Prayer As A Symbol in Irving's A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY
In John Irving's A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY there are many prominent symbols. Those of arm-less figures, water, and angels are a few of the more prominent ones but, there are also 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 START 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 both of Owen's view of church formality and ceremony, and of the attitudes that both Owen and Johnny hold toward certain aspects of the church and its......
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Approximate Word Count: 541
Approximate Pages: 3 (260 words per double-spaced page) |