Ego Propensities Brought forth by a Contemporary Play

Doubt           

by John Patrick Shanley            

Directed by Doug Hughes at the Walter Kerr Theatre, NYC

Characters: Father Flynn, Sister Aloysius, Sister James, Mrs. Muller

Setting: St. Nicholas Church School in the Bronx, 1964

Action of the Play

The play opens with the handsome and charismatic Father Flynn delivering a sermon reflecting on how, when not doing what everyone else is doing, one can experience doubt and feel alone. Sister Aloysius, the  head of the school, calls the young and innocent teacher Sister James into her office and tells her that she has suspicions about Father Flynn’s behavior with the boys. She asks Sister James to keep an eye out for anything unusual. Father Flynn addresses the boys’ basketball team in a friendly manner and mentions the important of keeping your fingernails clean, even if they are a bit long, like his.

Later, Sister James reports to Sister Aloysius that, right after seeing Father Flynn, the school’s one black student returned to class smelling of alcohol and put his head down on the table. For Sister Aloysius, this confirms that Father Flynn is a pedophile. She confronts Father Flynn, who says that the boy was caught drinking sacramental wine and he had just told him he could no longer be an alter boy. Sister Aloysius does not to believe him. She runs a tight school and all the students fear her.

She calls in the boy’s mother, Mrs. Muller, and shares her suspicions. Mrs. Muller replies that her son is a homosexual, but if anything happened between her son and Father Flynn, she would like it forgotten so her son can graduate June. The boy had to leave his prior school because he was attacked for his sexual orientation and his father would kill him if word of this became public.

Father Flynn delivers another sermon in which he says that gossip is like slashing a pillow on a rooftop—once the feathers are on the wind they cannot be taken back. Sister James believes the sermon is aimed at her. Father Flynn talks with her and convinces her that nothing happened.

Sister Aloysius insists that it is her job to protect the children and she will get Father Flynn removed. He tells her emphatically that nothing happened, but that her accusations could hurt people, such as the black student, in ways she doesn’t understand. She tells him that she called a nun at his former school who told her something bad about him. He doesn’t believe it and tells her she should have followed protocol by speaking with the pastor who was in charge. Sister Aloysius later admits that she never did call the school, that it was a lie justified by the circumstances. And she proceeds, with chilling conviction, to try and destroy him for the sin she believes he has committed.

Finally, Father Flynn calls the bishop and is transferred to another church, where he is now both pastor and head of school.

My Experience of the Play

I watched the play with five of my friends. At the end of the play I was sure that we would all have come to the same conclusion—that Father Flynn was innocent. I came to this conclusion because there was no evidence against him. I was saddened that he and the student were hurt by the obsessive attacks of a misanthropic nun who admitted telling lies when it suited her.

John Patrick Shanley said in an interview, “Doubt has gotten a bad reputation. People who are utterly certain are vulnerable to a brand of foolishness that people who maintain a level of doubt are not.”* I saw Sister Aloysius demonstrating foolish certainty in her zealous determination to expose Father Flynn as a pedophile. She told Sister James that her suspicions were aroused when she saw a boy withdraw when Father Flynn touched him on the wrist. That was her only evidence.

The playbill states that Ron Eldard, who plays Father Flynn, dedicated his performance to his 7^th grade math teacher, Arnold Heller, “who saved his life.” I saw Father Flynn as a life-saver.

Imagine my surprise when all five of my friends said they had come to the opposite conclusion—that Father Flynn was a guilty pedophile who had, unfortunately, gotten away.

I now see that the play gave me a direct experience of the subjectivity of perception. My friends did not experience doubt. They were convinced that Father Flynn was guilty. I was just as convinced he was innocent. We can’t both be right. For me, their certainty was an example of how easily we can be taken in when our unconscious biases color our perception. If I’m wrong about them, then my certainty is an example of how easily I am taken in by perception.

My conclusions are:

s The ego is quick to judge and sure its judgments are correct.

s The ego is frequently mistaken. (Or always mistaken when it sees separation.)

The wise course for me is

s To let it go; not to try to be right, because it doesn’t matter.

s To appreciate my brother in his innocence; it does matter.

So, rather than argue with my friends, I chose to let it go and enjoy the rest of the evening with them.

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