Doubt: A Parable In Doubt By John Patrick Shanley

Sister Aloysius quickly made up her mind that Father Flynn was guilty of doing something to Donald before consulting with him. Although, before being told about the incident, Sister Aloysius had already been keeping a close watch on the two males. She seen Father Flynn grab a child’s wrist, and suspected something would happen to Donald due to race. Sister Aloysius is uncomforted by affection so she becomes concerned after the incident between Father Flynn and the child’s wrist, which creates some suspicion toward Father Flynn. In the end, of the play she tells Sister James about how she doubts herself because there was no actual

Based on evidence in the Patrick Shanley play, Doubt: A Parable, I conclude Father Flynn is guilty because of the way the kids act around him and the way he defends himself.

In the book Doubt, Father Flynn is a character that can be interpreted as guilty or innocent. Although some may say he is innocent, I believe he is guilty. My reasons for Father Flynn being guilty are he acts suspicious with the students and he acts fearful when talking to the Sisters about the accusations they had made. My last point is that Father Flynn is innocent. One reason I believe Father Flynn is guilty, is because he participates in strange outings with the Students.

After reading “the Innocent Man” by Pamela Colloff’s who write a long journalism about Michael Morton, who was found guilty for murdering his wife Christine was sentenced for fifteen years in prison. Later founding that Michael was Innocent after reinvestigating his case, capturing DNA testing and finding new evidence was able to help prove his innocence. The theme of this essay a widow husband who seek to fight for his freedom in prison and staying connected with his son. Michal son Eric gave him a reason to have hope that they would one day reunite and his son would know for himself that he did murder his wife. The point of view of this essay although a man is falsely accuse for a crime he did not commit he is self-determined to fight.

In the parable Doubt, Father Flynn’s innocence is very debatable. Sister Aloysius suspects that he is a child molester. He denies it when confronted but there is some evidence that points to his guilt. Sister James does not want to believe his guilt but is unsure as Sister Aloysius is so determined. Father Flynn is clearly guilty for several reasons, for one because of his actions early in the story, and also because of his decision to leave St. Nicholas Catholic School.

Have you ever had a feeling of doubt? In the play Doubt by John Patrick Shanley the reader is left with a lot of doubt because Father Flynn, one of the main characters, is being persecuted for sexually harassing a young boy in his class. In this play a pastor by the name of Father Flynn is being investigated because Sister Aloysius is suspicious that he has been sexually harassing a young boy by the name of Donald in their school. Based on the evidence in Patrick Shanley’s play, Doubt: A Parable, I conclude that Father Flynn is not guilty, because Sister A does not like Flynn and Sister A doubts all of her wrong doings after all of this commotion. There are also a lot of small reasons why he should be not guilty.

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.

When one’s unquestioned reputation is being attacked one often feels obligated to make a plan to cover up accused actions to save their reputation. When Sister Aloysius first accuses Father Flynn of having an inappropriate relationship with Donald Muller he responds, “Happened? Nothing happened. I had a talk with the boy.” (32). Finally, Father Flynn says he did have some interaction with Donald after denying it for a while, but he still clearly states nothing happened. Father Flynn ends the conversation by saying, “I don’t wish to continue this conversation at all further. And if

On the other hand, Father Flynn can be seen as innocent for a limited measure of logical reasonings. Father Flynn is a very generous man and this can give examples as why one may see him innocent. Flynn is a couch for the basketball team and devotes a lot of effort and time into showing kids how to play the sport. Some people in town talk highly of him as well: “Oh, he's a brilliant man. What a speaker!” (Shanley 14). Flynn has people there to back him up and respect him. If you are guilty, you would not have people to back you up in your tight situations. Not to mention, he also could be seen innocent because his accuser is Sister Aloysius. Aloysius

There are many ways to decide what makes a man guilty. In an ethical sense, there is more to guilt than just committing the crime. In Charles Brockden Browns’ Wieland, the reader is presented with a moral dilemma: is Theodore Wieland guilty of murdering his wife and children, even though he claims that the command came from God, or is Carwin guilty because of his history of using persuasive voices, even though his role in the Wieland family’s murder is questionable? To answer these questions, one must consider what determines guilt, such as responsibility, motives, consequences, and the act itself. No matter which view is taken on what determines a man’s guilt, it can be concluded that

This is a reasonable piece of evidence for Father Flynn being guilty, but he left the parish because he was fed up with being accused of wrongdoing when he did nothing wrong. Consequently, he left the parish to start a new life at a new parish. Another counterargument to my claim is that he had a secluded past which automatically makes him guilty, but Sister Aloysius was not going to stop her search to find him guilty until she found him something, so he took the liberty to leave. While many may say that his actions were cowardly, I say that it was noble because he knew that there was no way to change Sister Aloysious’ mind about

Miller and became enraged. He barged into the Sister’s office and cornered her looking for answers. He asked why she was investigating him and asking around about him. That’s when the Sister explained how she had spoken to Flynn’s last church and found out he had been fired from his last three positions. Flynn had been suspected of touching boys at his last church and was let go. Flynn finally gave in to Sister Aloysius’s persistence and decided to resign. Instead of coming clean about what he had done to poor Donald, he decided to resign and keep the secret to himself. Sister Aloysuis took that as an admission of

It is never proven if Flynn has actually committed any crime, but Aloysius is determined to prove that she is right. She bases a lot of her accusation on her experience in the past with a similar situation.

In the novel, Shanley reveals the differences between the characters, of Sister Aloysius who is the stern traditionalist, the complete opposite of Father Flynn who is a very fun, kind, and a progressive person. Sister Aloysius thinks that Father Flynn’s ways of living life are very strange and is appalled by his habits, because she feels very nervous and threatened that Father Flynn will take over the church, and tradition will leave the system. Sister Aloysius likes to have her own specific list of beliefs, and traditions, so when she sees Father Flynn’s long fingernails, and the amount of sugars he puts in his tea, she becomes outraged, shocked, and appalled by the ways that he enjoys living his life. Sister Aloysius says: “Your fingernails.” Father Flynn replies

In the novel Captain Steerforths is a man that is trustworthy and clean. The position of being Captain of the ship entitles him to power, this makes Gilbert Pinfold question the events he is hearing from his cabinet. After a quiet night in his bunk Mr. Pinfold is startled when he hears the Captain beneath him committing a murder. The following day he finds it hard to be around him being the only one who is aware of the occurrence, “ Knowing what he did of Captain Steerforths character, Mr. Pinfold found it rather repugnant to sit at the table with him.” (60) though Mr. Pinfold thought the Captain was guilty of murder he still sat at his table with the others. The murder wasn't enough for Mr. Pinfold to not keep his spot at this table of a higher class. Gilbert Pinfold views the Captain as a