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The Doubt: A Parable By Patrick Shanley

685 Words3 Pages

Doubt Based on the evidence in Patrick Shanley’s play, The Doubt: A Parable, Father Flynn is innocent because there is no tangible proof of sexual assault and Sister Aloysius is only trying to hurt Father Flynn for being different. The whole parable is about the term, doubt. It has readers flipping back and forth between the notion of Father Flynn guilty of committing sexual assault, and not being guilty. The end of the parable offers no precise verdict in the case. It leaves its readers confused, and demanding of an answer. To begin, throughout the whole parable, no concrete evidence is found. The whole prejudgment is based off a conception created trough dialect with the sisters. As Sister Aloysius and Sister James are discussing school topics, Donald, the first African-American to attend this school, is brought up. Sister James is worried about his odd behaviors and she states: “He look frightened and … he put his head on the desk in the most peculiar way. And one other thing. I think there was alcohol on his breath” (Shanley 22). From this, the idea of Donald being raped is born, yet it was created with no distinct evidence. Secondly, Sister Aloysius even announces that she has no evidence. If …show more content…

Aloysius tells Flynn she called a nun from his past, and: “found out his prior history of infringements” (Shanley 58). This causes Father Flynn to leave the church, which shows some doubt in the case between purity and wrongdoings. This position is flawed not only because she was lying, but also the made up infringements could just be other mistakes. Again, there is no evidence that his histories of violations are sexual assaults. Instead, they might be relationships with nuns, breaking of the Church Laws, or just a speeding ticket. Because Aloysius admitted: “I was lying. I made no such call” (Shanley 58), there is no reason to believe that Father Flynn committed sexual

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(Shanley 32). After all the arguing, Father Flynn threatens Sister Aloysius and Sister James starts to believe Flynn. A common argument against this position is that Father Flynn was really trying to help Donald be successful in school. Father Flynn may have been helping the only Negro in the school. Flynn says, “That back boy needs a helping hand or he’s not going to make it here!”

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