Didn't she intentionally fail her exam? - The Nun's Story (1959) Discussion

[–] bill3-1 12 years ago

She gave enough intentional wrong answers to score lower than that one sister, she passed but in fourth place. The movie didn't do well explaining it (I know, they said two different things), I haven't read the book but I'm going by their reactions and what was said and implied. I guess coming in fourth is considered failing (to her).

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[–] QueenoftheDookie 12 years ago

I'm pretty sure she was giving the right answers because she just couldn't bring herself to fail on purpose. That's why she was upset, and I think the panel was just confused as to why so was so upset, also her teacher knows she knows the answers so he was also confused as to why she seemed to be having such a hard time.

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[–] bill3-1 12 years ago

So you don't think she gave any wrong answers, coming in fourth place was legitimate?

I agree she did give the right answers in the first question asked, but it really makes no sense that she would come in fourth place unless she did it on purpose, Sister Luke was by far the top of her class and especially ahead of the nun that got to return to the Congo.

It sure would have been fitting had she not "failed" her exam, she going to the Congo and that other sister sent to the sanitarium, that sister had bigger issues than Sister Luke's pride, but that would have been too comedic for this movie.

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[–] tubularbelle2003 12 years ago

She did not fail her exams, she came fourth in the class. As a punishment she was sent to the sanatorium rather than the Congo.
This was one of the instances of her disobedience, being true to herself rather than obeying an order.

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[–] bill3-1 11 years ago

She did not fail her exams, she came fourth in the class. As a punishment she was sent to the sanatorium rather than the Congo.
This was one of the instances of her disobedience, being true to herself rather than obeying an order.

But I just can't believe she scored lower than Sr Pauline unless she purposely gave a wrong answer or two, but you're right that makes the most sense (being punished). Sr Pauline was the first chosen, directed to go to the Congo, it would seem she ranked first since Sr Luke ranked fourth, but everything we know about Sr Luke is her brilliance, it's too hard to believe she came in fourth place legitimately.

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[–] bron-tay 11 years ago

No, her passing fourth out of a class of 80 does NOT mean she scored lower than Sister Pauline. All the sisters passed their exams, so it makes sense that they would all go to the Congo (except poor Sister Luke who got an F in humility).

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[–] themgt1 11 years ago

She passed the exam, finished 4th in a class of 80.
The incident was referred to when she was speaking to one of the Reverend Mothers after she'd been attacked at the mental home.
That Reverend Mother said she knew the other one had told Sister Luke to intentionally fail the exam and that she was wrong to ask her to fail.

Which seems odd as Sister Luke was apparently punished for not failing the exam and not showing humility by not being sent to the Congo.

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[–] EJverh 11 years ago

Exactly. Her mother superior, who asked her to fail, wrote to the mother provincial about her progress. The fact that she didn't obey her (and failed) played a large role in her evaluation (separate of that from her academic studies). That alone was instrumental to what happened to her following the end of academic year. Placing fourth in the class of 80 was a great achievement (as you can imagine). Your religious life always takes precedence over your schooling in the order. She was 'punished' for breaking the vow of disobedience (as perceived by her superior) and that was that. Cruel, I know. What she scored (and much better than sr. Pauline) was of no concequence. Her evaluation was not based on that alone. It is clear that the mother superior sided with the sr. Pauline when she said "She thinks you are full of pride and cannot achieve true humility". I've always learned that there is a big difference between a humility and a humiliation. However, depending who your superior is, this line is very, very thin... It was my own cross I had to bear in the religious life. I answered to a person with a lot of psych problems. However, that didn't mean much. My vow of obedience was still that. No questions asked.

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[–] beyondwords 10 years ago

Sister Luke did NOT fail her exam. She considered purposely failing, in response to the Reverend Mother's request for her to efface herself and practice humility, but as was often the case with her struggle with humility, her pride in her academic abilities won out.

The response of the tester was one of surprise that there was ANY hesitation in her answer, as he knew that she had mastered the materially easily. She went on to give a clear, succint and thorough answer, and completed her exams with distinction.

She came in 4th in the class -- a remarkable achievement. Sister Pauline had her panties in a wad because she was jealous of Sister Luke's ease in mastering the material (which was a failing on her part -- everyone had personal failings to overcome.)

She was not sent to the sanitorium as a punishment for her lack of humility. She did have previous training in psychiatric nursing, and there was a need -- so off she went. This was a common issue in the religious life -- you go where you are needed, not necessarily where you wish. Her spiritual growth after the Archangel's attack and her growing maturity eventually won her a place in the Congo.

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[–] cosmic_surveyor 10 years ago

Her spiritual growth after the Archangel's attack and her growing maturity eventually won her a place in the Congo.

Despite the length of the movie, her 'growth' here was quite quick. Blink or look away a moment after the attack and she was off to Congo.

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[–] !!!deleted!!! (33407653) 9 years ago

What kind of Mother Superior would ask one of her charges to DELIBERATELY fail an exam? To go on and on teaching these women to become "perfect" and then asking this one to deliberately lie disgusted me to the core. Do these orders of Nuns actually ask their postulants to lie like this? If so, they are hypocrites of the highest order.

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[–] aboveboard 8 years ago

Could not agree more. Why suppress someone's strengths? Her knowledge would be best served if shared with whole group and to everyone's benefit. At heart i don't think Sister Luke wanted to fail any part of the exam, it seemed to be one of the main sources of her inner conflict and by doing so only bring about a dishonest, almost forced show of personal humility.

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[–] FourKingTwenty 8 years ago

Yeah, none of that stuff made sense to me either. Like the earlier scene when the other nuns pick faults the novices don't recognize to help them become "perfect," so Luke was trying to help Pauline become a better nurse. It seemed silly for the Mother to ask Luke to take a dive on her test so Pauline could feel better. If Pauline failed the test and couldn't go back to the Conge despite Luke's help, then maybe it was God's will that she not return. Asking Luke to be dishonest in hiding her ability was stupid.

As others mentioned, in the scene where the assignments are being handed out, and she is told she passed 4th in class of 80. It's pretty clear she didn't try to fail, and the sanatorium assignment was her punishment. She was probably the highest scoring nun.

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[–] 8 years ago

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[–] Crystal (534) 5 years ago

She might have had a little too much pride in it but, she was ordered to help tutor. Which made her look bad. A no-win situation.

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