Doubt: A Parable

by

John Patrick Shanley

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Themes and Colors
Moral Responsibility Theme Icon
Power and Accountability Theme Icon
Doubt and Uncertainty Theme Icon
Tradition vs. Change Theme Icon
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Doubt: A Parable, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Doubt and Uncertainty Theme Icon

As made evident by the title, Doubt is a play that examines how people deal with feelings of uncertainty and skepticism. Considering that the play takes place in a Catholic parish, the most obvious manifestation of doubt is the kind that arises when people question their religious faith. In his sermon during the first scene, Father Flynn implies that people ought to trust their beliefs even when there’s no evidence to support them. Interestingly enough, though, the play itself isn’t solely about this kind of religious doubt, despite the fact that it opens with a sermon that focuses on spiritual uncertainty. Rather, Shanley is interested in applying Father Flynn’s conception of religious doubt to other forms of skepticism, such as Sister Aloysius’s suspicion that Flynn is sexually abusing Donald Muller. Whereas Flynn encourages his listeners during his sermon to unquestioningly follow what they’ve already decided to believe, Sister Aloysius refuses to complacently assume that her superiors are morally good just because they’re affiliated with the Catholic Church, an institution to which she has devoted her entire life. Consequently, she doesn’t back down when others urge her to drop the matter, since she’s unwilling to let Flynn sully the Catholic faith. In turn, the audience sees that what might seem like doubt is actually a form of commitment to the church, as Sister Aloysius proves that truly believing in something means having the courage to interrogate its flaws.

Doubt opens with a sermon by Father Flynn, in which he asks, “What do you do when you’re not sure?” He goes on to tell a short parable about a large boat that sinks in the middle of the ocean. Only one sailor survives, Father Flynn says, and he fashions himself a raft before looking “to the Heavens” so that he can “read the stars.” A nautical man, he’s able to navigate his way by referencing the stars, so he sets off in the direction of his home. However, clouds soon make it impossible for him to continue navigating. “He thought he was on course but there was no way to be certain,” Father Flynn preaches. After several days, the sailor begins to worry. “Had he set his course right? Was he still going on towards his home? Or was he horribly lost and doomed to a terrible death? No way to know,” Flynn says. He then adds that the sailor caught a glimpse of “the Truth” when he first looked at the stars, and now he has to “hold on to it without further reassurance.” This, Father Flynn insists, is similar to the “crisis of faith” that many Catholics have, as they learn about God and heaven but rarely encounter any reassurance that such things exist. In keeping with this idea, he implies that people ought to stick to their beliefs, blindly following what they think is true without stopping to second-guess themselves. In other words, he believes that the only way to respond to doubt is by ignoring it.

Although Father Flynn’s sermon about how to respond to doubt is specifically about religious faith, the idea behind it applies to other forms of uncertainty as well. For instance, Sister James’s initial suspicion that Father Flynn has an inappropriate relationship with Donald Muller gives her bad dreams and causes her to lose her “peace of mind,” since the idea that a well-respected priest would rape an altar boy thoroughly rattles her sense that the Catholic church is unfailingly good. For this reason, she’s hesitant to even acknowledge what she clearly knows is going on.

When Sister James tells Sister Aloysius that Donald seemed strange when he returned to class after spending time alone with Father Flynn, she tries to convince herself that she doesn’t actually think anything bad happened. “[Father Flynn has] taken an interest,” she says. “I thought I should tell you.” Hearing this, Sister Aloysius says, “So it’s happened.” “What?!” Sister James replies. “I’m not telling you that! I’m not even certain what you mean.” In this exchange, the audience sees that Sister James is simultaneously acting on her suspicion and actively denying her own credibility. This is because she wants to blindly believe that someone like Father Flynn would never do anything wrong. Like the sailor lost at sea, she wants badly to trust that what she has always believed is still the case.

Unlike Sister James, Sister Aloysius is willing to face the possibility that Father Flynn is an immoral man. Rather than unquestioningly thinking that her superiors are morally irreproachable because of their prominence in the Catholic church, she recognizes that even people who seem pious and good might not actually embody these qualities. After Sister Aloysius believes she's proven that Father Flynn truly is a pedophile (though she doesn't have concrete evidence), Sister James is thoroughly unnerved by this possibility. “I can’t sleep at night anymore. Everything seems uncertain to me,” she says. In response, Sister Aloysius highlights the importance of examining one’s own beliefs without bias, saying, “Maybe we’re not supposed to sleep so well.”

Simply put, Sister Aloysius understands that a belief means nothing if a person refuses to question it. The only way for Sister Aloysius to hold strong convictions about something is for her to challenge and address the things that stand in the way of her ability to believe in it wholeheartedly. Because she has devoted her entire life and existence to Catholicism, she refuses to stand idly by while she believes Father Flynn is destroying the morality of the church. By acting on her doubt, then, she actually demonstrates her unfailing devotion to the Catholic Church, ultimately suggesting that certain kinds of uncertainty can actively contribute to a person’s systems of belief.

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Doubt and Uncertainty ThemeTracker

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Doubt and Uncertainty Quotes in Doubt: A Parable

Below you will find the important quotes in Doubt: A Parable related to the theme of Doubt and Uncertainty.
Scene 1 Quotes

Had he set his course right? Was he still going on towards his home? Or was he horribly lost and doomed to a terrible death? No way to know. The message of the constellations—had he imagined it because of his desperate circumstance? Or had he seen Truth once, and now had to hold on to it without further reassurance? That was his dilemma on a voyage without apparent end. There are those of you in church today who know exactly the crisis of faith I describe. I want to say to you: Doubt can be a bond as powerful and sustaining as certainty. When you are lost, you are not alone. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Related Characters: Father Flynn (speaker)
Page Number: 6
Explanation and Analysis:
Scene 2 Quotes

I’m sorry I allowed even cartridge pens into the school. The students really should only be learning script with true fountain pens. Always the easy way out these days. What does that teach? Every easy choice today will have its consequence tomorrow. Mark my words.

Related Characters: Sister Aloysius (speaker), Father Flynn, Sister James, Donald Muller, William London
Related Symbols: Ballpoint Pens
Page Number: 8
Explanation and Analysis:

SISTER ALOYSIUS: […] Do you think that Socrates was satisfied? Good teachers are never content. We have some three hundred and seventy-two students in this school. It is a society which requires constant educational, spiritual and human vigilance. I cannot afford an excessively innocent instructor in my eighth grade class. It’s self-indulgent. Innocence is a form of laziness. Innocent teach­ers are easily duped. You must be canny, Sister James.

[…]

The heart is warm, but your wits must be cold. Liars should be frightened to lie to you. They should be uncomfortable in your presence.

[…]

SISTER JAMES: But I want my students to feel they can talk to me.

SISTER ALOYSIUS: They’re children. They can talk to each other. It’s more important they have a fierce moral guardian. You stand at the door, Sister. You are the gate-keeper. If you are vigilant, they will not need to be.

Related Characters: Sister Aloysius (speaker), Sister James (speaker), Father Flynn
Page Number: 12
Explanation and Analysis:

Look at you. You’d trade anything for a warm look. I’m telling you here and now, I want to see the starch in your character cultivated. If you are looking for reassurance, you can be fooled. If you forget yourself and study others, you will not be fooled.

Related Characters: Sister Aloysius (speaker), Father Flynn, Sister James, Donald Muller
Page Number: 15
Explanation and Analysis:
Scene 4 Quotes

SISTER JAMES: I’ve been trying to become more cold in my thinking as you suggested . . . I feel as if I’ve lost my way a little. Sister Aloysius. I had the most terrible dream last night. I want to be guided by you and responsible to the children, but I want my peace of mind. I must tell you I have been longing for the return of my peace of mind.

SISTER ALOYSIUS: You may not have it. It is not your place to be complacent. That’s for the children. That’s what we give them.

SISTER JAMES: I think I’m starting to understand you a little. But it’s so unsettling to look at things and people with suspicion. It feels as if I’m less close God.

SISTER ALOYSIUS: When you take a step to address wrongdoing, you are taking a step away from God, but in His service. Dealing with such matters is hard and thankless work.

Related Characters: Sister Aloysius (speaker), Sister James (speaker), Father Flynn, Donald Muller
Page Number: 20
Explanation and Analysis:

SISTER ALOYSIUS: Eight years ago at St. Boniface we had a priest who had to be stopped. But I had Monsignor Scully then . . . whom I could rely on. Here, there’s no man I can go to, and men run everything. We are going to have to stop him ourselves.

SISTER JAMES: Can’t you just...report your suspicions?

SISTER ALOYSIUS: To Monsignor Benedict? The man’s guileless! He would just ask Father Flynn!

SISTER JAMES: Well, would that be such a bad idea?

SISTER ALOYSIUS: And he would believe whatever Father Flynn told him. He would think the matter settled.

Related Characters: Sister Aloysius (speaker), Sister James (speaker), Father Flynn, Donald Muller, Monsignor Benedict
Page Number: 22
Explanation and Analysis:
Scene 5 Quotes

FLYNN: Well. I feel a little uncomfortable.

SISTER ALOYSIUS: Why?

FLYNN: Why do you think? Something about your tone.

SISTER ALOYSIUS: I would prefer a discussion of fact rather than tone.

FLYNN: Well. If I had judged my conversation with Donald Muller to be of concern to you, Sister, I would have sat you down and talked to you about it. But I did not judge it to be of concern to you.

Related Characters: Sister Aloysius (speaker), Father Flynn (speaker), Sister James, Donald Muller
Page Number: 32
Explanation and Analysis:

SISTER ALOYSIUS: No. If the boy drank altar wine, he cannot continue as an altar boy.

FLYNN: Of course you’re right. I’m just not the disciplinarian you are, Sister. And he is the only Negro in the school. That did affect my thinking on the matter. It will be commented on that he’s no longer serving at Mass. It’s a public thing. A certain ignorant element in the parish will be confirmed in their beliefs.

Related Characters: Sister Aloysius (speaker), Father Flynn (speaker), Sister James, Donald Muller
Page Number: 34
Explanation and Analysis:
Scene 6 Quotes

So she went home, took the pillow off her bed, a knife from the drawer, went up the fire escape to the roof, and stabbed the pillow. Then she went back to the old priest as instructed. “Did you gut the pillow with the knife?” he says. “Yes, Father.” “And what was the result?” “Feathers,” she said. “Feathers”? he repeated. “Feathers everywhere. Father!” “Now I want you to go back and gather up every last feather that flew out on the wind!” “Well,” she says, “it can’t be done. I don’t know where they went. The wind took them all over.” “And that,” said [the Father], “is gossip!”

Related Characters: Father Flynn (speaker), Sister Aloysius, Donald Muller
Page Number: 37
Explanation and Analysis:
Scene 7 Quotes

FLYNN: There are people who go after your humanity, Sister James, who tell you the light in your heart is a weakness. That your soft feelings betray you. I don’t believe that. It’s an old tactic of cruel people to kill kindness in the name of virtue. Don’t believe it. There’s nothing wrong with love.

SISTER JAMES: Of course not, but...

FLYNN: Have you forgotten that was the message of the Savior to us all. Love. Not suspicion, disapproval and judgment. Love of people.

Related Characters: Father Flynn (speaker), Sister James (speaker), Sister Aloysius, Donald Muller
Page Number: 41
Explanation and Analysis:
Scene 8 Quotes

Why you need to know something like that for sure when you don’t? Please, Sister. You got some kind a righteous cause going with this priest and now you want to drag my boy into it. My son doesn’t need additional difficulties. Let him take the good and leave the rest when he leaves this place in June. He knows how to do that. I taught him how to do that.

Related Characters: Mrs. Muller (speaker), Sister Aloysius, Father Flynn, Donald Muller
Page Number: 47
Explanation and Analysis:
Scene 9 Quotes

SISTER JAMES: I wish I could be like you.

SISTER ALOYSIUS: Why?

SISTER JAMES: Because I can’t sleep at night anymore. Everything seems uncertain to me.

SISTER ALOYSIUS: Maybe we’re not supposed to sleep so well.

Related Characters: Sister Aloysius (speaker), Sister James (speaker), Father Flynn, Donald Muller
Page Number: 47
Explanation and Analysis: