Analysis Of Doubt By John Patrick Shanley

In the book “Nothing But the Truth”, a young adult fiction novel written by Avi. In “Nothing But the Truth”, Philip Malloy, the main character, begins humming during the morning announcements when the National Anthem was played. Everyone thought that he was trying to create a disturbance but Philip said that he was trying to be Patriotic. A few days later, he got suspended. Philip’s story was heard from all over the country several days later. All of Philip’s friends and teachers are trying to prove him wrong and the country thanking him for something he lied about. So to avoid the mess, Philip switched to a private school. But when the Nation Anthem played there, a teacher asked him to sing but Philip said that he doesn’t know the words. Throughout the entire book, Philip was treated fairly for many reasons. First, for how Philip was

Father Flynn is guilty because of his actions early on in the story. The very beginning of the parable opens with Father Flynn giving a sermon on doubt. In the sermon, he states: “No one knows I’ve done something wrong” (Shanley 6). This is most clearly foreshadowing and a statement because

Sister Aloysius does not have any evidence yet she is certain that Father Flynn is guilty. Shanley is illustrating that one does not need evidence to be confident about a given claim. In this way, Shanley illustrates through the concept of doubt that a person can be right about a given suspicion without any proof.

The Nichols family was in a completely different state once the news broke that McCormick was not guilty. Jeannie’s sister was led sobbing from the courthouse, and Jeannie’s father had some words to say once the news broke. “I don’t see how anybody with any common sense can say McCormick didn’t do it,” Nichols father stated after the trial. A cousin and friend of the family also stated, “We know things that were not

The play Doubt written by John Patrick Shanley, revolves around the accusation that Sister Aloysius Beauvier makes toward Father Flynn. Father Flynn is accused of sexually abusing a student named Donald Muller. These accusations are fueled by Sister Aloysius dislike toward Father Flynn. Their different beliefs clash with each other since Father Flynn is open minded, and liberal while Sister Aloysius is the exact opposite, old school and conservative. All of these different beliefs and accusations lead about to a struggle power throughout the play.

“What do you do when you’re not sure...” so begins Father Flynn’s sermon near the beginning of the play Doubt. Father Flynn delivers his sermon to the people of St. Nicholas Catholic church in the Bronx in the year following President Kennedy’s assassination. His sermon builds upon a story of a sailor lost at sea who has doubts about the course he has set and his doubt becomes the metaphor for the community who has lost its certainty. So, in other words, when someone loses certainty they doubt about someone or something and want to belief the uncertain is true. To do so they make anything in their power to find out that their doubt is a belief even if it means to lie.

While facing the death penalty for his criticism of Greek gods, ancient philosopher Socrates once said “An unexamined life is not worth living”. Socrates’ belief in the necessity of scrutinizing life can be found throughout history, in the form of philosophy. In his novel Grendel, author John Gardner depicts the journey of the main character Grendel through a variety of philosophical beliefs. Grendel frequently examines the philosophies he comes across, in order to determine what would be most practical in his life. Through his interactions with other characters, Grendel is exposed to the philosophies of solipsism, sophism, and nihilism, and ultimately rejects the former two as preposterous and destructive while accepting the latter due to

Most adults would do anything to protect a child. Sister Aloysius did everything she could to make sure Father Flynn would not hurt anymore child. In the play Doubt: a Parable by John Patrick Shanley, Father Flynn, a priest at St. Nicholas, a Catholic church and school in the Bronx, New York, 1964 is questioned whether or not he has been in an inappropriate relationship with an 8th grade colored kid named Donald Mueller. One of the nuns at the school, Sister James tells the principle of the school, Sister Aloysius, her suspicions of the relationship between Father Flynn and Donald and that she smelt wine in his breath. Sister Aloysius questions the priest of the relationship but he denies it and tells her Donald, who was also an altar boy who had access to wine, took some and the priest told no one because he wanted to keep Donald safe. Sister Aloysius meets with Donald’s mother to inform her of the situation but she overlooks it because she needs him to finish 8th grade at the school and Father Flynn is the only one who is friendly to Donald. Father Flynn and Sister Aloysius meet again and she threatens Father Flynn to confess because of information she got from a nun at his last parish. Father Flynn still denies the relationship but he then goes to a different school to be a priest. Based on the evidence in Patrick Shanley’s play, Doubt: A Parable, I conclude Father Flynn is guilty based on his behavior and other evidence against him.

It is difficult to make the decision if Father Flynn is innocent or guilty. In John Patrick Shanley’s Doubt; a parable, he eclipses the truth very well. The scenes about the toy, the camping trip and the undershirt cause much confusion; causing the audience to go back and forth in their minds and doubt Father Flynn. Law says that people are innocent until proven guilty although; realistically, everyone knows that people are guilty until proven innocent. It is very possible that Father Fynn is only helping Donald, because he is less fortunate than the other students at his school; and it is also very possible that he is hurting the child by molesting him. The decision is left to the audience as the jury.

Through these arguments it is often thought of that Father Flynn is guilty. A reason as to why Father Flynn could be guilty is that he spends a lot of time with Donald Muller. For example, Father Flynn held a special meeting with Donald in the rectory and is often seen walking around the grounds with him as well. This is something that is noticed by many, especially Sister Aloysius. While Sister Aloysius is meeting with Father Flynn she states, “You yourself singled the boy out for special attention. You held a private meeting with him at the rectory” (Shanley 31). In this quote it is clear that Father Flynn has a relationship with Donald Muller that is more than just a mentor. While reading this one can understand that Father Flynn pays attention to Donald Muller to the point of even having a private meeting with him, which is suspicious. However, this position is flawed because Father Flynn is just looking out for Donald due to the fact that Donald sticks out like a sore thumb. Furthermore, Donald is bullied at school because he is different. Donald is bullied, beat on by his father, and the only person he really has there for him is Father Flynn. While meeting with Sister Aloysius, Mrs. Muller acknowledges Father Flynn’s behavior and states, “You know, Father Flynn, Father Flynn. He looks up to him. The man gives him his time, which is what that boy needs. He needs that”

In addition to this, there was evidence that claims against Frank were false, but this information never surfaced to the public. Contrary to public belief, Corinthia Hall, an employee of the Pencil Factory, claimed that Frank’s conduct toward female employees was irreproachable. In addition to this, no one contradicted any of Frank’s claims of his whereabouts on the day of the murder.

One character in particular, represents Miller’s view of individuality and is seen as a hero figure because he chooses to defend his individuality. This play shows one man, John Proctor, in his struggle to keep his pride and name from being destroyed with lies, deceit and accusations of consorting with the devil. Proctor tries to expose Abigail and the girl’s deceit but he is punished for it because children were thought of as the voice of god and they were innocent. When the trial was brought in front of the court officials, Deputy Governor Danforth feared that he will lose power therefore weakens the testimony from the girls which broke the power of theocracy in Massachusetts.

What is so bad about trying to protect a person and being there for a person? One reason to prove his innocence is because he was sticking out for Donald Muller. As well, he stood out for the other children and taught them proper etiquette and how to play basketball. One way that Fr. Flynn helped was Donald was when he went to lengths to protect his secret when he drank alcohol. Fr. Flynn said, “After mass Mr. McGinn caught him in the sacristy drinking altar wine. When I found out, I sent for him. There were tears. He begged not to be removed from the altar boys” (Shanley 33-34). Fr. Flynn may not have done the right thing by trying to cover up but he was trying to help out a boy who really didn’t have much going for him in school. He helped him recover and more than likely changed the way Donald will act in the future. Fr. Flynn also protected Donald as well as the other boys.

The Will to Believe is a lecture that was presented by William James in 1896, it specifically defends that one can choose to believe in a religion without prior evidence of its truth. William James was a well-distinguished philosopher as well as a psychologist and a physician. He with a few other philosophers like Charles sanders Pierce and John Dewey were fundamental in establishing modern philosophy in America and are thought to be the founding fathers of pragmatism.

The accusations against him, brought by Briony Tallis, held him responsible for the violation of her cousin Lola. Robbie reflects on this, as Briony plans to refute her statement to the police, “The intricacies were lost to him, the urgency had died. Briony would change her evidence, she would rewrite the past so that the guilty became the innocent. But what was guilt these days? It was cheap. Everyone was guilty, and no one was. No one would be redeemed by a change of evidence, for there weren’t enough people… to…gather in the facts.” (188) Robbie’s loss of security and his future took away the childlike carefreeness he displayed before the accusation. Briony’s conscience weighs heavily on her as she moves from a naïve implication to the realization of the consequences.