A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving is a humorous and exciting novel that takes the reader to unexpected places. Structurally, the book is not arranged chronologically. The narrator, John Wheelwright, dictates memories, anecdotes, and scenes from his experiences with his best friend, Owen Meany. Irving follows the journey of the childhood friendship to adulthood between the two, showing the true meaning of friendship and the impact Owen has on John. Using these two endearing characters, Irving presents themes and moral lessons in a consistently entertaining manner. Throughout A Prayer For Owen Meany, Irving discusses religion and the persistence of friendship, even in adversity. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay John Irving's narrator, John Wheelwright, serves as a foil to the character of Owen Meany, the protagonist. Meany embodies the qualities of a true leader while John is more like his father: doubtful and lost. At the beginning of the novel, there is immediately a clear difference between Owen and Johnny. In the academic field, Owen is the valedictorian of his class while helping John not to fail in his studies. Owen is very sure of his belief system and Johnny, very dubious and unsure about his beliefs or feelings toward God, admits that he skips "a Sunday service every now and then, doesn't claim to be particularly pious, [and says that he] has a faith that digs into the church – the kind of faith that needs to be repaired every weekend” (2). Compared to Johnny's more passive personality, Owen is extremely active. For example, during the 1953 Christmas pageant, Owen demands not to be the angel who announces, "PUT SOMEONE ELSE IN THE AIR," Owen said. “MAYBE THE SHEPHERDS CAN JUST LOOK AT THE “PILLAR OF LIGHT.” THE BIBLE SAYS THAT THE ANGEL OF THE LORD APPEARED TO THE SHEPHERDS – NOT TO THE WHOLE CONGREGATION. AND USE SOMEONE WITH A VOICE THAT EVERYONE WON’T LAUGH AT,” he said, stopping while everyone laughed. (159) Even though everyone makes fun of him, Meany still goes through with it, adamant in his decision not to be the angel. Throughout the novel, John constantly worships Owen as a hero. The narrator comments: “This is how Owen managed to get what he wanted again; It was “on the hay” that he lay down…” (165) after having obtained the role of the child Jesus. This clip shows Johnny impressed by his friend, the way Owen takes charge of the situation and creates the spectacle exactly the way he wants it. John, on the other hand, the passive character, ends up being Joseph because Owen prescribed the role for him. Owen has an advantage over Johnny in that Owen has a purpose in life that is very clear to him. On the other hand, Johnny can't do anything but follow his friend from class to class, from major to major, all the way to college. When Owen continues his mission and joins the army, John finds himself without any sense of direction. With Owen gone, he has no one to tell him what his next move will be. He ends up going to college because he fears the day when he actually has to make a decision about what he will do for the rest of his life. Ultimately, he makes a decision for the rest of his life to go to school to get a degree in English. However, Owen is not hesitant when it comes to his future and decision-making: “Owen Meany got his scholarship to the University of New Hampshire; he signed up for ROTC…” (343). This could also stem from Owen's strong relationship with God. He believes he is God's instrument, giving meaning to every action and making every move count. AAnother example is when Owen accidentally kills John's mother by hitting her in the head with a fake bullet. However, he tells Johnny, “GOD TOOK YOUR MOTHER. MY HANDS WERE THE INSTRUMENT. GOD TOOK MY HANDS. I AM THE INSTRUMENT OF GOD” (87). Owen actually thinks that God wanted him to kill John's mother, Tabitha, and that he was carrying out God's will because when he saw an angel in John's mother's room, he thinks he disturbed him , interfering with destiny. John has a weak relationship with God and doubts the existence of a higher power and purpose for himself. The productivity game is in Owens' favor because John has to play his own game; he is not simply a chess piece ruled by God. He has no idea if his next day will be his last or if his next decision will matter the least, while Owen is content to follow his roadmap to the date on his tombstone. The fact that John becomes doubtful and lost throughout the book is only partly his fault. His mother's untimely death puts a premature veil of grief over his eyes, obscuring his potential for the future. The other reason is his friendship with Owen, a crippling indulgence for John. It's disempowering in that it takes away John's power to choose: he only follows his best friend's instructions. Owen has the qualities that John could never have: he is persuasive, has a mission, is motivated, prepared and confident, which makes him a very strong man. On the other hand, John is passive, has no mission, has no initiative, is unprepared and doubts himself and his beliefs, which makes him a very weak man. Owen is the person John could never be; he has the character that John could never have. He lives in a way that John could never live, and he dies in a way that John could never die. One of the themes of A Prayer For Owen Meany is religion and the belief in the existence of God. John admits that "Owen Meany is the reason he believes in God." [He] is a Christian because of Owen Meany” (1). Owen had such an effect on Johnny's faith because of who he was and all he accomplished. His life was unusual to say the least. Meany had supernatural visions and dreams that he believed concerned the time and place of his death. During the play A Christmas Carol, Owen faints after seeing his own name on Scrooge's tombstone. The tombstone read "THE WHOLE THING" (254), which became Meany's first vision of his own death, a death that eventually came true. Owen believes he acts as an instrument of God and offers miraculous proof of God's existence. For example, Owen claimed that John's father "would know that [his] mother was dead – and that – when [he] was old enough – he would identify with [him]… that was the day that Owen Meany began his long contribution to [his] belief in God” (10). At the end of the story, Meany's assertion came true when Wheelwright's father, Reverend Louis Merrill, revealed himself to him. Obviously, Owen has an extremely strong faith, to the extent that he believes that God works through him. Johnny remains troubled by his faith because Owen's sacrificial death seems unfair to him. Owen saved the lives of many Vietnamese children, which he believes to be his destiny, but commits suicide in the process. He loses both his arms, then bleeds out. When he died, all he had to say to the children was “DOONG SA – DON’T BE AFRAID” (614). His destiny was fulfilled. Johnny has difficulty accepting God's will. Even though John has trouble believing in God, he definitely has faith in Owen himself and Owen seems to be a God-like character. Another prevalent theme in Irving's text is the persistence of friendship, even through adversity. Even though Owen killed John's mother by.