A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving is a fun and emotional novel that takes the reader to unexpected places. Structurally, the book is not in chronological order. The narrator, John Wheelwright, dictates memories, anecdotes, and scenes of his experiences with his best friend, Owen Meany. Irving follows the journey between the two from childhood friendship to adulthood, showing the true meaning of friendship and the impact Owen has on John. Using these two appealing characters, Irving presents themes and moral lessons in a consistently entertaining way. Through A Prayer For Owen Meany, Irving talks about religion and the persistence of friendship, even through adversity. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an 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 becomes more and more like his father: doubtful and lost. At the beginning of the novel there is immediately a clear difference between Owen and Johnny. In academics, Owen is the valedictorian of his class while helping John not fail in his studies. Owen is very sure of his belief system and Johnny, very doubtful and insecure about his beliefs or feelings about God, admits that he skips “a Sunday service every now and then, doesn't claim to be particularly pious, [and says he] has a faith-rummaging in church, the one that needs repairing every weekend” (2). Compared to Johnny's more passive personality, Owen is extremely active. For example, in the 1953 Christmas show, Owen asks not to be the heralding angel: "PUT SOMEONE ELSE ON THE AIR," said Owen. “MAYBE THE SHEPHERDS CAN ONLY STARE AT THE 'COLUMN OF LIGHT'. THE BIBLE SAYS THE ANGEL OF THE LORD APPEARED TO THE SHEPHERDS - NOT TO THE ENTIRE CONGREGATION. AND USE SOMEONE WITH A VOICE THAT EVERYONE DOESN'T LAUGH AT,” he said, pausing as everyone laughed. (159) Even though everyone laughs at him, Meany follows him anyway, adamant in his decision not to be the angel. In throughout the novel, John constantly worships Owen as a hero. The narrator comments, “So Owen got what he wanted again; 'On the hay' was where he lay...” (165) after he got the part of baby Jesus .This excerpt shows Johnny in awe of his friend, the way Owen takes matters into his own hands and creates the show exactly the way he wants it John on the other hand, the passive character, ends up being Joseph for the fact that Owen prescribed the role for him. Owen has an advantage over Johnny in the sense that Owen has a purpose in life that is very clear to him. On the other hand, Johnny has no choice but to follow his friend from class to class , from graduate to graduate, all the way to college. When Owen follows his mission and joins the army, John is left with no sense of direction. Without Owen, he has no one to tell him what his next move will be. He ends up going to graduate school because he dreads 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 by going to school for a degree in English. However, Owen has no hesitation when it comes to his future and decision making: “Owen Meany got his scholarship to the University of New Hampshire; 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, making every move count. Another example is when Owen accidentally kills John's mother by hitting a foul ball in her head. However, he states to Johnny:“GOD TOOK YOUR MOTHER. MY HANDS WERE THE TOOL. 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 following God's orders because when he saw an angel in John's mother's room, he thinks he disturbed her, interfering with the plan of destiny. John has a weak relationship with God and doubts the existence of a higher power and purpose for himself. The productivity deck is stacked in Owen's favor because John has to up his game; he's not just a chess piece directed by God. He has no idea whether his next day will be his last or whether his next decision will matter at all, while Owen simply follows his timetable to the date on his grave. The fact that John grows doubtful and lost throughout the book is only partly his fault. His mother's untimely death puts an untimely veil of sorrow over his eyes, clouding his potential for the future. The other reason is his friendship with Owen, a crippling indulgence for John. It's paralyzing in the way it takes away John's power of choice: he only follows his best friend's directions. Owen has the qualities that John can never have: he is persuasive, he has a mission, he is motivated, he is prepared and he is confident, all things that make 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 had. He lives the way John could never live, and he dies the way John could never die. A theme in 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 Owen was and everything 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 performance of A Christmas Carol, Owen faints after seeing his name on Scrooge's tombstone. The tombstone read "THE WHOLE THING" (254), which became the first vision Meany had of his own death, a death that eventually became reality. Owen believes he acts as an instrument of God and offers miraculous evidence 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 - would identify with [him]… that was the day Owen Meany began his long contribution to [his] belief in God” (10). when Wheelwright's father, Reverend Louis Merrill, revealed himself to him. Clearly, Owen has extremely strong faith, to the point of believing that God is working through him. Johnny becomes troubled by his faith because Owen's sacrificial death seems unfair. Owen saved the lives of many Vietnamese children, what he believes is his destiny, but in the process he kills himself. He loses both arms and then bleeds to death. As he died, all he had to say to the children was “DOONG KNOW – DON'T BE AFRAID” (614). Johnny has the problem of accepting God's will. Although John has difficulty believing in God, he definitely places faith in Owen himself, and Owen appears to be a God-like character. Another prevalent theme in Irving's text is the persistence of friendship, even through adversity. Even though Owen killing John's mother was an accident, it was still extremely difficult for Johnny to lose his mother. However, Johnny gives Owen his armadillo “to show [him] it.