Throughout the book, A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving, Owen Meany is presented in a religious context, and the book outlines the story of how his view of life impacts John Wheelwright to become a follower of the christian faith. On a more analytical level of the book, one can assume that John may be presented as a homosexual due to many aspects of his personality and lifestyle.
The presence of a strong religious theme in the book concerning the idea of Owen Meany as a christ figure directly contrasts with the underlying assumption of homosexuality in the character John. Owen is stating that he believes he was put on this planet to fulfill a certain purpose, and therefore, like Jesus, he is an instrument played by the very hands of God himself.
Later on, Owen persuades the reverend that he should play baby Jesus in the Christmas pageant. This instance makes the most direct visual relationship between Owen and Christ through his direct embodiment of baby Jesus.
The symbolism of his birth relating it to the birth of christ makes a full circle when his death symbolizes the crucifixion of and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. He dies a heroic death in Vietnam, sacrificing his life for ten Vietnamese children. From events and descriptions throughout the book, It can be assumed that John is a homosexual. I was trying to be true to the time, when such feelings were often present but unexpressed.
He believes strongly in what he considers to be right and is known to be uncompromising in defense of his morals. Through this post- apocalyptic world, he puts his Christian faith first in order to survive. People like the idea of believing in religion and a higher power because it gives people something to believe in when nothing seems to make logical sense.
Eliezer still believes in God, but his whole perception of reality has changed. He recognizes that this is not the same God he used to worship. However, even in his darkest moments, his faith in God could not escape him. Through his haunting tale, Elie Wiesel unveils his tumultuous relationship with God. Owen is regarded as a spiritual figure in the first few pages of this book.
It is immediately apparent that Owen is deeply committed to his religion. In the beginning of the work, his faith in God is complete.
Wiggin and the other kids that he should play the part of Baby Jesus during the Christ Church Christmas pageant. We see him actually embody the Christ Child, wearing swaddling clothes and being surrounded by other kids playing shepherds, donkeys, the Virgin Mary, and Joseph.
OK, so what? Well, when we think about his actions through the rest of the novel, Owen's role as the Little Lord Jesus kind of signals to us the extent to which Owen identifies with Jesus, even outside of the play.
To begin, we see Owen's identity as a Christ figure play out through his relationship with his parents. Owen kind of rules the roost at home; it reminds us of the instances in the Bible where Jesus is this precocious kid teaching other adults about faith and God while his parents cheer him on from the background. Owen feels weird telling his parents that he's playing the part of Jesus, and he makes a huge stink about the fact that they show up to watch the play.
At the moment, we find it kind of weird — after all, if you had a starring role in a play, wouldn't you want your parents to be there rooting for you? Only later do we find out that Owen's parents believe that he was a virgin birth, just like Jesus — that is to say, his mother got pregnant without ever having sex; it just happened. To Owen, the fact that they show up to watch him play Jesus in a play is just completely weird and distasteful — in fact, he thinks it's sacrilegious.
We don't know whether or not we believe that his birth was miraculous, and it's OK if you aren't totally sure about it, either. Still, there's lots of food for thought there. The Christmas pageant and the supposed circumstances surrounding Owen's birth are definitely the most straightforward examples of Christ imagery in A Prayer for Owen Meany , but there are a lot of other ways in which Owen is portrayed as a Christ figure.
Owen's professions of faith and interest in preaching to others resonate with Jesus' interest in spreading his teachings to others. Furthermore, Owen's relationship with God is strikingly Christ-like. When Tabby dies, for instance, Hester and John go to the gravesite at night and see Owen praying over her grave. When Owen hears them approaching, he shouts off into the night, asking God what he wants from him. It is as if Owen thinks that he is somehow chosen as God's messenger — just like Jesus.
Owen's death is also a key indicator of the way that he figures into the novel as a Christ figure. Jesus knew ahead of time that he was going to die, and so does Owen. Owen knows the exact date of his death, and he knows that he is going to die to save a bunch of children. Likewise, Jesus knows that he's going to die and why: he believes that it is his mission in life to die to save God's children from their sins.
It may seem like a stretch, and it also might seem a tad dramatic, but it is hard to deny that there are some pretty strong parallels between Jesus and Owen. For many people, Charles Dickens's novel A Christmas Carol and the various movie and TV productions that have been made over the years are as big a part of Christmas as Santa Claus and mistletoe. If you've ever read Dickens's novel or seen one of the many movie adaptations, you know that this ghost is the scariest one of them all.
He is the one who shows Ebenezer Scrooge that he's going to die. In the first book of the Bible, Genesis, we are told we are 'made in the image of God' this shows that ever since the beginning of time, God has valued human life.
Also I think it is fair to say that if to enter the kingdom of God you have to be rid of original sin and cleansed then this can only be done by Baptism. What if a baby died without being baptized, where would it go? The bible also clearly tells us that the Kingdom of God belongs to little children mark Churches who practice infant baptism use such scriptures as Psalms to claim that we are born with sin and are unsaved.
But others tend to disagree and say, we are born with sinful nature, but not with sin, which a baby could not repent of. Open Document. Essay Sample Check Writing Quality. In the Christian faith Jesus Christ is a martyr as well. Although there are many differences between the life of Jesus, as depicted in the bible and Owen Meany , there are many similarities as well, so many in fact, that the reader is forced to ponder if these similarities are intentional.
Jesus Christ was a miracle birth: he was born from a virgin. Owen Meany was also born from a virgin. It was a miracle that Mary became impregnated with Jesus; it was a miracle that Mrs. Meany became impregnated with Owen. Both children are thus marked, and become a tool of God. In Matthew to Matthew Jesus predicts his own death. God allows Jesus to see how he is going to die and why he is going to die in order that Jesus knew how he would fulfil the will of God.
Owen was similarly informed of his death, ironically at about the same age as Jesus betwe
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