1981. The meaning
of some literary works is often enhanced by sustained allusion to myths, the
Bible, or other works of literature. Select a literary work that makes use of
such a sustained reference. Then write a well-organized essay in which you
explain the allusion that predominates in the work and analyze how it enhances
the work's meaning.
A Prayer for Owen Meany by John
Irving tells the story of John Wheelwright and how his life changes as a result
of knowing Owen Meany. At the beginning
of John’s life, he is not religious. He
faithfully attends church but does not actually believe in God. After Owen Meany enters his life, he begins
to change his opinion and begins to believe in God. This novel uses a reference between Owen
Meany and Jesus throughout the novel to show how important God can be in someone's life, even if you don't realize it.
Owen
Meany is a strange character. He has a
damaged voice box that causes his voice to maintain its childish tone through
his life and he has stunted growth causing him to be short. At the beginning of the novel, the audience
sees that Owen’s parents seem to be afraid of him. This mystery is continued until close to the
end of the novel when we learn that Owen was a result of a virgin birth. This is the first comparison between Owen and
Jesus. Just like how Mary was a virgin
and gave birth to Jesus, Owen’s mother was also a virgin when she gave birth to
Owen.
As Owen grows up, he begins to
consider himself a messenger of God. At
a school play, Owen plays the baby Christ-another reference to Owen and
Jesus. Owen passes out from the heat and
experiences a vision that he believes is from God. In this vision, he sees a gravestone with his
name and a date-the day that he is to die.
Owen takes this as a sign that he is living as a messenger of God and
once he has accomplished his role, he will die.
We do not know what this role is until the end of the novel. Jesus was also a messenger of God. He experienced a vision and believed that it
was his responsibility to spread God’s message to all the people. Both Owen and Jesus believe that their
purpose in life is to be God’s servant and do as God tells them to do.
At the end of the novel, we
discover what Owen’s purpose in life is. On the day that Owen is supposed to die, he
and John accompany some Vietnamese children at an airport. Dick, a young man who is angry at the Vietnam
war and the military sees the children and decides to kill them. He throws a grenade at John but Owen catches
it and shields everyone from the impact, sacrificing himself to save John and
the children and fulfilling his life’s purpose.
Just like how Jesus sacrificed his life for the people, Owen sacrifices
his life to save the children. This
final comparison between Owen and Jesus emphasizes the impact of Owen’s
sacrifice. By comparing it to Jesus’
sacrifice for mankind, Irving makes the audience feel a greater connection with
Owen’s actions.
This allusion to Jesus and the
comparison with Owen is the way that the audience understands how John
Wheelwright’s life changes. For the rest
of his life, John realizes that maybe God does exist. He realizes that all of the events in Owen’s
life happened for a reason and that they weren’t just coincidences. A
story about a person who sacrifices himself to save a group of kids is
powerful, but creating a Jesus-like character who sacrifices himself to save a
group of kids makes the story even more powerful.
This is a well-written essay! Good job Natalie!
ReplyDeleteIn the third paragraph, when you talk about how Owen Meany sacrifices himself to save the Vietnamese children and John, it would make your argument much stronger if you explained how Owen was a martyr. Jesus was killed by the Romans for his beliefs. So then would Owen would be a martyr because he stood for... peace? Kindness to children? No violence?
Also, in the second paragraph, you could also add how Jesus had a premonition that he would be killed on a cross. And then despite his efforts to ask his father, God, to save him; he still dies. In a garden, Jesus and his disciples pray for God to save Jesus, but then when Jesus finds his disciples sleeping (he finds them napping on three separate occasions), he accepts his fate.
I think that this is a very well written essay! I thought that your introduction paragraph was good, and it had a strong thesis which I liked. I agree with Daphine that it would make sense to include that Jesus had accepted his fate that he was going to die, just like Own did. Other than that, I thought that you had good examples of the allusion to the Bible and good evidence to back it up.
ReplyDeleteAlso, your conclusion paragraph ties everything together nicely. I like how you circled back around to how this whole story with Own affected John. Good job on this essay!
This was a very good essay! I like how you incorporated many elements's from the book "How to Read Literature Like a Professor" by Thomas C. Foster. You made many good connections between owen and christ and answered the prompt very well. In the second paragraph, however, you brought up many characteristics of owen such as his size and childish tone without elaborating on the purpose of these characteristics? Perhaps the author gives him the childish tone to make Owen seem more innocent and pure like Jesus? Just a thought. You made a lot of great connections however it would have been nice to see you analyze the essay using literary techniques as well.
ReplyDelete