Ms. McBroom’s Blog

Respond to five of the following issues or questions.

 1. What is the irony that John speaks about on page 510?

2.  How does Irving contrast the fates of Hester and John in “The Shot?”

3.  Owen Meany makes two appearances to John after Owen’s death.  Discuss the circumstances and significance of each appearance.

4.  On pages 518-519, Owen practically writes John’s Master’s thesis for him, providing the central thesis on Hardy.  What is the thesis, and how does it relate to the meaning of the novel?  (This should be a good one since you, too, are writing your thesis. Right?)

5.  Examine the examples of wit on pages 522-523.  Are you as intellectually backward as the girls of Bishop Strachan?

6.  What leads the Reverend Mr. Merrill to a more certain faith?

7.  Discuss the conflict between John Wheelwright and Eleanor Pribst.

8.  On page 535, Owen’s copy of Thomas Aquinas includes a selection on “Demonstration of God’s Existence from Motion.”  How does this passage support the themes of the novel?

9.What “secret” does Mr. Meany reveal to John about Owen’s birth?  What has been the reaction of the priests to whom Mr. Meany has told the story?  How does this explain Owen’s feelings about the Catholics?

10. Owen Meany told the Reverend Mr. Merrill, “I WANT YOU TO SAY A PRAYER FOR ME.”  What prayers does he say at the funeral?  In what sense is the novel a prayer?

11.  What is John’s reaction to the discovery of his true father?

12.  Describe Mrs. Meany’s death and its symbolic value.

13.  What is the importance of the description on pages 581-582?  Remember that John has just told the reader that description is too often overlooked.

14.  Discuss the ways in which Owen’s death has been foreshadowed.

15. In your opinion is Owen Meany a hopeful novel?  Why or why not?

Again, comment or answer at least five of the following:

 1.  When did Owen stop doing things for pleasure and why?

2.  Whom does Charlie Keeling call a “nonpracticing homosexual?”  What does this phrase mean?

3.  Owen says, “IF YOU ABOLISH THE DRAFT, MOST AMERICANS WILL SIMPLY STOP CARING ABOUT WHAT WE’RE DOING IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD.”  From today’s perspective, is Owen correct in his assessment?

4.  How is Owen treated differently by the faculty at UNH than he was by those at Gravesend Academy?

5.  Explain John’s comment “I was twenty-one and I was still a Joseph; I was a Joseph then, and I’m just a Joseph now.”  Relate this to his comments about his teaching at Bishop Strachan.  Do you agree with John’s assessment or do you think he’s being too hard on himself?  Why?

6.  “…whenever I did run into him, he looked at me as if he knew something special about me (as if Owen had been talking about me to him, as if I were in Owen’s damn dream, or so I imagined).”  Who is the “him,” and is John correct that John is in Owen’s dream?  Does this account for the observer’s interest?

7.  Evaluate Owen’s proof of the existence of God on page 451.

8.  Describe the dream that Owen has (pages 471-475).

9.  “‘IT IS DIFFICULT TO DISTINGUISH THE INSURGENT FROM THE FRIENDLY POPULATION.’  I couldn’t help myself.  I said: ‘I hope you don’t run into that problem in Indiana or Arizona.’”  What is the context for the quote, and what is its significance?

10.  What does John want to do with his life?  (page 502).

11.  John’s obsession with the news appears pathological, and Katherine Keeling encourages him to stop buying newspapers.  John even agrees that a concern with nature would be more “real.”  What does Irving think?  On what do you base your opinion?  (See especially pages 451-453.)

12.  After reading about black holes, John writes,  “And I thought:  That is about as far away from Earth as Owen Meany is; that is about as far away from Earth as I would like to be.”  What does this statement add to your understanding of John?

13.  What roles do Harry Hoyt and Buzzy Thurston play in the novel?

1.  John says, “if you’re God’s instrument, Owen, how come you need my help to stuff a basketball?”  What is John’s attitude?

2.  Discuss Owen Meany as a college prospect.

3.  Why didn’t Owen Meany drink?  Does this remind you of the opinions expressed by any other characters?

4.  The New Year’s Eves of the early sixties are discussed in this chapter.  What purpose does this discussion serve?

5.  How does Owen propose to discover if Dan is aware of Tabitha’s secret life?  Do you see Irving ironically commenting upon his own craft?

6.  How does John Wheelwright evaluate Ronald Reagan’s war on drugs?

7. The Lish incidents play an important role in the plot of “The Dream.”  Discuss them in terms of antisemitism, John Kennedy, morality, Owen’s conversation with Mrs. Lish and Randy White.

8.  Define:  MADE FOR TELEVISION and IS HE FOR REAL?

9. Describe the Volkswagen incident.  Other than providing more reasons that Randy White will want to be rid of Owen, how does the incident further Irving’s themes in the novel?

10. Comment on the meaning of Isaiah 5:20 in relation to the novel:  “Woe unto them that call evil good and good evil.”

Vocab Assignment for Chapter 6

With each of these words, find the word in the text and copy the sentence from the novel.  Look up the meaning and write it, including the part of speech.  Then write your own sentence using the word.  Your sentence should show me that you know what the word means.  The words are:  banality (p.257);  sacrilegious (p.259);  androgynous (p261);  and obdurate (p.270). 

Now, answer or respond to four of the following comments.  These take off after what we covered in class today.

1.  Owen’s reaction to The Ten Commandments  with Charlton Heston is revealing.  What does Owen say about miracles?

2.  What is the basis for Owen’s warning John that he probably does not want to find his father?

3.  Describe the relationship between John Wheelwright and the Reverend Mrs. Keeling, the Headmistress of the Bishop Strachan School.

4.  Allusions to other literary works are increasingly significant in this chapter.  Specifically, discuss allusions to the Bible, Tess of the D’Urbervilles, and Julius Caesar.

5.  Who is sarcasm master and older woman master?  Does this add to or detract from the heroic/religious characterization of him?

6.  How do Owen’s reactions (as the VOICE) to the cat mutilations, the drinking issues, and required church attendance begin to shape our views of Owen’s morality?

7.  Discuss The Shot.

8.  Describe the humor in John’s psychiatric counseling session.  Why won’t Owen visit the psychiatrist?

9.  What is the major content of the religious lessons taught by the new professor/chaplain Lewis Merrill?  Describe Owen’s behavior in class.

10.  Randy White represents a significant change in the leadership of Gravesend Academy.  How?  What is Owen’s reaction to him?

11.  What do Owen and John remember of Kennedy’s inauguration day?

12. What warning does Dan Needham give to Owen Meany?  How does John express the same warning?

13.  In the Toronto sequences, what opinion does John Wheelwright express toward Ronald Reagan and his administration?

I’m hoping that everyone can have finished reading Chapter 5 by Monday.   Please post comments on at least four of the following statements or questions.

1.  What is the plot line of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens?  Irving is often compared to Dickens in terms of his narrative technique.  Apart from the rather obvious “It’s Christmas!” what is there about the Dickens’ story that fits the emerging vision we are getting of Owen?

 2.  John writes, “But I was just a Joseph; I felt that Owen Meany had already chosen me for the only part I could play.”  What does this reveal about his self-image?  Where else in the novel do you have this reinforced?

3.  On page 212, what opinions does Owen Meany express about Jesus Christ?

4.  Owen Meany’s reaction to the affections of Barb Wiggins are unfortunate.  Apart from lurid titillation, why does Irving include this scene?

5.  On page 220, Owen reacts to the appearance of his parents at the pageant.  How and why?  Does the reaction of his parents confirm Owen’s actions, or are we left wondering what justifies his response?  (see also p 235).

6.  What do we learn about John in pp 221-226?  How does Canon Mackie interpret John’s interest in U.S. history?

7.  Arthur and Amanda Dowling may remind you of characters from Garp.  What function do they have in Owen Meany?

8.  Now that he has become Christ, Owen takes on the powers of prophesy as The Ghost of the Future.  What part of the revealed future does Owen not tell John?

9.  At the end of the Chapter, the idea of LUST (also critical to Garp) is reintroduced with John’s feelings about Germaine and his desire to search for his father.  What does Owen believe about lust?

10.  How does John search for his father in this chapter?

Please give us your thoughts on at least four of the following questions or observations on Chapter4: “The Little Lord Jesus”

1.  What connections do you see among the following threads of plot that Irving weaves in “The Little Lord Jesus:”  the Christmas pageant, the investigation of the abandoned dormitories, the maids, the death of Sagamore, and Owen’s assumption of the roles of both Jesus and the Ghost of the Future?

 2.  Comment upon John’s role as Joseph.

 3.  John tells us (p186), “Of course, I know now that Owen didn’t believe in coincidences.  Owen Meany believed that ‘coincidence’ was a shallow refuge sought by stupid, shallow people who were unable to accept the fact that their lives were shaped by a terrifying and awesome design — more powerful and unstoppable than The Flying Yankee.“  How does this observation fit the events of the chapter as a whole?

4.  Discuss the comic elements of the Christmas pageant.

5.  Irving clubs us over the head with Owen = Jesus, so much so that he can be accused of being too obvious.  However, examining page 171, is there anything at all subtle or understated about this treatment of Owen?

6.  The interlude in Toronto on pp 173-175 interrupts the setting and chronology of the story.  What is the author’s purpose in doing this?  What do you make of the references to Catholicism in this chapter?

7.  What is revealed by Pastor Merrill’s and Owen’s behavior at the ”funeral” of Sagamore?  (p 181)

8.  What is the significance of the Meany’s creche scene?

9.  Considering elements from both this novel and  The World According to Garp, what might be the significance of Lydia’s condition?  Who else is crippled?

10.  How, so far, does Irving’s thinking about coincidence in Owen Meany  differ from the feelings that he expresses in Garp?

 Listed below are nine passages that strike me as particularly important in Chapter 3, “The Angel.”  Your second blogging assignment for this chapter is to:   (1) Comment on three of these passages and tell us all why you think I think they are important; OR (2) Choose three other passages that you particularly like and tell us about their significance to you. 

Page 99:  “It was not the play that interested us – it was what a lie it was:  that Dan was awful to my mother, that he meant her harm.  That was fascinating.”

Page 102:  “It made him furious when I suggested that anything was an ‘accident’ — especially anything that had happened to him; on the subject of predestination, Owen Meany would accuse Calvin of bad faith.  There were no accidents; there was a reason for that baseball – just as there was a reason for Owen being small, and a reason for his voice.  In Owen’s opinion, he had INTERRUPTED AN ANGEL, he had DISTURBED AN ANGEL AT WORK, he had UPSET THE SCHEME OF THINGS.”

Page 105:  “What a phrase that is:  ‘that explains everything!’  I know better than to think that anything ‘explains everything’ today.”

Page 111:  “What made Mr. Merrill infinitely more attractive was that he was full of doubt; he expressed our doubt in the most eloquent and sympathetic ways.  In his completely lucid and convincing view, the Bible is a book with a troubling plot, but a plot that can be understood:  God creates us out of love, but we don’t want God, or we don’t believe in Him, or we pay very poor attention to Him.  Nevertheless, God continues to love us – at least.  He continues to try to get our attention.  Pastor Merrill made religion seem reasonable.  And the trick of having faith, he said, was that it was necessary to believe in God without any great or even remotely reassuring evidence that we don’t inhabit a godless universe.”

Page 112:  “’BELIEF IS NOT AN INTELLECTUAL MATTER,’ he complained.  ‘IF HE’S GOT SO MUCH DOUBT, HE’S IN THE WRONG BUSINESS.’”

Page 117:  “Pastor Merrill started us off with the Song of Solomon – ‘Many waters cannot quench love,’ he read.  Then he hit us with Corinthians (‘Love is patient and kind’), and finished us off with John – ‘Love one another as I have loved you.’”

Page 125:  “…a hailstone ricocheted off the roof of the car and smacked her right between the eyes.  ‘Ow!’ she cried, holding her head.  ‘I’M SORRY!’ Owen said quickly.”

Page 126:  “Squeezing a hailstone the size of a marble in my hand, feeling it melt in my palm, I was also surprised by its hardness; it was as hard as a baseball.”

Page 135:  “When someone you love dies, and you’re not expecting it, you don’t lose her all at once; you lose her in pieces over a long time – the way the mail stops coming, and her scent fades from the pillows and even from the clothes in her closet and drawers.”