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Luke Murphy 1

CMCL 398

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A Crisis of Faith

In The Innocents, we can understand that there is an element that is left suspended. We

never find out if in fact the governess is insane or if there are truly ghosts which are haunting

Bly. We are left in a state of doubt as to whether or not, in the world ofThe Innocents,

the supernatural really exists. If we go deeper into what it means to have a world void of

supernatural power or a world steeped in the supernatural, we face a larger question, does God

exist in the world of the The Innocents? Through the scenes of the hands of the clasping in

uncertain terms, we can understand how this question is posed and the implications it has for its

suspension.

At the beginning and end of the movie, we see the hands of the governess clasped in

ambiguous prayer. In the beginning sequence, we see the governesses hands trembling and

assuming a prayer like shape, yet it is ambiguous as to whether or not the hands are precisely

doing that. The hands move about and then we see the governess crying, she then vocalizes

a pseudo-prayer, All I want to do is save the children, not destroy them. More than anything, I

love the children. They need affection, love, someone who will belong to them and to whom they

will belong.

This is a most important scene, because the theme of secrets and the theme of doubt is

completely prominent throughout the film, and in fact is the aim of the film. When an individual

prays, it is a completely private event. Even in a public prayer, the idea of praying is that each

individual is connected with God, as a child of God, with an intimate private relationship to

God. If we are to fully accept the idea of the supernatural, we must suspend all skepticism

and disregard any naturalistic explanation of what the appear governess as ghosts. This

same suspension of skepticism is necessary for the prayer to pray to that which the prayer

must accept with pure faith. In this view, to whom would the children belong, would it be to the

governess or would it be to God. If it were to God, her actions during the story would be that of a


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Luke Murphy 2

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savior, and the governess would be the converter.

Another consequences of this view of the governess as praying, is to view her, in

a way, as a child herself, trusting her unreasoned faith. In this childlike state, her secrets

are illuminated through her actions. She only shares her secrets with Mrs. Grose, who is

sympathetic, but does not really know or believe. Similarly, she tries to suppose that the

children also share her secrets, but they reject her secrets, through verbal denial and through

death and suspension of explanation. If we are to see Ms. Gibbons in the scene as praying,

then we must see her alone, trying upon faith to rationalize herself against the supernatural

forces that she is accepting and battling with alone for the presumed souls of the children.

However the scene must, as it were, accept a turn of the screw. If we are to view

the world ofThe Innocents as a completely natural world, void of any supernatural events,

then we must accept the insanity of the governess. If in fact, the governess is insane, then

we must also accept the idea that the world of Bly is a godless world. If it is a godless world,

then in fact what we formerly saw a plea to God, now becomes the inward, self meditation and

rationalization of her actions. We can see her actions, throughout the movie, as her hopes and

her fears manifesting themselves.

In this view, we must see the governess as one who doubts or rejects god. This idea

is reinforced by the fact that she does not attend church with the children. The actions of the

governess take on a different meaning. She is now trying to destroy all supernatural influences

over the children. In a way, she is also trying to destroy the supernatural forces that are

governing her life. She has become skeptical of the children and of the child in herself, the child

of god who would be giving the prayer in the former view. Yet, in this way of fighting against

the supernatural, she recognizes the existence an inner child, who can be manipulated and

influenced. She never denies the ghosts and therefore god.

If we are to look at Doubt, we see a movie which also leaves suspended an element.


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Luke Murphy 3

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This time however, the doubt is over whether or not a priest molested a child or not. We can see

in the final scene, Meryl Streep as Sister Aloysius Beauvier relating to another nun that she has

lied in order to get a conviction of the priest. We learn the priest was not excommunicated, but

rather given a promotion and moved to a different church. Meryl Streep says, In the pursuit of

wrongdoing one steps away from god, of course, there is a price... Oh, Sister James, I doubts,

I have such doubts. Right before she says, this we see her flash the cross. Among other

possibilities, she could be doubting her own faith in the existence of God or her relationship to

that God.

If we are to accept both views, then we must rationalize a world in which a God exists

and a God does not exist. If we are to understand this world, we must ask the question, For

whom does God exist? The answer is that god exists in this world for the child or the innocent.

Only the innocent naive child can carry on a relationship with God. In fact, the paternalistic God

requires it. What price does Ms. Gibbons pay in order to save the children, we see that she

gave up her own inner child, her own innocence, her own relationship to God. In her attempt to

liberate the children from the supernatural clutches of the evil spirits, she herself has given up

innocent world, that can support such a relationship.

In the scene of her hands, we have a key to understanding the movie. The idea of prayer

is suspended because, because Ms. Gibbons belief is also suspended. She has forfeited her

relationship with God in order to save the souls of the children. We can only imagine after the

death of Miles and the subsequent disappearance of the ghost of Quint, that Ms. Gibbons also

has doubts. Whether or not what she saw was real. She could be doubting her own faith in

the existence of God or her relationship to that God. In this way, through the scenes that are

suggestive of prayer, the entire movie could be viewed as a crisis of faith.

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