A Prayer For Owen Meany Essay -- essays research papers

Prayer As A Symbol in Irvings A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY In John Irvings A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY there are many prominent symbols. Those of arm-less figures, water, and angels are a few of the to a greater extent prominent ones but, there are overly many symbols that are much more subtle than those few. The most prominent of the subtle symbols is that of prayer. Prayer, in an of itself, is an idea. But, in A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY, Irving uses it to convey many more abstract concepts. "THE TROUBLE WITH CHURCH IS THE SERVICE." Owen states. "A SERVICE IS CONDUCTED FOR A MASS AUDIENCE. JUST WHEN I set forth TO LIKE THE HYMN, EVERYONE PLOPS DOWN TO PRAY. JUST WHEN I START TO HEAR THE PRAYER, EVERYONE POPS UP TO SING (23)." In this passage prayer is viewed only as a part of the "hocus-pocus (21)" of church ceremony. It is thus representative some(prenominal) of Owens view of church formality and ceremony, and of the attitudes that both Owen and Johnny hold toward c ertain aspects of the church and its traditions. This becomes important on a larger scale when the referee recognizes the conflict that plagues both Johnny and Owen when it comes to religious issues. Johnny states this point clearly when he says, "I was baptized in the Congregational Church, and after some years of fraternity with the Episcopalian...I became rather weak in my religion in my teens I attended a non-denomination church. Then I became an Anglican...(1)." These frequent internal religious conflict...