Symbolism In A Prayer For Owen Meany

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.-

John Irving’s A Prayer for Owen Meany has a curious ending. The narrator, John Wheelwright, acts almost like a tour guide, taking the audience through a voyage of his life and his faith – “And if you look to the left, you’ll see my mom getting hit by a fatal baseball,” John almost seems to say – through the similarly curious Owen Meany, the reason that John is a Christian. For much of the text, A Prayer for Owen Meany seems nearly aimless, simply describing, often in detail of perplexing thoroughness, random childhood memories intercut with his current life with a slightly common yet undefined thread tying them all together. But the ending illuminates each of the seemingly meaningless plot threads, bringing order to the chaos of John’s cluttered memory. The conclusion of A Prayer for Owen Meany sheds lights on the nuances and intricacies of the novel, cementing some interpretations and opening doors to others, ensuring that it is a satisfying and, most importantly, a thought-provoking ending.

In the novel, A Prayer For Owen Meany, Written by John Irving is covered with literary devices. Every scene written has a purpose. His most common literary elements include foreshadowing, symbolism and Irony. From the armadillo to the wedding all these literary devices help the novel piece together, creating the book that it is. The following instrument, foreshadowing, symbolism and Irony help us better understand on how Owen Meany is truly a God’s Instrument.

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.

At the start of the novel, after Owen’s foul ball killed Tabitha, John gives Owen his armadillo to show Owen that he still loves him. When Owen returned the armadillo, the claws were missing because Owen amputated them. Owen explains that Dan, John, and himself all lost a part of them just like the armadillo lost his claws. Owen had meant to say that God had taken his hands and that he believed he was an instrument of God. "GOD HAS TAKEN YOUR MOTHER. MY HANDS WERE THE INSTRUMENT. GOD HAS TAKEN MY HANDS. I AM GOD'S INSTRUMENT." (90) Owen used his arms to throw the foul ball that killed Tabitha. He amputated the armadillo’s claws to show John and Dan that when they lost Tabitha, they both lost something important to them just as the claws of an armadillo were important to the animal. This quote also foreshadows how Owen dies, and how God put him on the Earth to fulfill a God-given task.

In his novel A Prayer for Owen Meany, author John Irving uses a final chapter of over 100 pages to provide appropriate closure of his intricate novel. In the final chapter, Irving provides answers to large questions the rest of the novel raises. Irving answers the question “who is John Wheelwright’s father?” while also providing further information and closure, as well as the answer to “why the practicing of ‘the shot’ was so important for Owen and John.” Finally, Irving is most thorough in carrying out the closure of a main theme in the novel, Owen’s prophecy of his own exact death, how it happens, when it happens, and most importantly with whom it happens.

Following John’s mother’s death, the boys exchange their beloved belongings. After Owen returned the armadillo, John became outraged that the animal no longer had its “front claws--the most useful and impressive parts of its curious body” (88). This vulnerable animal represents the helpless state of John and Owen’s lives as a result of her death. The Headmaster of Gravesend Academy, Randy White, expels Owen after he catches Owen selling fake draft cards. Owen removes “Mary Magdalene’s arms, above the elbow, so that her gesture of beseeching the assembled audience would seem all the more an act of supplication--and all the more helpless”(409). Owen decides to cut off the arms of the statue to illustrate his powerlessness to alter his expulsion. After the grenade explodes, Owen sustains fatal injuries. John describes Owen’s arms as “severed just below his elbows, perhaps three quarters of the way up his forearms” (625). Owen’s final destiny ends in his heroic death. In Owen’s last moments, he realizes the fulfillment of God’s path for

“Good books don’t give up all their secrets at once” (Stephen King). This is present in A Prayer for Owen Meany as all the secrets aren’t given up till the end. A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving is a novel categorized in the genre of mystery. In Owen Meany there are three main mysteries revealed throughout the story. All of these mysteries have answers that are unexpected to the reader. In addition, each mystery deals with Owen’s faith and purpose in a different way. In this case Irving’s main message is that everything in life may not be what it seems. This main message is illustrated through Owen and the supernatural elements that come with each mystery. Consequently, many of the answers to the mystery are not what

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.

In the book A Prayer For Owen Meany, the author’s purpose may have been about finding one’s personal faith. Both boys represent an aspect of faith, Owen with his strong belief in God, and John, who questions both God and himself. While the years go by, the boys have adventures and face obstacles as they grow up. When John grows up and copes with the incidents of the past, he realizes that he has become a more religious man, thanks to Owen Meany. “I am doomed to remember a boy with a wrecked voice- not because of his voice, or because he was the smallest person I ever knew, or even because he was the instrument of my mother’s death, but because he is the reason I believe in God... ”. Along with the coming of age theme, the novel asks a philosophical and deep question that revolves around religion. It enables the reader to think about their own religious belief. A Prayer For Owen Meany would appeal mostly to the adolescents and adults who like to delve more into sophisticated thinking. The passage may also appeal to those interested in suspense, sorrow, and humor of growing up and trying to find your purpose.

There are few people in this world who are willing to sacrifice their life for someone else's. The sacrifice of life is the single largest sacrifice one can make and it takes more bravery and compassion than any other act. Even so, in John Irving’s A Prayer for Owen Meany, Owen is more than willing to do just that. Although he makes many sacrifices, his biggest sacrifice is his own life. In the beginning of the novel, Owen comes across as slightly different with his minuscule size and high pitched voice, but as the novel progresses and Owen ages, his inhuman qualities become more and more prevalent. Eventually, Owen Meany’s supernatural qualities combine with his selflessness and people begin to view him as more than just a compelling

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

How many people are willing to practice their own death? Not many, right? It sounds strange, but one person in particular was eager to do just that—Owen Meany. In John Irving’s A Prayer for Owen Meany, Owen makes many sacrifices, his biggest sacrifice being his own life. In the beginning of the novel, Owen comes across as slightly different with his minuscule size and high pitched voice, but as the novel progresses and Owen ages, his inhuman qualities become more and more prevalent, eventually leading to the biggest indicator of all—his death. In the novel, Owen Meany is willingly able to plan the sacrifice of his own life in order to save the lives of others, showing he is a supernatural being.

A Prayer For Owen Meany by John Irving details the friendship between Owen Meany and John Wheelwright. Irving uses Biblical allusions to enhance character development and create foreshadowing; John and Owen work in tandem to mirror Joseph and Jesus.

Another tool in developing the effectiveness of the poem is the use of compelling figurative language in the poem helps to reveal the reality of war. In the first line, the metaphor, ?Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,?(1) shows us that the troops are so tired that they can be compared to old beggars. Also, the simile "coughing like hags"(2) helps to depict the soldiers? poor health and depressed state of mind. Owen makes us picture the soldiers as ill, disturbed and utterly exhausted Another great use of simile, ?His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin,?(20) suggests that his face is probably covered with blood which is the color symbolizing the devil. A very powerful metaphor is the comparison of painful experiences of the troops to ??vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues.?(24) This metaphor emphasizes that the troops will never forget these horrific experiences. As you can see, Owen has used figurative language so effectively that the reader gets drawn into the poem.