Faith and Friendship

Faith and Friendship

Abstract

From “A Prayer for Owen Meany” novel, major themes presented are faith and friendship. The author John Irving uses several characters in the story to illustrate these themes.  Faith being one of the themes represented is through Owen, who lives a miraculous life. He also believes that God is using him as an instrument. He is also aware of his death, and he also gives evidence that proves God exists.  John, who is Owen’s friend, also illustrates this theme, where he invests his faith in him. Friendship is also another theme that is evident in this novel, where the narrator has used John and Owen to illustrate this theme. Despite the difficult situations they go through, they have chosen to remain as friends. The novel has shown greatly on the significance of both faith and friendship. This paper will discuss depth on both faith and friendship and how they impact individuals’ lives based on the characters in the story.

Discussion

Faith is one of the prevalent messages that the author wants to pass in the novel. Owen is a person who is strong in faith, while John hardly believes in something. According to Owen, he believes that he receives communication from God, and thus, he serves as his agent.  Owen also believes that every creature on the earth has a reason and a purpose since God is the one who ordained them to be there.  He also is serving according to God’s plan.  There are instances where Owen makes John believes that it is God who has caused the things he is going through to happen (Irving, 1997).  Due to faith that Owen has, he gets the assurance that it is God who has made him go through the trials.

Faith comes with believing, and this is evident where Owen acknowledges that God exists.  According to John, he believes that God exists as a result of the faith that Owen has towards God.  John also admits that he is a Christian because of Owen.  It is, therefore, evident that Owen’s faith has greatly impacted John. Through faith, Owen has been able to accomplish many things as opposed to John.  In the case of Owen, he had many dreams and also visions that he firmly believed in. Reverend Lous acknowledges Owen’s faith, where he admits that God is using him as his vessel.  Owen is also ready to sacrifice his life for the life of others since he believes that he is working to fulfil God’s purpose (Oyrehagen, 2013). Despite Owen making John believe in God, he still puts his faith in Owen since he considers him as his god.

According to Owen, true faith requires a strong belief in unseen things.  The novel gives a distinction between shallow and deeper faith and this has is evident through Christmas and Easter, whereby people strongly believe in Christmas than Easter. Thus, Christians believe more on the birth of Christ; Owen’s thereby declares that Christians should believe in miracles despite them not seeing them.  He says,” If you don’t believe in Easter, don’t call yourself a Christian”(Irving, 1997).   Faith is of importance since, through it, miracles happen.

From the novel, attaining faith is not an easy thing as it may appear to many.  According to John, he desires to have faith like that of his friend Owen.  John states tha ot faith comes from contemplating on the unseen things and also believing in miracles.  Some people pretend to be religious, yet they are not.  He states, “Watch out for people who call themselves religious; make sure you know what they mean- make sure they know what they mean.”  It implies that one may be claiming to a Christian, yet they live an empty life due to a lack of faith (Oyrehagen, 2013).  There is thus a need for one to work for his or her religious life to attain faith.

Friendship, on the other hand, is a major theme in the story; it’s through their friendship that the story has developed. Both Owen and John are a duo based on how they stand for each other.  They complement one another in a friendly way, and they are responsible for each other.  They have invested in one another, and it has contributed to their development. Friendship requires that one should positively impact the other person; it is evident in the case of Owen and John, whereby they have been able to identify themselves.  For example, in the case of Owen, he has enabled John to know his identity (Irving, 1997).  John, on the other hand, has enabled Owen to fulfil his religious life and also in fulfilling God’s command.  Friends should help one another and give support when needed.

Friendship requires that people should help one another. From the novel, Owen is an angel towards John’s life since he has helped him in many ways.  Owen has committed himself to assist John to succeed in his education and also in his life.  Owen understands that John is fearful, and as a result of this, he stands for him so that he can see him succeed. They have also ensured that they succeed together (Irving, 1997).  For example, Owen decided to repeat so that they can always be together with John and offer him support. It is, therefore, evident friends stand for another through thick and thin.

Friendship never lasts forever; however, for both Owen and John theirs is a true definition of true friendship since it has lasted.  There are times they get into a disagreement, but they end up resolving them. According to Irving, he tries to show that despite the challenges that friends go through, they should not lead to friendship termination (Mukhtar & Evdokimova, 2019).  However, people should work on their differences and live together as a friend.  People should also develop the act of forgiveness since it will help in saving their friendship.

References

Irving, J. (1997). A prayer for Owen Meany: a novel. Random House Digital, Inc.

Mukhtar, L., & Evdokimova, S. (2019). Peculiarities of the representation of concept «childhood» in the novel «a prayer for Owen meany» by John Irving. Евразийский журнал филологии: Наука и Образование, 172(4), 192-197.

Øyrehagen, I. (2013). Elements of Postmodernism: In John Irving’s The World According to Garp and A Prayer for Owen Meany (Master’s thesis).