A Prayer For Owen Meany

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.

Johnny was also very cocky, he was an amazing Silversmith but he was very vain about it. Johnny thought he could take on any job that was brought to him, alone. In which actually got him hurt, hurt to the point of losing his job, to the point of losing the use of his hand. Though when he found a job his eyes were opened to everything.

When her husband returns, he made Johnny promise not to get involved in the war. After hearing this, Johnny’s mother remarked, “I’m glad. It’d kill me to lose another one, Johnny.”

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.

Although Johnny retreats occasionally back in the present, Johnny’s life as a Canadian citizen shows a hint of ambiguity in terms of his emotional stability. His feelings of bitterness and hatred show signs of depression which ties into his hallucination of Owen in his grandmother’s basement. Johnny feels “a small, strong hand” pull him “forward from where” he stands and hears “Owen’s voice” say “DON’T BE AFRAID” because “NOTHING BAD IS GOING TO HAPPEN TO” him (517). His hallucination of Owen plays a role in his loss of doubt whereas he sees this also as a miracle. Losing a loved one can cause great signs of grief and takes effort for someone to overcome depression. Death has the capability of testing one’s faith, which in Johnny’s,

Owen and Johnny travel to Boston to find answers concerning Tabby’s secret life away from Gravesend. They first find the store Johnny's mother purchased a bold red dress from. She claimed that the store had burned down and she could not return the dress. The store had not in fact closed down, which prompted the boys to ask “why she bought the dress?” (353.) The boys kept searching until they found Johnny’s mother's old musical teacher who explained everything to them later in the novel. This is not the only mystery involved within A Prayer for Owen Meany. The identity of Johnny’s dad is kept a mystery until the very end of the novel. Exactly who Johnny’s dad was always fascinated the boys, and Owen was so sure that “god knew who my father was” and that “God would identify him to me” when the time was right. Owen was correct because after Owen had passed and Johnny was meeting with Reverend Mr. Merrill God presented Johnny his father. God spoke through Mr. Merrill and said to open a desk drawer that had “the ball that Owen Meany hit” and there was Johnny’s

This is an example of how great her love is for John, because she will go against her morals and sin by lying in order for him to live. Her plan backfires, though, because instead of this saving John's life, it leads to

In John Irving’s novel A Prayer for Owen Meany, a boy with an uncanny way of persuading and changing people’s lives tugs at the reader’s heart throughout a powerful story. A special soul named Owen Meany is not only everyone’s friend, but also a symbol of Christ. Not only does Irving show us symbolism, but he also shows us many other literary devices throughout the entire novel.

Johnny Truant is first introduced to the reader characterized as a drunken, unstable individual in a bar. His ramblings of a drunken brawl with two men in which he loses and ends up paying them money for, establishes Johnny as a narrator with little to no credibility. In chapter five, Johnny recounts the story in which he encounters a young girl who is a local stripper, who Johnny refers to as “Thumper”. Thumper is described as somebody who is irresponsibly risqué, and even shameful in her morals and beliefs which she attributes in the life she lives, amid drugs, random sexual encounters, and other behaviors that the common person would deem “unstable”. The average person considers “stable” to be somebody with a

The NT attempts to change the children’s religious beliefs through realization of the actual effects of religion. After getting caught pretending to be “Our Leader” by Johnny, the NT said, “Praying to God or anything or anyone for something is a waste of time” (Clavell). Throughout the book, we see that the NT tries to be gentle and reasonable to have a successful indoctrination. Thus she would not say “Praying to God or anything or anyone for something is a waste of time” because that is too direct for her usual way of conveying messages. So can we assume, that in this situation, that her main goal before she was caught by Johnny is to gain the children’s trust? But did Johnny really “caught” her or did Johnny just got ahead of the NT? I assume that what she means by “Our Leader” is a human, that humans can be the only

After Johnny accuses King, he argues, “Allegations like yours have to have some basis in truth - some evidence”(41). This is important because at the time the onus would be on Johnny to prove tangible evidence against King. Also, the Assistant Bishop is succesful career wise and economically so he would probably win despite the regularity of abuse in schools. Johnny’s economic instability is often discussed and attributes to her character. Her low income helps George feel sympathy for her and takes the focus off of why she is poor. Early in the Play George offers to “pay for a cab”(7). This is stereotypical of him as he knows nothing about Johnny at the time except for her indigenous

Amber claims that Johnny’s quick temper paranoia caused her to fear for her life. Her friend, Raquel rose Pennington also wrote to the courts claiming, "Many times over the past few years, Amber has confided and complained to me about Johnny's abusing her, both physically and verbally."

Johnny’s internal issues are as equally grievous as his external issues. He practically raised his siblings since he was six years old, and started to work in factories when he was seven. Due to his early start transferring to adulthood, he never really had the chance to experience a jovial and enjoyable childhood. Johnny “had been robbed of a large part of that playtime by being compelled to take care of [his siblings] … he had fallen the part of little mother and father as well” (8). Johnny does not have any pleasurable memories to look back on and confirm that his upbringing readied him to steadily transition to adulthood. His mother is not a major help in his life, consequently making him uphold both roles of provider and supporter when it comes to his family. With no time for himself, it was evident in Johnny’s face that “there was no joyousness in him…

Maxie Jones will see them together at The Haunted Star and will warn her best friend about the risk involved in the situation. Johnny will then try to keep Maxie from spreading news about his appearance in Port Charles, the report relays.