Background And Literary Elements In A Prayer For Owen Meany

A Prayer for Madison Brostoski’s Grade on This Essay
John Irving’s novel, A Prayer for Owen Meany is one in which the aspect of religion is deeply appreciated. Constantly deciding which branch of religion he feels is most relevant to him at the time, John Wheelwright finds himself in the midst of a religious hunt with his best friend Owen Meany at his side. Overcome by a sense of destiny, Owen believes that he was ordained to be God’s instrument and part of the job description was that he be responsible for the death of John’s mother. Readers can further understand the implications of A Prayer for Owen Meany by analyzing both background and literary elements.
John Wheelwright, a former American who is now a Canadian citizen living in Toronto,

Since the late 19th century it has been among the half-dozen most industrialized states in the Union, yet it is frequently portrayed as agricultural and pastoral. Vermont and New Hampshire supposedly constitute a “Yankee Kingdom” dominated by white Anglo-Saxon Protestants, yet the state has a large population of residents with other non-English ancestors as well. This connects directly with the backstory of John Wheelwright’s grandmother, because she is often referred to as acting in her “old Yankee ways”. In the colonial period the majority of the people were of English origin, but a significant influx of Scotch-Irish, who were largely Presbyterian in faith, began in 1719. In the past New Hampshire had a system of town churches in which any officially recognized denomination could be designated at the annual town meeting to receive public tax support. Prior to the American Revolution, five denominations were officially recognized: Congregational, Baptist, Presbyterian, Quaker (Society of Friends), and Church of England, which all make some appearance in the storyline of A Prayer for Owen

John, who takes his surname, Wheelwright, from his mother’s family because his father is unknown, spends a sufficient part of the novel wondering who his father is; at the moment of her death, he realizes his mother was waving to his father in the stands. John then takes it upon himself to search for who the person was, sitting in the stands, tha his mother had waved to in her final moments. He wants simple justification in his mother’s death, because like Owen, he somewhat believes that everything happens for a reason, whether that reason is morally right or