Free Essays - A Prayer for Owen Meany :: Prayer for Owen Meany Essays

The main theme of A Prayer for Owen meanie is religious faith -- specifically, the relationship surrounded by faith and doubt in a world in which there is no obvious turn over for the existence of God. John writes on the first page of the throw that Owen unkind person is the reason that he is a Christian, and ensuing story is presented as an commentary of the reason why. Though the plot of the apologue is quite complicated, the explanation for Owens effectuate on Johnnys faith is extremely simple Owens life is a miracle -- he has supernatural visions and dreams, he believes that he acts as Gods instrument, and he has divine hyperopia of his own death -- and offers miraculous and almost undeniable raise of Gods existence. The base thematic shape of the novel is that of a tension being lifted, earlier than a tension being resolved Johnny struggles throughout the book to resolve his religious faith with his skepticism and doubt, but at the novels eat up he is not required t o make a choice between the two extremes Owens miraculous death obviates the need to make a choice, because it offers evidence that banishes doubt. Yet Johnny remains troubled, because Owens sacrificial death (he dies to save the lives of a group of Vietnamese children) seems painfully unfair. Johnny is left with the problem of accept Gods will. In the end, he invests more faith in Owen himself than he invests in God -- he receives two visitations from Owen beyond the grave -- and he concludes the novel by making Owen something of a Prince of Peace, asking God to allow Owens resurrection and take back to Earth. Of course, the thematic development of the novel is somewhat more complicated and fill up 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 withal inconsistent and indirect, in part because we are never able to keep a secure view or outlook of Johnnys min d he is such a subdued narrator that it is difficult to tell simply 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 Irvings basic intention for his novel is not to present a philosophical meditation on the nature of God, but alternatively to tell a clutching story.