Sister