Donald miller is a boy with much to loose. His relationship with father Flinn has been speculated to be inappropriate but Donald has no say. He is confined by his mother, his church and his environment. Some kids at his school control Donald with their own racist perceptions of him. If father Flynn did touch Donald inappropriately Donald cannot speak out against him because father Flynn is the only man who truly cares about Donald. He can't speak out because all he wants is to please his mother and father and finish his studies. Donald is confined by all these things and thus is in his own jail. In this shot the staircase signifies Donald's jail. He is not free and is confined by his environment.
The title of the film is very important in this shot. When we look at Donald's face we just don't know what to think, we have our own doubts. I must applaud this actor for leaving a pit in the audiences stomach because they don't know what to think. As I looked at this shot I saw a kid who is confined by his surroundings and is unable to speak up about his situations. But then I look at it again and I see a kid who is a true friend of Father Flynn and unconditionally cares for him and doesn't want anything bad to happen to him. Donald Miller and this shot exemplifies the moral dilemma in this film which is the conflict of interpreting situations a certain way without being certain.
Judah is confined and jailed in a similar way to Donald. Both characters are conflicted because they view the church/temple as a symbol everything that is morally correct. Judah doesn't understand how he could betray something so sacred and Donald doesn't understand how someone of such power in the church could have a relationship with him. In this shot we see the symmetry of this temple signifying that the Church is always right and is the moral path to follow. We see two rabbi's with two lights, a symmetrical menorah, and basically everything that can be seen on the left is nearly reflected onto the right side. Donald feels that there are higher powers at work that he can't control, as does Judah. In this picture we see moses holding the ten commandments signifying religious morality and how Judah had defied it. Overall both pictures show how morally ambiguous both movies are and how influenced both characters are by things they can't control.
