A Prayer For Owen Meany By John Irving

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.-

Several themes are portrayed within the pages of A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving; nevertheless, symbolism is a more prominent theme that moves the story along. In the novel, Owen Meany infatuated himself with armless figures all his life from Tabby’s dressmaker, to the armadillo, and finally, Mary Magdalene. Readers cannot help but to try to correlate all these images into a bigger picture.

There are numerous symbols that John Irving incorporated into A Prayer for Owen Meany. While some symbols only appear in the novel once, other symbols happen to recur throughout the novel. Such recurring symbols are the several manifestations of “armless” figures, which are Tabby’s dressmaker’s dummy, the armadillo, and the statue of Mary Magdalene. The most significant manifestation of the armless figures is Tabby’s dressmaker’s dummy since its symbolism of Tabby primarily contributes to the reader’s understanding of Owen’s belief that he was God’s instrument, as well as the overall theme of predestination.

John and Owen are considered best friends in the Novel, “A Prayer for Owen Meany,” but may actually be less than that after all. Johnny Wheelwright and Owen Meany are the main character in “A Prayer for Owen Meany” by John Irving. The novel is about Owen, a midget, and his journeys with Johnny. They take of many challenges such as the mistreatment of Owen, finding Johnny’s father, and demonstrating heroics to save multiple people. While only looking at the surface of the plot, the two seem to work well together, however, if you look a little deeper, you may notice how each of the boys use each other in their own ways. I believe that Owen uses John for his physical features, and John uses Owen for his physical features, but his ability to

John Irving’s coming-of-age novel A Prayer for Owen Meany follows the tale of Owen Meany through the voice of his friend Johnny Wheelwright. Johnny’s narration drifts from astonishment to doubt as he witnesses the miracle of the life of Owen Meany, and constantly questions his faith and belief system as he attains various experiences. Johnny becomes enraptured with Owen’s miraculous life, and proclaims Owen the sole reason for his faith. Contrastingly, Dan Needham, Johnny’s stepdad, and Reverend Merrill experience a greater amount of doubt regarding their belief in miracles, and, for the most part, believe that faith does not stem from the witness of a miracle or two, but rather from one’s belief in God through personal and spiritual growth.

John Wheelwright’s and Owen Meany’s differing attributes highlight the use of contrast within A Prayer for Owen Meany. While Owen Meany tends to be a leader, John is a follower where his primary experiences tend to be due to Owen. Furthermore, their different appearances further illustrate their differences- while John is a typical male, Owen appears childlike in stature with a “rodent” quality to his appearance. Consequently, these comparisons between the two characters highlight the underlying theme of spirituality within the novel. Owen Meany has a continuing belief in God, even taking it as far as saying that God has a specific plan for him. “GOD HAS TAKEN YOUR MOTHER. MY HANDS WERE THE INSTRUMENT. GOD HAS TAKEN MY HANDS. I AM GOD’S INSTRUMENT (page 90)” This quote illustrates the absolute belief that Owen has in God; despite the fact that Owen has taken the life from Tabitha Wheelwright, -----, he chalks it up to fate and God’s will. However, John Wheelwright doubts the ideologies of Christianity as he changes his denomination within the Christian community regularly. This contrast is displayed when the two boys are young sitting in church: “When I complained about church, I complained about

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.

In literature of significant standing, no act of violence is perpetrated without reason. For a story to be legitimate in the area of fine literature violence cannot be used in a wanton manner. In John Irving’s modern classic, A Prayer for Owen Meany the audience is faced with multiple scenes of strong violence but violence is never used without reason. All of the violent acts depicted in the novel are totally necessary for the characters and the plot to develop. This plot-required violence can be seen in the novel’s first chapter when Owen accidentally kills John’s mother and in the novel’s last chapter when John relates Owen’s grotesque, while heroic, death to the audience. The violence

John Wheelwright’s and Owen Meany’s differing attributes highlight the use of contrast within A Prayer for Owen Meany. While Owen Meany tends to be a leader, John is a follower where his primary experiences tend to be due to Owen. Furthermore, their different appearances further illustrate their differences- while John is a typical male, Owen appears childlike in stature with a “rodent” quality to his appearance. Consequently, these comparisons between the two characters highlight the underlying theme of spirituality within the novel. Owen Meany has a continuing belief in God, even taking it as far as saying that God has a specific plan for him. “GOD HAS TAKEN YOUR MOTHER. MY HANDS WERE THE INSTRUMENT. GOD HAS TAKEN MY HANDS. I AM GOD’S INSTRUMENT (page 90)” This quote illustrates the absolute belief that Owen has in God; despite the fact that Owen has taken the life from Tabitha Wheelwright, mother of Johnny, he chalks it up to fate and God’s will. However, John Wheelwright doubts the ideologies of Christianity as he changes his denomination within the Christian community regularly. This contrast is displayed when the two boys are young

The novel has religious themes embedded throughout. The theme of miracles was prominent in A Prayer for Owen Meany. For example, it is believed that Owen Meany himself is a miracle of God. Like Virgin Mary, Mrs. Meany “just conceived a child” without having sex with her husband (545.) This is believed to be a miracle among characters like Johnny and the Many family but the town and church do not agree. Another theme was the Power of God. Owen was very religious and had a deep belief in God and voiced it openly saying things like “FAITH AND PRAYER. FAITH AND PRAYER - THEY WORK, THEY REALLY DO” and that God will show Johnny who his real father is in time

“O GOD—WHY HASN’T MY VOICE CHANGED, WHY DID YOU GIVE ME SUCH A VOICE? THERE MUST BE A REASON.” Then he shut his eyes and said: “WATAHANTOWET”

The book opens with John introducing Owen as someone who greatly impacted him, and saying “I am a Christian because of Owen Meany” (1). This opening makes it clear that the narrator is writing this book because of Owen Meany and that the story is centered around Owen. Throughout the book John idolizes and idealizes

However, unlike Owen her death turns John away from God and the world of faith. John is angry with Owen for thinking that his mother’s death is God’s will. Likewise, John is mad at God for taking his mother away from him at such a young age. John decides that Owen’s faith is just a way for Owen to alleviate his guilt, and can’t believe that Owen thinks that God would want his mother to die. John is able to watch the entirety of Owen’s brief life unfold before him. However skeptical John is of Owen’s faith, seeing that Owen was right about his death turns John into a believer. John even feels Owen’s religious presence after his death, when he is “saved” by what is seemingly Owen’s ghost when in the cellar. John does finally does appreciate the miracle that is Owen Meany’s life, and realizes that his disbelief was unwarranted. Irving’s position on the debate of belief vs. doubt is made clear in the first sentence of the book when John says, “he is the reason I believe in God; I am a Christian because of Owen Meany.” (Irving 1). John struggles to find the faith that Owen possesses, and his life suffers because of it. However, while John looks back at the events of his youth and recalls Owen’s relationship with God he is able to find the spiritual peace that eluded him. Irving uses John’s initial doubt and eventual conversion to show that although it may be easier to doubt

From the very first chapter in John Irving’s book A Prayer for Owen Meany, Owen can be seen as an instrument of God. Owen believes that he was an instrument of God when he kills Johnny’s mom at the baseball game. Later in the book Owen believes that God is sending him to Vietnam to save Vietnamese children. Owen becomes very obsessed with this notion and puts his entire focus towards making it to Vietnam. Owen’s father later reveals that Owen and his family believed that Owen was born from a virgin birth, similar to Jesus Christ. This may play a large role in the way Owen interprets events throughout his life. Some characters in this novel view Owen being an instrument of God in different ways. Johnny and Hester have both similar and

In the book A Prayer for Owen Meany, Owen Meany is a very special young man, who grows up throughout the story. Owen believes he is an instrument of God and he is on this Earth to die a hero. Owen believes he is destined to save lives, at first he thought he was meant to die in Vietnam during the war, but he later found out that he wasn’t able to go into the war because of his disability. Owen becomes a casualty-assistance officer, and asked Johnny Wheelwright to come to Arizona, where Owen is stationed, to catch up with each other. At the airport for Johnny’s departure, a teenage boy, named Dick Jarvits, throws a grenade into the bathroom full of orphaned children. John grabs the grenade and throws it up to Owen and they try to throw