Both Doubt and Molly Sweeney
makes us wonder how we know what we see or don’t see. How do we know what to believe? Like Molly Sweeney if: “What I think I see
may be fantasy or indeed what I take to be imagined may very well be real…external
reality. Real – imagined – fact –
fiction- fantasy- reality-there it seems to be” (57). How do Sister Aloysius and Sister James know
if what they are seeing is an inappropriate relationship between Father Flynn
and Donald Miller or not? How do Frank
and Mr. Rice know that Molly would be happier if she could “really see.” What people see is often affected by what
they want to see.
In Molly Sweeney, both Frank and Mr. Rice are blind to the fact that
they are more interested in their personal passions and problems than in what
is best for Molly. Blindsight may be
describing Molly: “she was totally unconscious of seeing anything at all. In other words, she had vision – but vision that
was utterly useless to her” (48), but it really describes Frank and Mr.
Rice. Frank wants to jump at new
projects without seeing how it will affect the other person or animals: “…for
three and a half years I had a small goat farm on the island of Inis Beag off
the Mayo coast- no, no not a farm for small goats- a farm for ordinary goats-
well, extraordinary goats as a matter of fact because I imported two piebald
Iranian goats;… eventually I had a herd of fourteen- they couldn’t endure the
Mayo winters…” (14). Frank wanted to see
if Iranian goats could live in a different location, a climate they weren’t
used too. The goats struggled to prosper
and so did Frank’s financials. He never
considered how this would impact the goats. It was always all about Frank. It was the same situation with Molly, he
never considered what she wanted. He
assumed he knew best. And he would be
off to another project before he could see the damage he caused. Similarly, Mr. Rice wanted to do this operation
because it would help him get his confidence, his desire, his self-esteem and
his will to live back. Before his wife
left him for another doctor, he was one of the greatest eye doctors in the
world. After that, he lost
everything. He became a drinker and a
slacker. When Molly came into his life,
he thought he could redeem his self-esteem and earn respect from his peers. Mr. Rice’s memory of Molly’s operation was: “Where
the terrible darkness lifted. Where the
shaft of light glanced off me again” (40). He got the opportunity to earn back some of
his life because the operation was successful.
But in the end, Molly lost more than she gained and so did Mr. Rice.
In the movie Doubt, seeing Father Flynn sitting at Sister Aloysius’s desk,
framed by both sisters dressed in traditional black habits, with light shining
on him as well as behind him emphasizes the contrast between light and dark. Father Flynn is in the background while both
sisters are in the foreground. Sister Aloysius
opened the blinds in order to shed light on Father Flynn. She wants the truth regarding his relationship
with Donald Miller. Father Flynn was as
blinded by the light as she was by her conviction and pursuit of her personal
agenda. Sister Aloysius was blinded
because whenever Father Flynn acted nice to other children at the school, she
would think that it was wrong. She
wanted the children to fear her. She
didn’t like change. When Father Flynn,
Sister James, and she were in her office, Father Flynn wanted more exciting and
fun things for the kids to do. He wanted
to change the songs in the Christmas pageant to songs like Frosty the Snowman,
but she turned it down and thought about sticking with the hymns they always
sing. Father Flynn likes change. He believes that it is important to respect
other students in the school and show kindness and care towards them. He never admits to anything more than caring
for the boy and trying to help him when no one else will.
In both Doubt and Molly Sweeney,
sight and insight into morality and ethics are explored. Sight and blindness, light and darkness highlight
these ideas throughout the two pieces.
In the book Molly Sweeny, Molly
is blind but happy. Frank and Mr. Rice can see but they are blind to the
effects of what they are doing. In the
movie Doubt, Sister Aloysius is blind
because she doesn’t want to see change in the church or school. People say that their eyes play tricks on
them, but I think it’s their minds.
The truth must dazzle gradually
Or every man be blind – Emily Dickinson (6).
