A Prayer For Owen Meany Analysis

Not the least of my problems is that I can hardly even imagine what kind of an experience a genuine, self-authenticating religious experience would be. Without somehow destroying me in the process, how could God reveal himself in a way that would leave no room for doubt? If there were no room for doubt, there would be no room for me.-

Owen Meany acted as John’s moral and spiritual lodestar: he had faith when John did not, helped John form opinions when he didn’t believe he could. John feels lost without Owen to guide him through the

In this entry, I will be addressing the titular character Owen Meany. In my opinion, he elicits a positive response from the reader. The author, John Irving, creates Owen by describing him from the point of view of the fictional narrator, Johnny Wheelwright, who is retelling the story of his childhood. This allows him to describe Owen's physical, mental, and emotional aspects as seen by his best friend. In this chapter, Owen is characterized as an individual who can take charge and make his presence known. . Owen is also described as an honest person. His enormous honesty contrasts with his miniscule size which further develops him as a character who refuses to let his bodily disadvantage depict how he will interact with others. He is accredited

There are numerous themes and motifs present in the novel, but in the following section, only three primary themes will be stated this includes: Faith, Friendship, and Fate. One of the most recurring themes throughout the novel is Faith in God. From the opening lines of the novel “he is the reason I believe in God; I am a Christian because of Owen Meany” (Page 3), to the last sentence of the novel “O God-please give him back! I shall keep asking You.(Page 627)”. It is evident that faith has influenced this novel in every possible way. Owen is the character in whom this theme is clearly evident since he believes in the idea of there being a reason and explanation for everything. The second vital theme

Put simply, the miraculousness of Owen Meany catalyzes Johnny’s faith. Yet, Johnny’s faith did not spring forth the moment he met Owen; instead, Owen’s life, sprouting with miracles, gradually inspired Johnny to accept and pursue a life of faith. Therefore, his true faith was born out of the miracle of Owen. After the Christmas pageant in which Johnny starred as Joseph and Owen as baby Jesus, Johnny mentions that “that Sunday…contributed to my belief in—and my dislike of—the miracle” (231). Here, Johnny’s reference to “the miracle” alludes to Owen Meany. Nonetheless, the miracle in this instance contradicts the heartwarming, wondrous thoughts that may first float through one’s mind at the mention of a “miracle.” This miracle, Owen’s role as baby Jesus, astounds Johnny because of Owen’s ability to take charge and the changes and revisions that Owen brings about to an established faith tradition. In reaction, some despised Owen’s rude outburst to his parents and slight alterations to the traditional Christmas story, but some appreciated the modifications. Similarly, when Jesus preached new teachings and introduced revisions to ancient traditions, many attacked him and proclaimed his teachings heresies. Therefore, both Owen and Jesus experience hindrances in their lifestyles that differ from the norm; although, both manage to persevere in leading others in their missions as God’s instruments on the Earth. Another miracle occurred much later in Johnny’s life, after Owen’s death, when Dan Needham shuts Johnny into an unlit cellar as a joke. Unfortunately, Johnny loses his balance at the edge of the stairs, and he begins to fall backwards. Just before he topples over, Johnny feels a small hand guide his own hand to the light switch while pulling his body forward to retain his balance; meanwhile, a voice,

In A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving uses literary devices including allusions, characterization, and motifs to establish his theme that stress the importance of faith and the acceptance of fate.

Humor is difficult to incorporate in writing, yet John Irving captures the essence of humor beautifully in A Prayer for Owen Meany through the use literary techniques and strategies. Although the stories themselves are hilarious, Irving’s writing creativity evokes laughter in the most inapt scenes like Grandma Wheelwright forgets her own grandson. A scene between Barb Wiggin and Owen Meany is particularly funny, and to showcase his jocular writing style in the scene, Irving manipulates punctuation, diction, description to create one of the many unforgettable and comical scenes in the book.

The prominence of a few themes - amputation, fate and death - create the catharsis required in a tragedy, mainly incidents which “arousing] pity and fear,” (definition). The repetition of these eerie and morbid themes keep them at the forefront of a reader’s mind, and put them in an uneasy emotional state, leading to a sense of catharsis at the end of the long, marathon novel. One main motif through the novel is that of amputation, and armlessness, which come to symbolize loss, helplessness, and the way in which sometimes one’s hands are bound, at the will of something greater. For example, after Owen accidentally kills John’s mother, he borrows John’s stuffed armadillo, a prized playing toy, and returns it without its claws, rendering it “USELESS TO JohN QUOTE,” which Owen means to signify “QUOTE ABOUT IM AM GODS MESSENGER.” This theme is touched upon many more times, and becomes somewhat of an obsession for Owen, who repeatedly removes or adds arms to female figures, including John’s deceased mother’s dressmaker’s dummy, a large catholic stature of a saint, which he desecrates. In irony, or perhaps a fate Owen had foreseen, the novel concludes with Owen losing his arms, protecting a group of Vietnamese children, in his last act of heroism. In addition to the theme of amputation, the theme of fate, and predestiny from God, is woven throughout, particularly perpetuated by Owen, who sees himself as God’s instrument. Owen consistently reminds John of the certainty of fate, and is angered when John does not share his blind faith. Owen believed “there were no accidents; there was a reason for that baseball - just as there was a reason for Owen being small, and a reason for his voice. In Owen's opinion, he had INTERRUPTED AN ANGEL, he had DISTURBED AN ANGEL AT WORK, he had UPSET THE SCHEME OF THINGS (page 102).” Is it Owen’s blind

     In the beginning of the novel, immediately there is a clear difference between Owen and Johnny. There is the field of academics; Owen is the head of his class while he helps John not to fail in his studies. There is Owen, very sure of his belief system and Johnny, very doubtful and unsure about his beliefs or feelings towards’ god.

In the novel’s final chapter, John reveals the climax of the story, Owen’s death. Owen’s death is intricate to the story and by the time this scene is read the audience is already aware of Owen’s untimely death. What makes this scene so important is the manner in which Owen died; being killed by a lunatic’s grenade while saving a group of Vietnamese children. The details of this event fulfill Owen’s Christ-like prophecy of his own death. Owen had previously predicted that he would die on July 8, 1968 saving Vietnamese children from their own certain death, and he did. This sequence of events leaves an unquenched doubt in the audience’s mind as to Owen’s true relationship to a higher power when the

Owen Meany was predestined to be a savior for the Vietnamese children and he had been preparing for this sacrifice his entire life. From the time he was born, Owen was always special. His parents admitted that he was unnatural when Mr. Meany exclaimed, “‘She just conceived a child—like the Christ Child.’” (Irving 545). This shows that Owen’s parents did not purposefully conceive him, but he was born for a greater purpose. Later on in Owen’s life, he has a vision of his grave and how he will die, which leads him to prepare for his death. He saw his death so vividly, he knew Johnny would be present, therefore he involves Johnny in his practice. Johnny explains, “We practiced the shot for three or four days in a row; of course, my part in this exercise was extremely limited, but I

A Prayer for Owen Meany analyzes the relationship between various depths of spirituality in comparison to mundane life. The novel by John Irving uses characters such as Owen Meany and John Wheelwright, to juxtapose the contrasting nature of faith and doubt, and fate and free will.

Owen did not start out as the perfect hero; in fact, Irving takes a very typical road and develops Owen’s character through series of events that lead up to his taking of his place as the Christ-figure hero (Guerin). Owen starts out as a coward – albeit a coward who refuses to act like one. For instance, he pees his pants when his female cousin is in the same closet as him (Peterson). He is also the source of both the main sorrows of the novel, his own death, and the death of Tabitha Wheelwright, acting as the exact opposite of a hero. He undergoes a metaphorical rebirth to mature into the Christ Hero; who gets his arms blown of by throwing grenade out a window to save some Vietnamese children. The catalyst for this rebirth is paradoxical in that is actually a vision of said rebirth; in the form of Owen’s vision and subsequent dreams about the circumstances surrounding his death. Irving does this to fulfill the other part of the hero archetype, by giving

When Owen Meany wakes up the morning of the baseball game he knows he is God’s instrument. However, he didn’t know the only baseball he ever hit would be the same baseball that would kill not only his best friend’s mother, but also the one whom acts as his own mother. Maybe God had Owen take Johnny’s place in the line-up that way Johnny didn’t kill his own mother. On

The death of Owen which Owen had himself predicted as a part of God’s destiny for him would finally change John. When faced with the reality of the situation in the bathroom John’s faith would forever shift. This moment left no room for John to rationally or scientifically explain the event. The only way to justify it was through believing in God. And through believing in God it would cause everything that Owen had spoke of growing up, and what John had always doubted, to be true.