Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving is a novel in which
religion is of great importance. One of the main themes in this
novel is faith in God and oneself, and even more, the conflict
between belief and doubt. Irving writes in such a way, that
this is very evident throughout the book.
John Wheelwright, at the start of the novel, is a young
boy who does not seem to know much about how strong his
faith really is. Part of the reason for this, is that the choice
between believing in and doubting God is that there isn’t any
complete evidence that He even exists. Owen Meany, on the
other hand, is almost the complete opposite of John. He knows
that everything that occurs happens for a reason, and that
there is no such thing as coincidences. John Irving follows the
journey from childhood friendship into adulthood between the
two, showing the true meaning of friendship and the impact
that Owen has on John.
John doesn’t feel a connection with God while growing up,
quite possibly because he had changed churches several times
as a child, due to his mother and her relations with Reverend
Merill. John is characterized as a person lacking to know the
very self of him, and he seems to learn from the events that
occur around him, rather than to himself.
Irving’s use of symbolism in the novel is very effective in
supporting this theme of religious faith. One of the most
obvious and important symbols is Owen himself. He is
portrayed as a Jesus figure, and himself exclaims, “I AM
GOD’S INSTRUMENT.” There is also reference to the nativity
set in the Meany’s home. It just so happens that the Baby Jesus
is missing from the crib in the center. This symbolizes that
Owen takes the place of Baby Jesus and therefore is not found
in the nativity set. Owen himself is a miracle, which is shown
by the description of his physical appearance, his voice, and
the fact that his visions and dreams have told him when and
how he was going to die. Owen ultimately sacrifices his own
life for the good of others, similar to Jesus. Another image in
this piece of literature is the fascination with armlessness.
Many objects throughout the novel have no arms. For
example, the Watahantowet’s totem; the dressmaker’s dummy
that belonged to Tabitha Wheelwright, the armless statue of
Mary Magdalene at the Academy, and how Owen removes the
claws from the armadillo that was so meaningful to both him
and John. Also, at the end of the novel, when Owen loses his
In the beginning when John and Owen were eleven, they were both on the same baseball team. The one time Owen was allowed to bat he hit the ball and the ball hit John’s mother. She died that instant and then later Owen said, “GOD HAS TAKEN YOUR MOTHER. MY HANDS WERE THE INSTRUMENT. GOD HAS TAKEN MY HANDS. I AM GOD'S INSTRUMENT.” The meaning of this quote is that Owen looks at himself as the murderer of John’s mom. This hurts John knowing his best friend says he killed John’s mother. Also because John does not know who his father is and is now without parents. However John still remains friends with him. This is most likely because John does not believe that Owen is responsible for this tragedy.
A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving has many different motifs. One dominant motif is armlessness. Armlessness was a reoccurring motif throughout the story and came up in many occasions. It seems to symbolize helplessness or being under your own control. There are a variety of things throughout the novel that gives off that feeling.
One interesting literary device used to drive the story is the style of narration. The story begins from the point of view of middle-aged John Wheelwright. John is quickly identified as the former best friend of Owen Meany. As it turns out, this is John’s story. This makes
Of course, the thematic development of the novel is somewhat more complicated and cluttered than that. The presentation of religion in the book is continually undercut with irony and the constant presence of sex. Further the thematic development of the book is also inconsistent and indirect, in part because we are never able to obtain a secure view or outlook of Johnny's mind; he is such a subdued narrator that it is difficult to tell exactly where he stands during much of the novel, which often clouds our sense of his struggle with faith and doubt. This ambiguity underscores the important point that Irving's basic intention for his novel is not to present a philosophical meditation on the nature of God, but rather to tell a clutching story.
My father has always reminded me that religion plays a big role in one’s morals. Of course that only applies if a person is religious and has a religious background. There are a lot of religious people in this world, and if one were to ask them where their morals came from, they would say that it is based on their religion. So what is it that makes these two things so similar and distinct? Iris Murdoch, author of “Morality and Religion,” discusses how morals and religion need each other in order to work. Morals without religion is nearly impossible because; religion influences our morals, religion allows to set better morals for one’s self, and ideally morality is essentially religious.
Carl Jung was a Swiss psychologist and psychiatrist who developed many theories concerning the unconscious mind. Jung’s theories state that the unconscious part of a human’s psyche has two different layers, the personal unconscious and the collective unconscious. The personal unconscious is unique to every individual; however, the collective unconscious “is inborn.” (Carl Jung, Four Archetypes, 3) The collective unconscious is present in everyone’s psyche, and it contains archetypes which are “those psychic contents which have not yet been submitted to conscious elaboration” (Jung, Archetypes, 5); they are templates of thought that have been inherited through the collective unconscious. Jung has defined many different archetypes such as the archetype of the mother, the archetype of the hero, the archetype of the shadow, etc. These Jungian archetypes are often projected by the collective unconscious onto others. If the novel A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving is examined through a Jungian archetypal lens it is possible to discern different archetypes projected by the protagonist’s unconscious self to illustrate the effects of the collective unconscious on character and plot analysis.
Religion, by far, is one of the most dominant forces the human race has ever seen. It has influenced and continues to influence billions of people all over the world. It has driven some of the most beneficial cooperative humanitarian efforts and some of the most heinous acts of violence anybody can perpetuate on another human being. In his book, When Religion Becomes Evil, Dr. Charles Kimball explores the causes and slippery slopes that lead to these kinds of atrocious behaviors. Many of his points were incredibly well thought out and valid, but one repetitive phrase that Dr. Kimball used caught my attention: “authentic religion.” This one phrase contains so many troublesome presuppositions that it is impossible not to question.
...ic meanings that still are puzzling art historians today. Some of the key symbols that Stokstad points out in the text is the dove, representing the Holy Spirit; the white lilies as a symbol of the Virgin Mary. She also points out, two rather unknown symbols to the sacrilegious, the date of the Annunciation in signs of the zodiac on the floor, as well as the lone stained glass window that is symbolizing God rising above the three windows that are placed in the background behind Mary. These three windows represent the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
As a result, the Geneva agreement was set up to try and keep order in
For centuries religion has played a huge role in the black community. From slavery to freedom, religion has help black folk deal with their anger, pain, oppression, sadness, fear, and dread. Recognizing the said importance of religion in the black community, Black poets and writers like Phillis Wheatley and Richard Wright, use religion as an important motif in their literature. Wheatley uses religion as a way to convince her mostly white audience of how religious conversion validates the humanity of herself and others. Wright on the other hand, uses religion in order to demonstrate how religion, as uplifting as it is can fail the black community. Thinking through, both Wheatley and Wright’s writings it becomes apparent that religion is so complex,
"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would
some that I shall show, and I will make thee think thy swan a crow.”
says this to threaten Juliet as if to say if you do not do this then
Comparing the Ways in Which Susan Hill and Thomas Hardy Present the Woman in Black and the Withered Arm
D. H. Lawrence was from a working class background and was always conscious of his status as an outsider because of his class. In his writing he focused on the idea of transgressing modern class systems in the search of new experiences. This is where the idea of rebellion becomes predominant in his writing. In The Virgin and the Gypsy (1930) he tells the story of a family ruled by a stern powerful Mater and the two young women eager for new experiences. The youngest daughter Yvette is the virgin of the title and it is through her encounters with the gypsy of the title (whose name is only revealed on the last page as Joe) and a soon to be divorcee and her young lover that she goes through a sexual awakening.