Owen Meany

E794101

Owen Meany is a diminutive, gravel-voiced boy with an unshakable sense of destiny whose life and death profoundly shape the spiritual and moral journey at the heart of John Irving’s novel.

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Statements (40)

Predicate Object
instanceOf fictional character
literary character
appearsInWork A Prayer for Owen Meany NERFINISHED
associatedWithSetting New Hampshire NERFINISHED
associatedWithTimePeriod Vietnam War era NERFINISHED
believesIn divine plan
causesEvent death of Tabitha Wheelwright
centralCharacterOf A Prayer for Owen Meany NERFINISHED
childhoodFriendOf John Wheelwright NERFINISHED
connectedToTheme American politics and war
the nature of miracles
the problem of suffering
createdBy John Irving NERFINISHED
feelsGuiltAbout death of Tabitha Wheelwright
firstPublicationAppearance A Prayer for Owen Meany (1989) NERFINISHED
foresees his own death
hasDistinctiveVoice ALL-CAPS DIALOGUE IN THE NOVEL
hasGender male
hasMannerOfSpeech high-pitched gravelly tone
hasMoralInfluenceOn John Wheelwright’s political and spiritual views
hasNationality American
hasPhysicalCharacteristic diminutive stature
gravelly voice
hasPropheticDreams yes
hasReligiousRole instrument of God
hasRoleInPlot catalyst for narrator’s religious belief
martyr figure
hasTrait moral seriousness
religious conviction
strong sense of destiny
influencesCharacter John Wheelwright NERFINISHED
inspiredAdaptation film Simon Birch
literarySignificance symbol of faith tested by doubt
playsSport baseball
symbolizes innocence combined with spiritual certainty
themeInWork destiny
faith
friendship
sacrifice
undergoesEvent amputation of his fingers (in the novel’s backstory/film variant context)

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.