Doubt and Molly Sweeny

                 At first, one wouldn’t guess that the film Doubt and the novel Molly Sweeny would connect on any other level besides the fact that they are both pieces of text. However, after closely looking and evaluating each text, we are able to see that there are many parallels, as well as contrasts, between the two. One parallel that is prevalent towards the end of the each text is the complete loss of hope within Father Flynn and Molly after they had both had undergone traumatic experiences. Both characters struggle to cope and fix their situations and as a result, they are forced to accept their reality and move on with their lives.

                The still image above shows Father Flynn standing alone in Sister Aloysius’ office. He stands there still as a rock after Sister Aloysius had just belittled and demanded him to take an immediate leave of absence and resign from his place in the church, even though she is not one hundred percent sure he actually did what she is accusing him of doing. What stands out most significantly in this shot is the statue-like figure of the Virgin Mary in the background. Even though Father Flynn may not have been intentionally positioning himself this way, the shot portrays him facing towards the Virgin Mary and staring right at it. The expression on his face reveals that he is completely distraught and hopeless of what is to become of him. The director may have placed Father Flynn and the Virgin Mary in this way to signify that Father Flynn is searching for a higher power (the Virgin Mary) to help guide him through his current troubles since he himself seems to be hopeless and unsure of how to make his situation better. Father Flynn knows there is no way he will be able to convince Sister Aloysius that he is a good man and still deserves his position within the church, and we can distinguish this by examining his body language and expression. What’s interesting about the specific elements of the shot is that the Virgin Mary is a symbol of innocence and peace, and Father Flynn is clearly being associated with this figure in the shot. The director may have been trying to symbolize that Father Flynn is in fact innocent, and Sister Aloysius simply would not believe him. This whole situation builds upon the meaning of “sight” because it proves that each individual is going to believe what they want, even when there is obvious doubt. Sister Aloysius never let anyone’s opinion get in the way of hers, and as a result, she is overcome with doubt at the end of the movie when her plan to get Father Flynn out of there had finally come through.

Towards the end of the novel, we see Molly reflecting upon her mostly unsuccessful procedure and how her outlook on her situation has changed. She states, "But as time went on that anxiety receded; seemed to be a silly anxiety. Not that I began trusting my eyes again. Just that trying to discriminate, to distinguish between what might be real and what might be imagined, being guided by what father used to call 'excellent testimony' - that didn't seem to matter all that much, seemed to matter less and less. And for some reason the less it mattered, the more I thought I could see" (50). Instead of dwelling on the failure of her procedure, Molly chooses to completely disregard her inability to distinguish between reality and fantasy, and stick with what she know best; not seeing at all. At the end of the passage when she says, "and for some reason the less it mattered, the more I thought I could see", she may be meaning that by going back to her old ways of being completely blind and relying on her sense of touch to satisfy all her other senses, she is able to "see" more than having actual vision. After all, Molly says she "thought" she could see more. Although it's clear that Molly had given up in her fight to make sense of vision, unlike Father Flynn’s situation, this may be a good thing. It was Frank who pushed this procedure more than anyone; Molly seemed perfectly content with her previous life and it's obvious she enjoyed her life more before this unexpected mess. It's interesting that she decided to let go of "what father used to call 'excellent testimony'", because her father had been a significant part of her life. Even though this may have been hard for Molly to forget about, she knew she needed to do what was best for her in the long run. This passage builds upon "sight" in the sense that Molly shows us that you don't necessarily need to have actual sight to be able to see. We're able to realize that the act of "seeing" can be accomplished in any way that suits you as an individual.

                 Although there are differences between the two texts, Father Flynn and Molly Sweeny both dealt with unfortunate experiences where they lacked control of their future and gave up hope of trying to fix it. Molly was basically forced into her procedure, and consequently, she lost the ability to trust (sight and her peers), and after a period of misery, resorted back to her old ways. And after Father Flynn seemed unable to change the accusations of his wrong doings, he was left with nothing and was forced to move on with his ill-fated reality.