A Prayer For Owen Meany

In A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving uses the titles of his chapters to signify important events throughout the novel. In Irving’s chapter, “The Dream,” that signifies the dream Owen has about his death. “Owen? It’s just a dream—do you hear me? It’s just a dream (407.” Owen goes a little crazy after he sees his dream. He takes Mary Magdalene and takes her arms and heads off. When John and Dan find him with Reverend Merrill, Owen asks him to say a prayer for him during a service with everyone. “I WANT YOU TO SAY A PRAYER FOR ME,” said Owen Meany. “A p-p-p-prayer-for you?” the Rev. Mr.Merrill shuttered (406).” From this chapter we also learn the meaning of the title in the story.

Irving builds up to this moment from previous chapters, by using the ghost at John’s moms beside, the Angel of Death and also Owen being the Announcing Angel in a Christmas Carol productions Owen has claimed to have seen the Angel of Death at John’s moms bedside which foreshadowed her death by the baseball. “I realize now that he never thought he saw a guardian angel; he was convinced, especially after THAT FATED BASEBALL, that he has interrupted the Angel Of Death (103). Also Irving foreshadows Owens actions in the beginning of the chapter when Owen claims to be “GOD’S INSTUMENT (337).”

Irving uses Owens dream to foreshadow his death in “The Shot.” Irving also depends with the connections between Mary Magdalene and Owen which leads to many answered questions for John in the future.