A Prayer For Owen Meany Analysis

Final Paper: A Prayer for Owen Meany In the novel, A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving uses the religious belief and spread of Christianity. The novel is based on two friends, John Wheelwright and Owen Meany, who live in a small town in New Hampshire. John goes on to say how he is a Christian because of Owen. From the beginning, Owen shows how passionate he is about his religion and his ability to inform others of Christianity. Owen says, “I am God’s instrument” (Ryan) and believes that he is doing work for God on Earth. Owen is a very strange kid and never really changes even when he grows up. He is described as a small kid, with big ears, a high-pitched nasally voice, incredibly smart, and not intimidated by anyone of any age. At the beginning
Talking about Mrs. Meany having a virgin birth, John says, “She might have been lying, all these years.” (Irving). Growing up John and Owen were both very convinced that Mrs. Meany, “was completely crazy.” (Sykes). John believes that she is dumb enough to be completely oblivious to how she got pregnant, or if she even, “knew how to do it.” (Sykes). There is a slight chance this could be inferred from this novel, but the amount of evidence that compares Owen to being Christ-like is overwhelming. In conclusion, A Prayer for Owen Meany is a very powerful novel that creates a comparison of similarities between Owen Meany and Jesus Christ. Throughout the novel, Owen shows many Christ-like characteristics. For example, both Christ and Owen were born to a virgin mother. They both knew how and when they were going to die, but they chose against altering these events and just letting fate lie in God’s hands. They each sacrificed their lives to save others. These similarities are not the only ways that Owen and Jesus relate. Although, these are the most remarkable similarities shown in the