Johnny Shanley Doubt Summary

Stephen Mallatratt’s adaption to play of “The Woman in Black” portrays the story of a man named Mister Kipps, who is a solicitor who has been sent to an abandoned home in the East of the country in order to collect the legal papers of a recently deceased woman. However, the audience learns that the woman living in Ell Marsh House was haunted by a spirit known as The Woman in Black. Being based in the turn of the previous century, the play tackles the themes of how the fear of the unknown can transform a man of science into a man fearful of the dark and every single creek; and how the concept of revenge can cause an embittered woman to seek vengeance and claim the thing she lost: Children. The play is set during the time where superstition was surpassed by science and where a rational explanation was being required for how everything occurs but how science can be destroyed by the unexplainable…

A person’s doubts can cloud their judgment on certain tasks at hand. On the other hand, a person’s certainty can blind someone from the truth. The argument ofDoubt versus Certainty is relevant today in the sense that it is the main argument for and against religion. The theory of doubt can also be used in literary works for a number of reasons. In John Patrick Shanley’s movie/play Doubt, the theme of “certainty versus doubt” is shown throughout the story to signify the importance of characterization and to symbolize the importance that a person must be cautious of the people around them.

Working Thesis: In “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, O’Connor uses the corrupt, manipulative character of the grandmother, as well as the story’s plot and theme in order to emphasize the flaws of the church and the need for grace.

No one really wins in the power struggle. Even though both Father Flynn and Sister Aloysius seemed to gain the upper hand on one another, they ended up in a stalemate. Sister Aloysius used lies to get rid of Father Flynn. She tries to justify her actions and convince herself that she did the right thing but at the end of the day there will always be a sense of doubt and uncertainty in the back of her mind. Father Flynn may have gotten a promotion and a new position, but still had his reputation tarnished and had to leave a school in which he enjoyed working at. The difference in beliefs between both Father Flynn and Sister Aloysius led to this conflict. If both Father Flynn and Sister Aloysius were both either conservatives or liberals, they may have not even clashed in the first place and none of these evens might have

“Doubt can be a bond as powerful and sustaining as certainty.” Based upon a few indirect details and various intuition, the ultra-strict, Sister Aloysius Beauvier believes that one of the priests, Father Flynn, at the St. Nicholas Catholic Church and School has been molesting a twelve-year-old boy named Donald Muller, the school 's only African American student. To help her, Sister Aloysius recruits a young and naive nun, Sister James, to assist her in monitoring the suspicious yet charismatic Father Flynn. She also addresses her concerns to Donald 's mother, who surprisingly is not horrified or even shocked by the allegations. She is more concerned about her son getting through high school and avoiding a beating from his dad instead of what her son is going through at school. Close to the ending of the play

One person that causes all the trouble is Alyss’ Aunt Redd. Alyss never met Redd but she knew she was very unpleasant. “She had never met her Aunt Redd, but she heard stories about the woman for as long as she could

This is very funny because we can see that Jack is also lying about his brother, but he is judging Algernon as if he is a very honest person.

Algernon is demonstrated as a comical character. He is also shown to be a liar and this is seen when he tells Lady Bracknell that there were “no cucumbers in the market” to make the cucumber sandwiches; when he ate them all. He is also very open with women and engages is physical contact before permission from Cecily’s guardian, Jack. Algernon also meets Cecily in a wrong manner as he runs off to Jack’s country house uninvited; which isn’t reflective of an Ideal Victorian man at all.

In perhaps the greatest addition to the credibility of Sister Aloysius, Shanley ascribes dialogues to her that states, “When you take a step to address wrongdoing, you are taking a step away from God” (20). In this, Aloysius appears to accept that chasing after someone who does wrong can be wrong in and of itself. She acknowledges the idea that fixing a problem can occasionally only be accomplished by working outside of the parameters set as morally or ethically good. She understands that by going after Father Flynn, she may sin. However, she proceeds anyways. She continues to attempt to protect the boys of her school and bring Father Flynn to the justice she believes he should be brought to. Through these words, she shows she is more than willing to put herself in harm’s way in order to protect her students. Self-sacrifice is oft times viewed in light of good moral standing. Through having Aloysius be

In 1971, Cathy Rush had determination to make the Immaculata College’s basketball team a success. She didn’t care about the pay or the low budget at the small school, but she knew she had a job to complete. Breaking the “norm” of being a housewife at home, she wanted to be a basketball coach, and sought out a job at a small all-girls Catholic college. Even though she wasn’t Catholic, she treated every girl with reverence. Cathy, along with Sister Sunday, a young nun at Immaculata College who became the assistant of the basketball team, made the basketball team a smashing success, and even helped with the financial problems at the Immaculata College.

The character of the mother executes the tell-tale signs of counterfeit happiness when she tells the murderous story of the narrator’s father’s brother. “‘Oh honey,’ she said, ‘there’s a lot that you don’t know. But you are going to find out’” (36).

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

When presented with a conflicting and troubling scenario, people often feel apprehensive towards searching for a solution. There is a certain sensation that one experiences when there is a sense of uncertainty or a lack of conviction. It feels as if there was a rock sitting in the stomach, weighing it down. The rock of uncertainty would often shift and move, creating a ripple effect throughout the body. In the mind, thoughts and vivid ideas play in a continuous motion of fear, anger, relief, and suspicion. These intense feelings from that rock often subside once a solution to the issue is found. However, the rock of uncertainty is still embedded in the walls of the stomach. That feeling of the lack of conviction does not completely disappear.

In “How I learned to Drive”, Uncle Peck is not the only repugnant character in the play. Li'l Bit's relatives, including her mother, are ignore any indications of a lurking sexual predator. Her grandfather is bluntly misogynistic. The worst part is that Uncle Peck's wife Mary, Li'l Bit's aunt, is aware of her husband's incestuous affair, but does nothing to deter him (Vogel 1601). In “Doubt”, the St. Nicholas Catholic Church and school is like a family who (besides Sister Aloysius) does nothing to investigate Father Flynn over the accusations of child molestation. The church’s response to the allegations was to promote Father Flynn by sending him to another church (Shanley 1712). Donald's mother was not appalled or even slightly stunned by the allegations. She was more concerned about Donald getting into a good high school and protecting him from his dad’s physical abuse (Shanley 1709). Li’l Bit’s mother knew that Uncle Peck was more than a little attentive, and yet, allowed her to continue to see him anyway (Vogel 1606). In both plays, the families each had a hand in the destruction of a child’s

However, Father Flynn is very close to the monsignor whom could easily give father Flynn a promotion and hide any trace of wrong doings of his past. Perhaps Father Flynn was just trying to help Donald Muller in any way he can, because of his abusive dad and that he is different than everyone else at school. After Sister Aloysius heard news of Father Flynn’s promotion, she now has doubts, but doubts about what? The play ends without a clear answer and leaves viewers with more