A Prayer for Owen Meany

Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.

1. Consider Owen’s unwavering faith in fate. Do you feel a similar sense of destiny and purpose in your life? Why or why not?

2. Reflect on Owen and John’s deep, complex friendship. Have you ever had a relationship that shaped your beliefs and understanding of the world?

3. Trace the novel’s exploration of literal and metaphorical miracles. Have you ever witnessed something miraculous? How did this experience change your perspective?

4. Owen and John are profoundly changed by the events of the Vietnam War. Has a significant world event or geopolitical conflict ever reshaped your worldview or identity? 

5. John’s life is marked by his mother’s death and the unanswered questions about his father. How have issues such as loss or family mysteries affected your sense of identity?

Examine the book’s relevance to societal issues, historical events, or cultural themes.

1. Analyze the novel’s exploration of historical, faith-shaking moments such as the Kennedy assassination and the Vietnam War. What broader social commentary does the narrative convey?

2. How does Irving use the setting of a small New England town to depict the political ideologies, class structures, and American values of the 1950s and 1960s? 

3. How does Irving use the town’s production of A Christmas Carol to introduce the townsfolk? What is inherently Dickensian about the story?

4. How does the novel critique the historical realities of American involvement in the Vietnam War? How do Owen and John’s differing opinions reflect the era’s broader social divisions over the conflict?

Dive into the book’s structure, characters, themes, and symbolism.

1. Analyze the novel’s dual timeline structure. In what ways does the book circle back on itself in places, as when the narrative returns to the scene of John’s mother’s death? What effect does this structural choice have on tone of the story as a whole?

2. Discuss the novel’s exploration of religion and faith. Does the story present faith as doubt, as blind adherence to dogma, or as a willing acceptance of fate? Explain your reasoning.

3. Is Owen a prophet or a Messianic figure? What aspects of the story might support this interpretation?

4. How does the story act as a bildungsroman for John Wheelwright? Trace John’s journey toward gaining a greater understanding of the meaning of faith.

5. What does the armadillo symbolize? What is the significance of Owen’s decision to remove its feet?

6. What is the symbolic significance of armless objects in the story (e.g., the tailor’s dummy and the Mary Magdalene statue)?