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Scene 8
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Doubt: A Parable, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Moral Responsibility
Power and Accountability
Doubt and Uncertainty
Tradition vs. Change
Summary
Analysis
One sunny day, Sister James and Sister Aloysius see one another in the garden. Sister James has just gotten back from visiting her sick brother, who has recovered. She remarks that Father Flynn is gone and asks where he’s been sent. “St. Jerome’s,” Sister Aloysius says. Sister James points out that Donald Muller is “heartbroken that he’s gone,” but Aloysius assures her that nothing can be done about this. “It’s just till June,” she adds. Hearing this, Sister James admits that she doesn’t think Flynn did anything wrong. When she sees Aloysius's disagreement, though, she asks if the older woman ever actually proved his guiltiness, and she tells her that she did in fact do this, though only to herself.
In this exchange, the audience learns that Father Flynn is no longer at St. Nicholas School. This, Sister James says, has made Donald Muller quite “heartbroken”—a complicated notion, since Father Flynn may have been a kind mentor, or he may have been a manipulative abuser. However, Sister Aloysius doesn’t show any sense of regret for separating Father Flynn from Donald, since she's convinced that this is ultimately in the boy’s best interest, even if he doesn’t recognize that right now. If she is indeed right about Flynn, her previous statement that protecting children is often a “thankless” task would be correct.
Themes
“I wish I could be like you,” Sister James says, and when Sister Aloysius asks why, she says, “Because I can’t sleep at night anymore. Everything seems uncertain to me.” In response, Sister Aloysius says, “Maybe we’re not supposed to sleep so well. They’ve made Father Flynn the pastor of St. Jerome.” By way of explanation, she says that the bishop is the one who gave him this position. “It’s a promotion,” she adds. She says that she informed Monsignor Benedict about what happened between Flynn and Donald, but Monsignor Benedict didn’t believe her. “Then why did Father Flynn leave? What did you say to make him go?” James asks, and Aloysius says she told him that she called a nun in his “previous parish.”
Although Sister Aloysius succeeded in separating Father Flynn from Donald Muller and believes wholeheartedly that he's guilty, the fact remains that she has no definitive proof, and so she's unable to truly hold him accountable for his alleged actions. This is because he used his power to appeal to the bishop, ultimately securing a promotion instead of having to face any consequences for the abuse Sister Aloysius accused him of. In spite of all this, Sister Aloysius remains confident that it is her moral responsibility to do what she did, even if this means leading a difficult life.
Themes
“So you did prove it!” Sister James says, but Sister Aloysius tells her that she was lying when she claimed to have called Father Flynn’s former parish. This shocks Sister James, who can’t believe that Aloysius would dare tell a lie, which is itself a sin. “But if he had no such history, the lie wouldn’t have worked,” Aloysius explains. “His resignation was his confession. He was what I thought he was. And he’s gone.” Still, James can’t get over the lie, saying, “I can’t believe you lied.” In response, Aloysius says, “In the pursuit of wrongdoing, one steps away from God. Of course there’s a price.” Despite this conviction, though, she suddenly exclaims, “Oh, Sister James!” When James asks what’s wrong, she merely says, “I have doubts! I have such doubts!”
When Sister Aloysius says that “one steps away from God” in the “pursuit of wrongdoing,” she suggests that sometimes a person has to commit smaller sins in order to counteract more significant injustices. This, it seems, is why Sister James finds it so difficult to adopt Aloysius’s worldview, which makes it hard for a person to maintain “peace of mind.” And though Sister Aloysius has strong convictions regarding right and wrong, she suddenly feels an overwhelming sense of doubt. This doubt, though, has nothing to do with whether or not she should have protected Donald Muller. Rather, the entire situation has caused her to doubt the morality of the Catholic Church, an institution to which she has devoted her entire life.
Themes
