Owen Meany Analysis

According to the Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving presents Owen as an embodiment of a deity. His character is created to be realistic; however he is supernatural in the sense that his views manifest somewhat unworldly. Owen believes that God has jurisdiction to everyday situations and would inherently die for God’s word. Owen’s belief in sacrificing his life to save the Vietnamese children is the meaning of Owen’s whole life. This pattern of rebirth began with Tabita’s death in the first chapter because even though she ceased to exist. She was still dedicated a second chapter recounting the meaning of her life which in that regard she was brought back through memories. Owen is associated with the pattern of death and rebirth. Irving

The notion of God’s existence isn’t held as highly as it once was. John Irving presents this secular view by creating various characters with a disparity of beliefs. He sets Owen to believe that he is God’s instrument; however Owen juxtaposition is John Wheelwright who is cynical about God’s impact of the natural world. John Wheelwright’s story illustrates that in a secular, closed immanent world, Christians have to “struggle to recover a sense of what the Incarnation can mean” (John Irving, pg 753). Which means that God has this whole world in the palm of his hands and he basically can do his own bidding with it. This brings us to the point of rebirth because God’s abilities allows him to give and take life with just a flip of a switch. In that sense everything after the creation of the first human is considered a rebirth, because it duplicates the set of values that was instilled within the first human and leaves a trail of lineage that may or may not connect you with their

Owen’s belief is more personal and there is a sort of a relationship between God and Owen while John is more like a ritualized habit. Charles Taylor says that “people who undergo conversion . . . may take on a new view about religion from others . . . who have radiated some sense of more direct contact”. (John Irving, pg 729) Which is exactly how John became a believer through Owen’s persistent of God’s eminent power within the natural world. The novel even states within the first sentence that “[Owen Meany] is the reason I believe in God; I am a Christian because of Owen Meany”. It was Owen’s view of life and death and him sacrificing himself that lead John to think differently about God which in the sense is consider a rebirth. A rebirth for John in believing in