"The one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind"" (James 1:6). Doubt is something that everyone experiences but it is the way you handle doubt that changes everything. Those that see doubt as an obstacle to overcome are better off than those who see it as a setback. In the play "Doubt"" by John Patrick Shanley, we see a conservative nun, Sister Aloysius, at St. Nicholas' Catholic school who has many doubts about the legitimacy and dignity of a certain priest, Father Flynn. Doubt is a strong theme present throughout the play and the ending reveals the negative effects of doubting without valid reason. .
Although Sister Aloysius' only has circumstantial evidence about Father Flynn's wrongdoings she has serious doubts from the start of the play aimed toward him. In sister Aloysius' eyes father Flynn is not fit for his duty as priest, she is a very old fashioned, to the book, nun which is almost the opposite of what father Flynn is. This could be one of the biggest reasons why she has doubts about him, because he is different from all the other priests and not to her standards. For example, while discussing the Christmas pageant father flynn added that, ".it might be jolly to include a secular song "(886) in the pageant. This bothered her because she believes that school/church are not times for "fun " but to learn discipline. This is also evident when she tells Sister James to, ".give them their history without putting sugar all over it. Thats the point" "(874). So sister Aloysius' doubts could be entirely based on the fact that she doesn't agree with his actions and how he presents himself. .
Due to her uncertainty, sister Aloysius cons, in a way, another nun, Sister James, to collect evidence against father Flynn and to confront him about it. Initially Sister James had no doubts about father Flynn's legitimacy and although Flynn insists that he is innocent, she is still influenced by sister Aloysius to have doubts over her faith in his innocence.
