Mrs. Miller Case

My opinion on Mrs. Miller is that she doesn't actually care about her son. Mrs. Miller is only concerned with getting her son to graduate from St. Nicholas, so he will eventually go to college. To want your child to be successful is a good parenting skill, but that doesn't mean you should ignore terrible things that are happening to your child during the process. At St.Nicholas, Donald is being bullied and possibly sexually abused, and it would be better for him to switch to another school where he might just be bullied. I personally don't think that, in the 1960's, an African American homosexual child could possibly go to school without being bullied, and I think Mrs. Miller knows that, which is why she is so set on just making sure that he graduates. Mrs. Miller also seemed to be a bit defensive, in that she automatically assumed that Sister Aloysius was blaming Donald for drinking the altar wine, if Father Flynn really gave it to him. I don't understand how Mrs. Miller wasn't at all upset or horrified at the possibility of Father Flynn abusing her own son, and she seemed to be okay with it. Mrs. Miller made it out to seem like it was okay because Father Flynn is the only father figure in Donald's life, even though fathers don't sexually abuse their children. I also don't understand how Mrs. Miller could just let her husband abuse Donald and not do anything about it. Mrs. Miller is most likely frightened of her husband, but she should've left if she really does have Donald's best interests at heart. It must be hard on Mrs. Miller to know that her son has a difficult time at home and at school, but by not doing anything about Father Flynn is appalling. I don't think it matters that Father Flynn is the only person that is nice and protects Donald, because Father Flynn could potentially be traumatizing Donald. I believe that Mrs. Miller is feeling very conflicted, but keeping Donald at St.Nicholas isn't the right thing to do. Mrs. Miller is trying to protect her boy from a ruined reputation, bullies, and his own father by keeping him in St.Nicholas. I perceive Mrs. Miller to not have good parenting skills or the right mindset.

...