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Who Is Father Flynn In Patrick Shanley's Doubt: A Parable

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Based on the evidence in Patrick Shanley’s play, Doubt: A Parable, I conclude Father Flynn is guilty because of his abrupt leaving and his demeanor. In the play, Father Flynn does not seem suspicious in the very beginning, but along the play, there are little bits of evidence that lead me to believe that Father Flynn is in fact guilty. Sister Aloysius accuses Father Flynn of child molesting the new black kid Donald Muller because some of Father Flynn’s actions are questioning. Sister James explains the evidence that leads Sister Aloysius to believe her own story: “No. It was his expression. He looked frightened and…I think there was alcohol on his breath. There was alcohol on his breath” (Shanley 22). Donald is an altar boy and loves it and …show more content…

This is because Donald is the first and only black kid in the school and he is even possibly gay. This already makes Donald an outcast at school and it would be hard for him to tell someone about Father Flynn. Even Donald’s home life is a struggle: “Well, maybe some… That’s why his father beat him up. Not the wine. He beat Donald for being what he is” (Shanley 44). Donald’s father beats him at home and his mother does not seem to worry that much about it. This can tie back to the fact that Donald feels like an outcast because even at home his dad does not accept him. Sister Aloysius knows that St. Nicholas is Father Flynn’s third parish and school and that is very strange. When Sister Aloysius says that she called Father Flynn’s previous parish, Father Flynn gets irritable. If the accusations were not true, there is no reason that Father Flynn should be so nervous. Then we come to find out that Sister Aloysius did not actually call the parish: “I was lying. I made no such call” (Shanley 58). This creates more suspicion around Father Flynn because if he were innocent, he would have no explanation for his leaving. Even though I believe Father Flynn is guilty, the case for Father Flynn’s innocence is also

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He was the only colored kid in school, which can be hard to make friends. Donald was also caught drinking wine from the altar and Father Flynn tried to keep that a secret between those too. But now that the boy’s secret is out, I’m going to have to remove him from the altar boys. Which I think is too bad.

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First off, Father Flynn is being victimized by the fixated principal Sister Aloysius. She accuses him of inappropriately having relations with a child. Every action Father Flynn makes, Sister Aloysius seems to have a certain reprisal for his decision. Sister James, the history teacher for the 8th graders realizes that Sister Aloysius is adjudging Father Flynn’s opinions and calls her out on it: You just don’t like him!

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Throughout John Patrick Shanley’s play Doubt, Sister Aloysius tries to expose the truth about how Father Flynn could be having an inappropriate relationship with Donald Muller. Sister Aloysius becomes aware of this possibly inappropriate relationship after Sister James tells Sister Aloysius that Father Flynn had a private meeting with Donald. Then, Sister Aloysius talks to many people to see if her speculations are true, and by doing that, she hopes that the truth will cause Father Flynn to leave St. Nicholas. After reading the play Doubt, I believe that Father Flynn is having an inappropriate relationship with Donald Muller because of Father Flynn’s behaviors and Sister Aloysius’ conversations with many

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This phrase that Father Flynn states in his sermon is referring back to how he feels towards Sister Aloysius. Her gossip had scared Father Flynn to a point where he would avoid Donald Muller. Because of what Sister Aloysius started gossiping Father Flynn feared that he would only make things worse if he continued talking to Donald Muller thus trying to save his reputation and his status, but by avoiding

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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).

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Also, the main theme that is underlined by the playwright of Doubt: A Parable is the abuse of the power. Shanley suggested an up-to-date topic, considering several scandals about the Catholic Church’s priests who had had sexual relations with young parishioners. This play with no proofs and it ends with an open-ended. Although in the play Sister Aloysius and Sister James try to judge whether the priest –

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Maybe Father Flynn is just trying to be an admirable male figure to Donald and help him in school. It could also be possible that he is trying to cover up his meeting with Donald to save him from getting kicked off from being the alter boy. This is the example that Flynn uses to defend himself in the parable. Mrs. Muller said that Donald really enjoyed and wanted to continue to be

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