De Quattro

Sophia De Quattro
Dr. Gay Lynch
Worldview Religion
10 December 2013
What Ado About Doubt
Lord make me an instrument of Thy peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love,
Where there is offence, pardon,
Where there is discord, unity,
Where there is doubt, faith,
Where there is error, truth...
-Prayer of St. Francis (Novak 267).
Questions, ambiguities, uncertaintiesthey ride our conscience every waking
moment and can drive a person to their wits end. When doubt arises, a persons entire
being is affected. This is especially true in the religious world, where doubt can hinder
the fabrication of faith. From the Christian perspective, doubts are an enemy to faith and
everything is done in order to dispel the qualms. People become uneasy without an
absolute truth. Rivalries, objections, and evils grow from doubt. Sometimes people turn
to organized religion in order to restore their faith, or sometimes religion can be what
unfolds your moral makeup. The film, Doubt, tackles these questions about God, faith,
and evil. It opens with a sermon given by Father Brendan Flynn in which he asks the
question, What do you do when youre not sure?

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Doubt is a film adapted from John Patrick Shanleys Pulitzer Prize winning stage
play under the same name. It stars Meryl Streep as Sister Aloysius, Amy Adams as Sister
James, and Phillip Seymour Hoffman as Father Brendan Flynn. The compelling drama is
set in a Bronx Catholic School in the year 1964, where a popular and respected priests
ambiguous relationship with a troubled 12-year-old male student, Donald Miller, is called
into question by the schools strict and very conservative principle, Sister Aloysius. The
film is a historically accurate portrayal of the Christian organizations in America during
the 1960s. The Catholic Church was hierarchically structured; everyone was assigned
their place. Many of those who left the Church in this era give anecdotes of the treatment
they received from priests and nuns as reasons for their departure, even of their loss of
faith (Doubt 2004). Perspectives of how the church should interact with their parishioners
began to change after Vatican II. It called for priests to see themselves as part of the
family. This is what leads Father Flynn to hot water. His forward thinking clashes with
Sister Aloysius, an old-school nun who is ruthless, rigid, and instills fear to gain respect.
Additionally, the fabulous and absolutely brilliant film, written and directed by
Shanley, sustains ambiguity throughout the story. John Patrick Shanley has indicated that
he is not so much concerned with the issue of clerical abuse of children as of pitting two
characters against each other to highlight the uncertainties of certainty and the nature of
doubt. Shanley confirms, Father Flynn is the antithesis of Sister Aloysius
(wiredonline). The energies of the two characters create a unique, electrifying chemistry
throughout the film. The third lead character, Sister James, provides a refreshing
viewpoint. She is the young, innocent, idealist nun that gives contrasting support to
Father Flynn and Sister Aloysius.

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The three characters are living with doubts, which leads to the unraveling of their
certainties. The viewers must decide on what happened, and each leading character offers
different doubts throughout the film: For Sister Aloysius, her own inner turmoil with her
religious despair is what leads her to obsess over exposing Father Flynn for his supposed
wrong doing; for Sister James, it is a loss of innocence and doubt in her own religious
faith; and, since there is no clear answer of whether Father Flynn has an inappropriate
relationship, it forces the audience to deal with their own doubts and certainties.
Meryl Streep offers a superb and convincing portrayal of Sister Aloysius. The
Sister believes wholeheartedly in discipline and is not seeking popularity from her
onlookers, but instead respect for leading a life of complete and sole dedication to God.
She trusts her intuitions without any doubt; or so, that is how she expresses it to everyone
around her. Shanleys creation of Sister Aloysius was inspired by the kind of nun that
would be prevalent in the 60s, after John XXIII had called the Council asking for renewal
in all religious orders. She is not used to transparency in the church, which is the root of
her conflict with Father Flynn. He has adapted, whereas she remains conservative.
In the film, the sisters are the Sisters of Charity. Founded in the 19th century by
Elizabeth Bayley Seton, the sisters are still wearing her dress, habit, and bonnet.
However, this soon changes with upheavals of the church. The community becomes less
rigid, and there is less emphasis on formalities. Relations between the parish clergy and
the sisters change as well. Sister Aloysius seems to resent this, which showcases her
unwillingness to embrace a change of lifestyle. The rituals and tasks that come with her
intolerant religion consume her. It allows for her to have a routine; essentially, her
lifestyle is based off of a level of certain expectations where there is little room for doubt

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to emerge. Sister Aloysius fears doubt and has used her faith as a tool to eradicate any
doubts in her life.
Sister James leads life in a more nave perspective, but a life that is honorable. In
the beginning of the film, she portrayed as an easily manipulated nun that is positive,
inspired, and enthusiastic for life. She struggles to adapt to Sister Aloysiuss fierce ruling
of the school because she does not normally partake in a punishment-reward mindset
when teaching students. However, in the end, she has been exposed through Sister
Aloysius the power of doubt. She transforms into a disciplinarian after Sister Aloysiuss
influence, and is left in a worse state.
The end of the film leaves us with an indefinite answerthe exact issue
addressed throughout the entire plot. Since the audience is able to relate with the
characters of not knowing, it suggests for the film to be a personal journey that forces us
to confront our own doubts. The film wants to create doubts in the minds and emotions
of the audience by contrasting the two styles of pastoral outreach, Sister Aloysius as a
stern nun and Father Flynn as a likeable priest. As regards the doubts about Father
Flynn's behavior, contrasting clues are offered: Father Flynn's manner and friendliness
with the boys, his singling out Donald for attention, Donald's drinking the altar wine in
the sacristy and Sister Aloysius' conclusion that Father Flynn had given it to him, Father
Flynn's calling Donald out of class to the rectory, and Sister James' wariness about this.
On the other hand, Father Flynn has explanations of Donald being the only African
American boy in the school and the antipathy and bullying he received and wanting him
to remain as an altar boy despite the offence which required his being dismissed as a
server, his drinking the wine because of his father's beating him because he suspected his

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homosexual orientation. This is complicated by the conversation between Sister Aloysius

and Donald's mother whose sole concern, irrespective of what Father Flynn might have
done or not done and her husband's violent treatment of Donald, is that Donald remain in
the school for the next sixth months so that he will graduate and have the opportunity to
go to a good high school.
Doubts final scene exposes all of Sister Aloysiuss vulnerabilities. Her last words
spoken are, I have such doubts (Doubt 2008). She appears completely defeated by the
strong influence of doubt in her life. Her battle is common. Everyone fights a battle
similar to her. Many other novels and literature pieces address the same theme of doubt.
For example, Miles Halter questions how the labyrinth (life) can be escaped throughout
the duration of the novel Looking For Alaska. Halter finds resonance in his new friend
Alaska. She is also looking to find a way to escape her inner hells and achieve eternal
happiness. One day, Alaska explains to Miles Halter, You spend your whole life stuck in
the labyrinth, thinking about how youll escape it one day, and how awesome it will be,
and imagining that future keeps you going, but you never do it. You just use the future to
escape the present (John Green 54). We all have our doubtsinternal and externaland
the ways in which we act to resolve them allows us to better learn whom we are. Alaskas
words are true; many people use the future as a way to justify their current stage of life.
In the end, however, over analyzing a situation, such as when Sister Aloysius refused to
quit until Father Flynn was proven guilty, leads to set backs and more uncertainties.
There is no faith without doubt, as the Prayer of St. Francis tells us. Doubt cannot be
defeated easily, and the film is superior in explaining this to the audience. Upon viewing,
the audience does not know who to believe is telling the truth, and as more back-stories

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are revealed, the more complicated situations become. This is true for every single person
who has lived, is living, or will live. Religions address social issues and ideologies to the
full extent, and we can all relate to the struggles Father Flynn, Sister Aloysius, and Sister
James face.

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References
Doubt: A Parable. Directed by Shanely, John P. Perf. Amy Adams, Phillip
Seyomoure
Hoffman, and Meryl Streep. Miramax Films, 2008. DVD. 10 Dec
2013.
Doubt: John Patrick Shanley Interview. Online video clip. Youtube.
Youtube
(wiredonline), Feb 5, 2009. Online. 10 Dec 2013.
Green, John. Looking For Alaska. New York, NY: Dutton Juvenile, 2005.
Print. (pp.
54). 10 Dec 2013.
Novak, Philip. The Worlds Wisdom: Sacred Texts of the Worlds
Religions. San
Francisco, CA: HarperCollins, 1995. Online (e-book). (pp. 267). 10
Dec 2013.
Shanley, John P. Doubt: A Parable. New York, NY: Theatre
Communications Group,
2004. Online (e-book). (pp. 38). 10 Dec 2013.