So it was just Easter for those that celebrate it like me, and it has got me thinking a lot about the story in relation to my independent reading book, seeing as it was focused on the same ideas. But the main similarity I saw between the two was the idea of the "Messiah", as Jesus is thought to be the Messiah from the people of Christain faith, and in A Prayer for Owen Meany, the character Owen Meany was meant to be a sort of Messiah, or savior.
I have always wondered what it would be like to be someone like that, whether or not you know of the things that you are doing, or going to do. In the story of Jesus, it is said that he knew exactly what was going to happen, shown by his many predictions and the prophecies that were already written. But in the case of Owen Meany, who is obviously in more modern times, it is a bit more confusing. That is what led me to write the diary entries of Owen Meany, as the book is in the perspective of John Wheelwright, and I wanted to try and visualize what Owen would be thinking for most of the "prophetic" moments in the book.
DEAR DIARY,
I HAVE BEEN HAVING ISSUES WITH THE GENERAL, HE DOESN’T SEEM
TO WANT TO SEND ME OVERSEAS, BUT I KNOW THAT I HAVE TO. PEOPLE JUST DON’T GET
ME, THEY DON’T UNDERSTAND WHY I AM HERE, EVERYONE JUST CALLS ME CRAZY, SAYING
THAT I’M DELUSIONAL AND THAT GOD ISN’T REAL. BUT I KNOW WHAT I SAW THAT
GRAVESTONE AT THE PLAY HAD MY NAME ON IT, AND IT HAD MY DEATH
DATE, I JUST KNOW THAT I HAVE TO BE AT A CERTAIN PLACE AT A CERTAIN TIME.
I HAVE ALSO BEEN GETTING MORE DREAMS LATELY, ABOUT THAT
DAY, MY FRIEND JOHN TELLS ME NOT TO WORRY ABOUT IT, AND LIKE EVERYONE ELSE THAT
WHAT I AM SEEING IS FAKE, BUT IT IS DEFINING THE FUTURE, NOT IN A WEIRD CRAZY
KIND OF WAY, BUT LIKE A PROPHETIC COOL KIND OF WAY.
FROM,
OWEN
MEANY
DEAR DIARY,
I KNOW I ENDED ON A BIT OF A CLIFF-HANGER LAST TIME, BUT
BEING IN THE MILITARY ISN’T EASY, AND DOESN’T PROVIDE MUCH DOWNTIME, ESPECIALLY
WHEN TRYING TO STAY ON THE GOOD SIDE OF THE HIGHER UPS. BUT WE ARE EDGING
CLOSER TO THAT DAY, AND I DON’T KNOW IF I’LL BE IN THE RIGHT SPOT, BECAUSE THEY
ARE DENYING ALL OF MY DEPLOYMENT REQUESTS TO VIETNAM.
OH YEAH, THE DREAM, WELL I KIND OF KNOW WHAT I’M GOING TO
HAVE TO DO, IN A SENSE, ALL I KNOW IS THAT ON THE DAY I DIE I WILL BE WITH
VIETNAMESE CHILDREN CRYING. SO THAT IS WHY I WANT TO BE TRANSFERRED TO VIETNAM,
BECAUSE THERE IS ONLY ONE PLACE TO FIND THE VIETNAMESE CHILDREN, IN VIETNAM.
FROM,
OWEN
MEANY
DEAR DIARY,
I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO, I’M STUCK IN PHEONIX WITH MY
FRIEND JOHN WHILE TRANSFERRING BODIES, BUT TOMORROW IS THE DAY AND I HAVE NO
CLUE HOW I’M SUPPOSED TO GET TO VIETNAM IN TIME. I KNOW THAT I AM DESTINED TO DO
THIS, BUT I DON’T KNOW HOW. I’M STARTING TO THINK THAT EVERBODY WAS RIGHT, AND THAT
I’M JUST GOING CRAZY, MAYBE NONE OF THIS WAS DESTINY, AND THAT I SHOULD BE SENT
TO AN INSANE ASYLUM.
WELL ANYWAY, WE ARE HEADING TO THE AIRPORT SO THAT JOHN
CAN RETURN HOME, BUT THIS KID IS SITTING NEXT TO ME ON THE TRAIN, THE YOUNGER
BROTHER OF THE BODY I AM DELIVERING, AND HE SEEMS JUST SO FULL OF HATE. HE SAYS
THAT HE IS JUST WAITING FOR THE DAY THAT HE CAN JOIN THE MILITARY AND GET BACK
AT THE VIETNAMESE FOR HIS BROTHER, I CAN ONLY IMAGINE WHAT THAT MAY BE LIKE,
LOSING SOMEONE YOU LOVE THAT MUCH.
FROM,
OWEN
MEANY
Now it may be confusing why everything is in caps, but that was a choice that the author made in order to emphasize Owen's voice, a symbol used throughout the book. I thought that I encompassed most of the feelings that Owen would be feeling during each of these situations. Since many of you have probably never read the book, some context is that directly after the last entry, the kid that I was referring to tried to suicide bomb a group of Vietnamese children with a grenade he stole, and Owen managed to save the children by taking the grenade and blocking them from the explosion. So his prophecy did, in fact, come true, despite the setting.
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