Foreshadowing is used in an unusual way in A Prayer for Owen Meany. John Irving gives off subtle hints of the future, but since they are not obvious, he goes back and explains his use of it.
One example is the fact that Owen’s family is in the granite business in the “Granite State”.
“It was a brick-shaped piece of the finest granite- ‘Monument quality, as good as they get out of barre,’ Owen would say. Owen had cut it himself, polished it himself; he had designed and chiseled the border himself, and the engraving was all his, too. He had worked on it after school in the monument shop, and on weekends.” Pg.121“
"It had been made in a monument shop, with grave-marking tools; it may have had her wedding date on it, but I was a miniature tombstone.” Pg. 122
In a way it’s ironic. Irving goes in to great detail in the beginning of the story about how Owen’s family was involved in the granite business. That fact comes in to the story many times. Owen uses it to his advantage when making Tabby her wedding present- a piece of granite with her wedding date engraved on it. After killing her, Owen’s family makes her the headstone too.
Irving proves his use of foreshadowing by explaining almost mid-way through the process, which interested me.
“Well, my mother adored Owen; if he’d given her a gravestone with the date of her death left blank to be filled in at the appropriate time- she would have loved that, too.” Pg. 122
11.24.2009
A Religious Point-of-View
Religion is a huge aspect of this book, especially in the areas where Owen Meany is involved. Everything in Owen’s life revolves around religion, and it is mentioned often, whether they are at church, at the funeral, or at the church’s play.
“As for Owen’s belief that he was ‘God’s instrument’, I didn’t know that there was other evidence upon which Owen was basing his conviction that he’d been specially selected to carry out the work of the Lord but Owen’s idea- that God’s reasoning was somehow predetermining Owen’s every move- came from much more than that one unlucky swing and crack of the bat.” Pg. 87
Going in to the story, this aspect of it did not have much effect on me. As I kept reading though, I became intrigued in the fact that a character could have such strong faith. Someone who was constantly picked on and was noticeably different did not blame God for any of it, but rather took it as a sign and turned it into something good- that God made him like that for a reason.
There is chapter in the story where the children of Owen and Johnny’s school, Gravesend Academy, put on a play for Christmas. It shows a whole new side of Owen’s religious views- how seriously he takes them, and exactly how he thinks about it. I found it interesting; it put religion in a different sort of perspective. There is a part when they are rehearsing, and Owen starts putting in a lot of his opinions towards the director. After some frustration, he says, exasperated, “‘Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.’” Pg. 152
While normally I am not an extremely religious person, I enjoyed reading about it and seeing a new side of it.
“As for Owen’s belief that he was ‘God’s instrument’, I didn’t know that there was other evidence upon which Owen was basing his conviction that he’d been specially selected to carry out the work of the Lord but Owen’s idea- that God’s reasoning was somehow predetermining Owen’s every move- came from much more than that one unlucky swing and crack of the bat.” Pg. 87
Going in to the story, this aspect of it did not have much effect on me. As I kept reading though, I became intrigued in the fact that a character could have such strong faith. Someone who was constantly picked on and was noticeably different did not blame God for any of it, but rather took it as a sign and turned it into something good- that God made him like that for a reason.
There is chapter in the story where the children of Owen and Johnny’s school, Gravesend Academy, put on a play for Christmas. It shows a whole new side of Owen’s religious views- how seriously he takes them, and exactly how he thinks about it. I found it interesting; it put religion in a different sort of perspective. There is a part when they are rehearsing, and Owen starts putting in a lot of his opinions towards the director. After some frustration, he says, exasperated, “‘Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.’” Pg. 152
While normally I am not an extremely religious person, I enjoyed reading about it and seeing a new side of it.
Character Study
Each and every character in A Prayer for Owen Meany is absolutely unforgettable in my opinion.
There’s the main character, Johnny. As narrator, we are introduced to him as an adult looking back on his life. From the beginning of the story, Johnny was one of those characters who progressively turns into a very appreciative person. As a kid, he does appreciate Owen as a best friend, but when Johnny speaks of Owen looking back into the past; it is obvious that he has learned a lot from Owen.
“It makes me ashamed to remember that I was angry with him for taking my armadillo’s claws. God knows, Owen gave me more than he took from me- even when you consider that he took my mother.” Pg.87
Johnny’s mother, Tabitha, also known as Tabby, dies early on in the story, but is brought up many times between, because she was such a large part of not only Johnny, but Owen’s lives. Tabby is described as gentle, original, and a very caring/loving person. She is also someone who probably shaped Owen into the person he became.
“My mother stopped the car and hugged him, and kissed him and told him he was always welcome to come with us, anywhere we went…” Pg.77
“I think she knew Owen had a crush on her- all my friends had crushes on my mother.” Pg.28
Tabby is also characterized as a simply beautiful person, inside and out. Johnny spends time describing every aspect of his mother, from how her clothes fit and what kind of clothes she prefers, to how everyone in the town spends time to look at her. By doing so, it makes her death more tragic, that someone so beautiful had to die such a sudden death.
While Irving characterizes each character, he is also able to characterize Owen Meany.
“Here is what (and the armadillo) said: ‘God has taken your mother. My hands were the instrument. God has taken my hands. I am God’s instrument.’ How could it ever have occurred to me that a fellow eleven-year-old was thinking any such thing? That Owen Meany was a Chosen One was the furthest thing from my mind; that Owen could even consider himself one of God’s appointed would have been a surprise to me." Pg.87
From the beginning of the story, it is obvious how truly different Owen is. Owen himself makes it apparent that he is on earth for one sole purpose, for God. He lives his life through God in the story, and it defines him. While he may be small, he has dreams bigger than anything.
“We could hear snatches of Owen’s prayers; I thought he must have brought the flashlight so he could read The Book of Common Prayer- perhaps he was reading every prayer in it.” Pg. 139
There’s the main character, Johnny. As narrator, we are introduced to him as an adult looking back on his life. From the beginning of the story, Johnny was one of those characters who progressively turns into a very appreciative person. As a kid, he does appreciate Owen as a best friend, but when Johnny speaks of Owen looking back into the past; it is obvious that he has learned a lot from Owen.
“It makes me ashamed to remember that I was angry with him for taking my armadillo’s claws. God knows, Owen gave me more than he took from me- even when you consider that he took my mother.” Pg.87
Johnny’s mother, Tabitha, also known as Tabby, dies early on in the story, but is brought up many times between, because she was such a large part of not only Johnny, but Owen’s lives. Tabby is described as gentle, original, and a very caring/loving person. She is also someone who probably shaped Owen into the person he became.
“My mother stopped the car and hugged him, and kissed him and told him he was always welcome to come with us, anywhere we went…” Pg.77
“I think she knew Owen had a crush on her- all my friends had crushes on my mother.” Pg.28
Tabby is also characterized as a simply beautiful person, inside and out. Johnny spends time describing every aspect of his mother, from how her clothes fit and what kind of clothes she prefers, to how everyone in the town spends time to look at her. By doing so, it makes her death more tragic, that someone so beautiful had to die such a sudden death.
While Irving characterizes each character, he is also able to characterize Owen Meany.
“Here is what (and the armadillo) said: ‘God has taken your mother. My hands were the instrument. God has taken my hands. I am God’s instrument.’ How could it ever have occurred to me that a fellow eleven-year-old was thinking any such thing? That Owen Meany was a Chosen One was the furthest thing from my mind; that Owen could even consider himself one of God’s appointed would have been a surprise to me." Pg.87
From the beginning of the story, it is obvious how truly different Owen is. Owen himself makes it apparent that he is on earth for one sole purpose, for God. He lives his life through God in the story, and it defines him. While he may be small, he has dreams bigger than anything.
“We could hear snatches of Owen’s prayers; I thought he must have brought the flashlight so he could read The Book of Common Prayer- perhaps he was reading every prayer in it.” Pg. 139
Symbols
While it may seem silly, the armadillo represents a great part of the story. It is referred back to often, especially when Johnny is reminiscing back to his memories of Owen. The armadillo was first given to Johnny as a gift, by his mother’s soon-to-be husband, Dan Needham. Since the moment it caused Johnny to scream out in fright, he fell in love with it, as did Owen. The armadillo was something they both shared a love for as children- something that always slept with them, and the new subject of most of their games. When Owen killed Tabby, he gave Johnny his baseball cards-his prized possession. To show Owen that he still cares, Johnny not only returns the baseball cards, but gives him the armadillo, something that will show Owen that Johnny forgives him. Dan helps Johnny with the process, though, since Johnny has such a hard time giving up his armadillo.
“ ‘The main thing is, Johnny,” Dan Needham said, “you have to show Owen that you love him enough to trust anything with him- to not care if you do or don’t get it back. It’s got to be something he knows you want back. That’s what makes it special.’” Pg. 83
The armadillo represented not only a friendship, but how that friendship evolved and grew.
Another important symbol of the story is Tabby’s dummy. One of Tabby’s greatest talents is sewing, and creating clothes. One thing that showed this was the dummy replica of Tabby’s body. She used this so she was able to create the perfect fitting clothes, and even Owen and Johnny found use for it- they played games where they would take turns dressing it up and hopefully achieving an interest in their creation from Tabby.
“And Mother made beautiful clothes: simple, as I’ve described-most of them were white or black, but they were made of the best material and they fitted her perfectly.” Pg. 95
In this story, the dummy represents Tabby, and represents her even after her death.
“There was not a night when my mother lay in her bed unable to see the comforting figure of the dressmakers dummy; it was not only her confederate against the darkness, it was her double.” Pg. 95
Tabby was described as someone who always needed someone; not in a bad way though, she was just a “people person”. She hated the darkness, and hated being alone. The dummy was a figure that stood by her bed each night, and as Johnny puts it, “a kind of accomplice to my mother in her war against the night.” Pg. 95
After Tabby’s death, Owen puts it upon himself to take care of the dummy. He removes it out of both Dan Needham and Johnny’s sight, so they don’t torture themselves with grief.
A third symbol would be baseball, representing death. Fate caused Owen to have a chance to bat the last inning of the game, and caused him to hit the baseball with such a force to kill Tabby when it hit her directly in the temple. After Owen kills Tabby, both he and Johnny quit the Little League team. It becomes something that is never spoken of again, something evil.
“ ‘The main thing is, Johnny,” Dan Needham said, “you have to show Owen that you love him enough to trust anything with him- to not care if you do or don’t get it back. It’s got to be something he knows you want back. That’s what makes it special.’” Pg. 83
The armadillo represented not only a friendship, but how that friendship evolved and grew.
Another important symbol of the story is Tabby’s dummy. One of Tabby’s greatest talents is sewing, and creating clothes. One thing that showed this was the dummy replica of Tabby’s body. She used this so she was able to create the perfect fitting clothes, and even Owen and Johnny found use for it- they played games where they would take turns dressing it up and hopefully achieving an interest in their creation from Tabby.
“And Mother made beautiful clothes: simple, as I’ve described-most of them were white or black, but they were made of the best material and they fitted her perfectly.” Pg. 95
In this story, the dummy represents Tabby, and represents her even after her death.
“There was not a night when my mother lay in her bed unable to see the comforting figure of the dressmakers dummy; it was not only her confederate against the darkness, it was her double.” Pg. 95
Tabby was described as someone who always needed someone; not in a bad way though, she was just a “people person”. She hated the darkness, and hated being alone. The dummy was a figure that stood by her bed each night, and as Johnny puts it, “a kind of accomplice to my mother in her war against the night.” Pg. 95
After Tabby’s death, Owen puts it upon himself to take care of the dummy. He removes it out of both Dan Needham and Johnny’s sight, so they don’t torture themselves with grief.
A third symbol would be baseball, representing death. Fate caused Owen to have a chance to bat the last inning of the game, and caused him to hit the baseball with such a force to kill Tabby when it hit her directly in the temple. After Owen kills Tabby, both he and Johnny quit the Little League team. It becomes something that is never spoken of again, something evil.
11.22.2009
First Thoughts: Introduction
“I am doomed to remember a boy with a wrecked voice- not because of his voice, or because he was the smallest person I ever knew, or even because he was the instrument of my mother’s death, but because he is the reason I believe in God; I am a Christian because of Owen Meany.” Pg.1
Starting off with the first sentence of A Prayer for Owen Meany, I did not know what to expect. I thought it was interesting to find that the narrator chose to use the word “doomed” when talking about Owen, and also interesting to hear how “he was the instrument of my mother’s death”, because the overall tone of this sentence, in my mind, was appreciative. While also reading about how this Owen Meany character was a very small person with an unusual voice, I became intrigued in how Owen would be developed as a character- what he would be like. So I kept reading.
Throughout the first chapter of this story, the author, John Irving, switched from giving background information on the narrator, Johnny, to telling stories of Owen and Johnny’s adventures together. It was kind of unexpected at first- I assumed the story would just be telling about Owen Meany, and his life, but instead it was more about Johnny’s life, with Owen as a side-note. As for the background, that part pretty much bored me. I did not consider it a very good start to the book, and I also found the information not very important. But I decided to give it a chance, and I’m glad I did.
Starting off with the first sentence of A Prayer for Owen Meany, I did not know what to expect. I thought it was interesting to find that the narrator chose to use the word “doomed” when talking about Owen, and also interesting to hear how “he was the instrument of my mother’s death”, because the overall tone of this sentence, in my mind, was appreciative. While also reading about how this Owen Meany character was a very small person with an unusual voice, I became intrigued in how Owen would be developed as a character- what he would be like. So I kept reading.
Throughout the first chapter of this story, the author, John Irving, switched from giving background information on the narrator, Johnny, to telling stories of Owen and Johnny’s adventures together. It was kind of unexpected at first- I assumed the story would just be telling about Owen Meany, and his life, but instead it was more about Johnny’s life, with Owen as a side-note. As for the background, that part pretty much bored me. I did not consider it a very good start to the book, and I also found the information not very important. But I decided to give it a chance, and I’m glad I did.
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