A Prayer For Owen Meany Analysis

What makes someone capable? Although people may not want to admit it, the public will often evaluate an individual’s ability based on their gender, race, social class, and overall appearance. Marie Curie is remembered and praised as one of the greatest scientists of all time for her discovery of radioactivity. However, she had to work extra hard to even be considered a scientist due to her being a lower- class woman who lacked the opportunities that her peers received. Her colleagues’ prejudice caused them to degrade her ideas and even work against her for a long period of time. Marie Curie went on to make great strides in the scientific community and win two nobel peace prizes, proving that the concept of a capable person is not always black
In A Prayer For Owen Meany, Irving uses allegorical connections to Christ in order to exhibit how preexisting stigmas may lead to the public disparaging an individual’s message when they deviate from society’s inherent idea of what makes someone competent.
Owen and Jesus made many sacrifices throughout their lives for people who disregarded their propositions due to them seeing Owen and Jesus as inferior because of their appearances. For example, the sunday school students often exploited Owen’s small stature during a game in which they threw him in the air, and although he protested, he never tattled. “He would never accuse us. Owen was no rat. As vividly as any number of stories in the bible, Owen Meany showed us what a martyr was”(6). Owen’s
For instance, Owen utilizes God’s desires as support for going to Vietnam, and John’s fear causes him to react angrily, he claims, “You can’t believe that everything that pops into your head means something! You can’t have a dream and believe that you know what you’re supposed to do”(472). By having John attack Owen’s belief that he is obeying God, there is an apparent relation to Jesus who also bases his choices around the intent of God and preaches this message to everyone. John’s criticism stems from his fear that Owen is not significant enough to prosper in this situation which demonstrates how this rationale may not be enough confirmation for someone who values appearance. Furthermore, after Owen’s encounter with an angel, John discusses how he views Owen’s bizarre claim,“‘Brilliant but preposterous’- that was such an apt description of The Granite Mouse...as time went on- as you shall see- maybe not so preposterous”(106). Owen’s reputation precedes him, which can be seen in John’s use of “The Granite Mouse” title, and people assume his ideas lack common sense; as a result, they fail to value his predictions. The presence of the angel storyline connects to Christ’s interactions with angels in the Bible as people