Summary Of A Prayer For Owen Meany

Religion is a confusing and controversial subject that many people struggle with, much like John Wheelwright. A Prayer for Owen Meany expresses an honest political view of America and their military actions while telling a story of a child becoming a Christian. A little boy full of doubts about his faith meets a miracle of a child named Owen Meany and makes him his best friend. It's not his small size or high-pitched voice that makes Owen unique; it’s his fate. Through the eyes of a man named John Wheelwright we witness the events that change a skeptical little boy to a faithful Christian. The first person point of view allows the reader to understand John’s thoughts, emotions, and opinions, which shows the level of impact that each event

The finger was not the only amputation in the story, there was also the arm-less dressmakers dummy, the stuffed armadillo claws that Owen stole, Lydia's missing led, and the sawed off arms of Mary Magdalene. Amputations and the lack of arms became an important motif for two reasons; Owen’s death scene and Owen’s belief that he is “an instrument of God.” It was a bomb that killed Owen, but he did not die right after the explosion. Instead the bomb blew both of his arms into pieces, leaving him like the Mary Magdalene statue and the dummy. The second reason is less literal and more symbolic. Owen was a strong believer that everything happens for a reason and it will all lead to a greater good. Owen ended up dying with both of his arms blown off by the bomb which symbolizes the idea that God took his hands and used them as and instrument. Amputation symbolizes that God has taken over his hands and used them as a tool, but for Owen it wasn’t just his hands, it was his entire body. Owens meager size and ear-piercing-voice play a large role in the God’s purpose for him. Even Owen did not understand why his voice was so awful, but he accepted it as another piece of his fate puzzle. His small size allowed him to be easily picked up and tossed, which lead to John and Owen making up a flashy basketball move where they dunked a ball in under three seconds. Though at the time it just seemed to be a fun pass time, it turned out to be

Owen Meany criticizes organized religion because there is no true way to know God’s opinions on what they practice, but he spent most of his life trying to figure out what exactly what God’s plan for him was. He followed through with what he believed was his fate, which were his literal dreams. His dreams foreshadowed his exact death scene, which proved everyone who said he was crazy for believing in such a silly concept wrong. A series of events helped Owen confirm his theory of being “God’s Instrument,” it all started when his parents told him he was a virgin birth. Though it's obvious to everybody else that Mrs.Meany had an affair and tricked her husband into believing she was the next virgin Mary, Owen and Mr.Meany completely trusted her. Because Owen believed he was a miracle, he became very faithful to God, but anti-catholic because the way the church shunned his mother. On the fateful day when Owen struck the baseball that killed his best friends mother, Tabby Wheelwright, he mourned her death, but he had no remorse because he believed that its was God’s doing, not his. He believed it was his duty because he had disturbed the angel of death he claimed to see in Tabby’s room just weeks before. The next thing that made Owen a strong believer was the night of the A Christmas Carol play at Gravesend, when Owen saw his own death date on the grave.