Muller,” Sister Aloysius cuts in, “we may have a problem.” Immediately, Mrs. Muller says that whatever is wrong, Donald only has to make it at St. Nicholas School until June, when he’ll leave for high school. -Graham S. Sister Aloysius’s statement that she’ll kick Donald out of school in order to protect him from Father Flynn illustrates just how intensely she believes it’s up to her to keep the children in her school safe. Literary Devices. (She doesn't think much of history either.) GET BREAKING NEWS IN YOUR BROWSER. Once more, Father Flynn references the Catholic Church’s chain of command, trying to devalue Sister Aloysius’s ability to hold him accountable for his actions. Father Flynn, on the other hand, likes the notion of the church embracing the modern culture so that its leading members can be seen as friends and family, and not just "emissaries from Rome.". "My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." At its heart, that is the point of John Patrick Shanley's "Doubt"—the realization that all of our beliefs and convictions are part of a facade we build to protect ourselves. ---John Patrick Shanley, explaining why audiences are left to decide for themselves whether Sister Aloysius is wise or overly zealous in her determination to expose the charismatic Father Flynn as a pedophile. In the spirit of the above statement, Sister Aloysius seems so harsh because she ultimately cares about the well-being of the children in her school. Calling Father Flynn to her office, she tells him that she will not stop until he resigns. Based upon a few circumstantial details and a lot of intuition, the stern nun, Sister Aloysius Beauvier believes that one of the priests at the St. Nicholas Catholic Church and school has been molesting a 12-year-old boy named Donald Muller, the school's only African-American student. But as tempting as it is to see this as an embodiment of the cliché about women holding the real power in the Church, the story, like the real world, doesn’t bear this out. You have to stop this campaign against me! Trying to impress this upon Mrs. Muller, she points out that Father Flynn will continue to molest young boys if he isn’t stopped—an idea intended to weigh on Mrs. Muller’s conscience and ultimately convince her to stand up to the priest. That’s the dilemma of Sister Aloysius, the principal of a Catholic school, in John Patrick Shanley’s Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning 2004 drama “Doubt: A Parable,” now playing at Fremont’s Broadway West Theatre Company. Sister Aloysius recruits a young, naive nun (Sister James) to assist her in monitoring the suspicious yet charismatic Father Flynn. But the only superior she can talk to about it is the clueless, unseen Monsignor, who won’t believe a nun’s word over a priest’s. The only trouble is that her doctrinaire rigidity is sometimes at odds with what other people believe is best for those they care about, as is driven home in a difficult scene with the student in question’s mother (mild-mannered Jeffrie Givens). Instant downloads of all 1372 LitChart PDFs She believes that while having a private conversation, Father Flynn gave the boy wine. Right away, it becomes clear in Mrs. Muller’s conversation with Sister Aloysius that she sees Father Flynn as a positive force in her son’s life. She contends that good teachers are cold and cunning, creating a bit of fear within the hearts of the students. She suggests that Sister Aloysius is doomed to fail and that, because of this, she should leave the matter alone, since it might harm Donald (this, at least, is what Mrs. Muller thinks). Needless to say, though, this outlook doesn’t align with Sister Aloysius’s sense that it is her moral responsibility to protect Donald from all forms of harm, immediate or otherwise. However, the playwright argues in his preface, "deep down, under the chatter we have come to a place where we know that we don't know...anything. As a result, Mrs. Muller thinks Donald should simply endure whatever is happening to him until he can leave St. Nicholas School in June. They face each other.) For example, Aloysius scorns the idea of secular Christmas songs such as "Frosty the Snowman" appearing in the church's pageant; she argues they are about magic and therefore evil. (Mrs. Muller is more concerned about her son getting into high school and avoiding a beating from his dad.) Struggling with distance learning? Once again, Shanley emphasizes the differences between Father Flynn and Sister Aloysius. But I had Monsignor Scully then… who I could rely on. She doesn't want Father Flynn to get in real trouble. (d) Fear of being misunderstood. The play is called “Doubt” for a reason, and we’re supposed to be questioning the whole time whether he’s guilty or not. The naive young teacher Sister James (a timid, anxious Rebecca Soltau) embodies this uncertainty, resenting the suspicion that Sister Aloysius has awakened in her and wanting to believe the best of Father Flynn. But one priest, Father Flynn, seems to be taking too close of an interest in the 12-year-old boy, and Sister Aloysius is convinced that he’s up to no good. By using our site, you acknowledge that you have read and understand our. Get it from the Apple app store or the Google Play store. The audience and readers never know. 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