Doubt John Patrick Shanley Analysis

There are many situations in life in which we are questioned for doing something wrong. Creating lies and trying to change the situation will temporarily hide the problem, but in the long run it will destroy a person. In the parable Doubt, the author John Patrick Shanley, creates a predicament between whether or not the priest participated in inappropriate events with the children. The parable gives reader evidence that can be interpreted as the priest being both guilty and innocent. The conversation and the interaction the priest has with students provides worthy evidence that he did participate in inappropriate events. In contrast, his reputation is very important to him and the friendship he has with Donald displays his innocence. One

When Father Flynn is talking to Sister James in the garden, he tries to convince her that he did not do anything wrong. Throughout their conversation, Sister James feels threatened. Sister James mentions to Father Flynn that she wants to believe him, but she is convinced by Sister Aloysius that he did do something wrong. Father Flynn feels obligated to have Sister James on his side, so he tells Sister James to believe him, “. . . It’s as simple as that” (Shanley 40). Sister James notices that Father Flynn appears subdued. His excuse is that he cannot sleep and occasionally has nightmares. In his nightmares, Father Flynn sees the big hand pointing a finger at him. Metaphorically, I interpret the finger as the Holy Spirit shaming Father Flynn for his filthy actions. The conversation Father Flynn has with Sister Aloysius seems very skeptical as

The interaction the priest has with Donald Muller is very concerning. He personally knows the child’s life. In fact, the parable continuously brings up the priest’s concern for clean nails. I interpret this as Father Flynn trying to hide a terrible sin. By having clean nails, Father Flynn believes his deed will be forgiven as long as no one finds out. Because Father Flynn knows Donald personally, the abusive situation Donald has with his father at home, may be the priest’s way to cover up his own abuse toward Donald. The priest oddly wants to meet with Donald in a private matter. It is not strange that the priest talked with Donald, however, when Father Flynn is questioned about the private talk, he refuses to respond. If nothing occurred, he freely would have spoke about it. After Donald came out of the meeting with Father Flynn, Sister James claimed, “There was alcohol on his breath” (Shanley 22). Father Flynn claims that Donald was caught by Mr. McGinn in the sacristy drinking altar wine. The issue then becomes how did Donald get to the wine. The abuse Donald receives at home, indicates the assurance that he would not do something as outrageous as drinking wine. Donald loved being an altar boy and knew the consequence of drinking wine without permission. He would definitely not partake in drinking wine because he did not want to lose the opportunity of being an