Themes Of A Prayer For Owen Meany

In A Prayer for Owen Meany” by John Irving John Wheelwright, the son of Tabitha Wheelwright acts as the narrative figure of the book; constantly shifting between the story of his past and present life. Johns life is greatly influenced by the help of his best-friend Owen Meany, a largely devoted member of the episcopal church and a strange figure given his inhuman physical appearance and voice. Being a natural born American man, an outsider to Toronto, causes Johnny Wheelwright to live a life of seclusion and constant reminiscence on his home and past life, which highlights the novels main theme of how doubt forms faith. A prayer for Owen Meany is set in the the mid 1900s, an era of disturbance and lost hope for Americans as

While Johnny has left his hometown of New Hampshire to move to Toronto, his comforting home lies in the heart of people he lived with and whom influenced him in his early life including Owen, Dan, and his grandmother. Owen Meany influences the life of Johnny in such a huge way that his faith was transformed by the miracle of Owen Meany back in New Hampshire therefore it is the origin of his faith which he cannot let go of. Aside from Johnny, Owen influences other characters like Hester in such a way that she too is left living in an eternal state of remorse for him which is clearly seen in the titles of her songs as a rockstar “Gone to Arizona” and “Driven with no hands” (512). Irving highlights Johnny’s solitude in a way that informs the reader about his troubled past. John is constantly haunted by the death of his mother and his best friend. Irving frequently points to the main reason that John moves to Canada which is not to help him evade the past but the real reason keeps him in a constant state of solitude. John sees himself as a character placed in a life where he is forced to live to be used but never acknowledged for his utility. He feels like “Joseph” in the act of the “little Lord Jesus” which he has been doomed to by Owen (280). This directly correlates to Johns eternal feeling of isolation as he feels he is only a witness to a miracle, the miracle of Owen Meany. Once that miracle has

However John sees doubt as a huge negative in ones life which is portrayed by the way that he feels about Pastor Merril. He becomes upset when he realizes that Pastor Merril lacks complete faith in God and his faith is only restored by Johns fake “miracle” of the “dressmaker dummy” (489). Irving clearly depicts Johns perspective as incorrect which is evidently portrayed through Johns lonesome present life. This theme is highlighted throughout Johns life when he states he was “doomed to faith” by his friend Owen Meany (1). John lives a life of misery and seclusion because of the overpowering amount of faith present in his life. This tremendous amount of certainty in God which was brought upon him by Owens miracle forces John stick to his overwhelming past. Since he has been doomed to his faith he has also been doomed to remembering the accounts that led him to