Symbols In John Irving's 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.-

In the book, the armadillo, the dressmaker’s dummy, and the armless statue of Mary Magdalene were very important. They represented how Owen’s arms were ‘’God’s instrument’’. In the movie, however, the armadillo and the dummy are just there; they do not mean anything. The director did not include the themes of the story that I enjoyed the most.

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.

In the novel The Awakening by Kate Chopin, the theme of escape is presented by the use of three symbols. These three symbols include looking out windows, riding carriages, and the movement of swimming and boat riding. All of these symbols help Mrs. Pontellier realize that she wants an escape from her life. Edna feels inclined to escape throughout the novel and three symbols that prove this are windows, carriages, and movement.

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.

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.

Irving uses biblical allusions to reinforce the importance of faith in God. After Owen’s death, John visits the Meany family to discuss Owen’s funeral service. Mr Meany tells him that Mrs. Meany “just conceived a child--like the Christ Child” (545). Owen knows the details of his death and believes in his purpose just as Jesus did. After the death of John’s mother, Owen gives John his prized baseball cards. John returns the baseball cards and gives Owen his stuffed armadillo, his prized possession. When Owen returns the armadillo, John notices Owen has removed the claws. Many years later, John acknowledges Owen’s “ hands were the instrument” of

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 novel “A Prayer For Owen Meany,” John Irving creates the character of Owen as a foil to John, the protagonist. Owen Meany embodies the qualities of a true leader while John grows more like his father: doubtful and lost.

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

The central crime in Hannah Mary Tabbs and the Disembodied Torso is first discovered by the public when Silas Hibbs, a resident of Eddington, Pennsylvania, sees something out of the ordinary near a fellow resident’s pond. Upon a closer look, the package held “the headless, limbless torso of a man”. With later examination of the torso, it is determined that death of the nameless victim was that of a violent crime and not having to do with the medical and training area in Philadelphia. This resolution is brought about by the amateur nature of the cuts that separated the head and limbs. To find other clues to the crime, the area nearby the crime scene is searched and reveals a shawl-strap and a piece of calico fabric. Further searches were conducted but resulted in nothing. For some time, the racial

Several themes can be found within the pages of A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving; however, a more prominent theme that moves the story along is that of symbolism. For Owen Meany, he seems to be obsessed 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.

The “mother-of-pearl buttons on the back” (7-8) of the dress can be seen as an unconscious “Freudian slip” which reveals Collin’s true sexual feelings toward his mother. He could have referred to the buttons as any color, but he chooses to use the term “mother-of-pearl” (7). Collins then says that he buttons are “so tiny and numerous that it takes forever before [his] hands can part the fabric” (9-10). He seems to be very methodical in his act of undressing Dickinson. He is the one doing the undressing, he is the one in charge, and it is he who is in control of every detail. The simile “like a swimmer dividing the water, and slip inside” (11-12) might refer to Collins slipping into his unconscious and thinking about his mother, forgetting about Dickinson.

In the story when Armand first laid his eyes on her, he fell in love. So he orders her very fine clothes and ladies’ accessories from Paris in hopes to win her affection and marring Desiree. These objects that Armand bought for Desiree are symbols that shows how very wealthy he is.

Washington Irving was a writer of many fiction and nonfiction books. Irving “wrote numerous short stories, biographies, histories, and stories of his travels.” (Irving,Washington) Irving was known as "the Father of American Literature." (Gallagher, Edward J.) Washington had over 15 writing's he had produced. Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of a Sleepy Hollow are his most well known novels. Washington “best known as the first American to make a living solely from writing.” (“United States ) He was one of the best writers for 76 years, he made stories for people to enjoy. In his 18 century novel the Rip Van Winkle Washington Irving explores the theme freedom from tyranny by using symbolism and imagery.