To Whom It May Concern,
I am writing this as a concerned student. In the past month my AP English class has been reading A Prayer for Owen Meany. I was shocked at the content. We students were required to read it; there was no alternative book choice. We took tests on it and our grade was affected by whether we read it or not. Notwithstanding all of this, I found it impossible to read past the seventh chapter because I found A Prayer for Owen Meany so offensive. Not only was the book sexually disturbing, but an insult to religion.
A Prayer for Owen Meany is basically a story about a stunted boy named Owen Meany, who has an unnatural voice and believes that he is controlled by God. Owen is portrayed as the protagonist and his lines are always capitalized. He refers to himself throughout the book as “God’s instrument,” and when his friend Johnnie’s mother is killed by a ball he hits, his stance is “GOD HAS TAKEN YOUR MOTHER. MY HANDS WERE THE INSTRUMENT. GOD HAS TAKEN MY HANDS. I AM GOD’S INSTRUMENT” (Modern Library, p.92).
So Owen thinks he is God’s instrument, and he is the hero of the story. So what? One big problem is the way Christianity is ridiculed constantly. The pastors (Rev. Scammu, Rev. Wiggin and Rev. Merrill) are cast in a bad light. They are all either doddering, stuttering or shouting passages to strike fear in parishioners’ hearts. One of the greatest themes in A Prayer for Owen Meany, however, is definitely Owen’s hatred of Catholicism. He speaks incessantly about an “unspeakable outrage” that the Catholics committed to his family. His venting is so frequent that the bashing of Catholics becomes a theme of the book. Here are just a few examples.
“He was changing churches, he said, TO ESCAPE THE CATHOLICS…” (Modern, p.24, 25).
“It occurred to me that the Catholics had done this to her-whatever it was, it surely qualified for the unmentioned UNSPEAKABLE OUTRAGE that Owen claimed his father and mother had suffered” (Modern, p.31).
“DIEM IS A CATHOLIC,” Owen Meany announced. “WHAT’S A CATHOLIC DOING AS PRESIDENT OF A COUNTRY OF BUDDHISTS?” (Modern, p.95)
“As for joining the priesthood, that was a favorite expression of Harriet Wheelwright’s; it was always made in connection with some insupportable foolishness, some self-created difficulty, some action as inhuman as it was bizarre. Grandmother meant the Catholic priesthood…” (Modern, p.113)
“that old UNSPEAKABLE OUTRAGE that the Catholics had perpetrated, and his parents’ inability to rise above what amounted to the RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION they had suffered…” (Modern, p.245)
“THAT’S SO CATHOLIC,” he added-”TO GET VERY RELIGIOUS ABOUT OBJECTS” (Modern, p.280).
In the story, Owen is constantly showing his distaste for Catholics. When he becomes the main writer for the high school paper, he uses his power as “The Voice,” to argue against mandatory church attendance and fish on Fridays.
“WHY DO WE HAVE A CATHOLIC DINING HALL?…I THOUGHT THIS WAS A DEMOCRACY. ARE WE ALL FORCED TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE CATHOLIC VIEW OF BIRTH CONTROL? WHY ARE WE FORCED TO EAT CATHOLIC FOOD?” He set up a chair and desk…to collect signatures for his petition-naturally, everyone signed it. “EVEN THE CATHOLICS SIGNED IT!” (Modern, p.313)
Next to the high school is a Catholic school, St. Michaels. There is a statue of Mary Magdalene on the playground at St. Michaels, and Johnnie and Owen make a point to attack it with hard chestnuts whenever they passed by. They enacted even worse deeds on the Catholic statue. “We filled a tennis-ball can with tadpoles and-under the cover of darkness-poured them over the feet of Mary Magdalene. The tadpoles-those that didn’t turn quickly into toads-would dry up and die there. We even slaughtered toads and indelicately placed their mutilated bodies in the holy goalie’s upturned palms, staining her with amphibian gore” (Modern, p.282).
Nuns also reside at St. Michaels. There is no doubt on Owen’s feelings towards nuns . ‘“Owen was afraid of nuns. “THEY’RE UNNATURAL,” he said…’ (Modern, p.282). ‘“The nun will be all right, Owen,” she told him. “IT’S NOT THE IDEA OF MURDERING HER THAT GIVES ME THE SHIVERS,” Owen explained. “IT’S THE IDEA OF NUNS-IN GENERAL.” “I know what you mean,” my grandmother said; she harbored her own misgivings about the Catholics’ (Modern, p.276). Seeing a few of the nuns out one snowy night, Owen asks Johnnie “EVER SEEN PENGUINS ON ICE?” (Modern, p.247) and wonders if the nuns are lesbians (Modern, p.314).
In the story, Owen is expelled. He disappears for a few days and in that time steals the statue of Mary Magdalene, cuts off it’s head and arms, and bolts the statue with metal bands to the stage in the assembly hall of the high school.
“I wouldn’t put it past him to have devised a way to blast the sainted Mary Magdalene off her pedestal-I’m sure he would have muffled the explosion so skillfully that the nuns would have slept right through it. Later, when I asked him how he did it, he would give me his usual answer. “FAITH AND PRAYER. FAITH AND PRAYER-THEY WORK. THEY REALLY DO.” (Modern, p.417)
The whole episode is treated as just another quirk about Owen. There is no disapproval about the act (except by the headmaster, who the students and faculty ignore), and the Rev. Merrill actually leads the students in praying for Owen.
Another theme of the book is how Owen is portrayed as a Christ-like figure. He says things like “FATHER, FORGIVE THEM; FOR THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO” (Modern, p.158). There is a Christmas play and Owen casts himself as the baby Jesus; hence, the chapter name ‘The Little Lord Jesus.’ “The Rev. Mr. Wiggin, such a veteran of Christmas pageants, looked at Owen Meany with profound respect-as if he’d seen the Christ child come and go, but never before had he encountered a little Lord Jesus who was so perfect for the part.” (Modern, p.172). Owen is described as being adored by the rest of the cast. - “…the congregation was also prepared to adore him-whatever special Christ this was who not only knew his role but also knew all the other, vital parts of the story” (Modern, p.226).
In this Christmas play, however, there is nothing reverential about the way it unfolds. Since Owen speaks as and is referred to as the “Prince of Peace,” “the little Lord Jesus,” and “the Christ Child” (Modern, p.181, 205, 208, 228, 229, 230, 235, 236, 237,etc.) throughout the book, he also speaks as such during the Christmas play. These references are definitely blasphemous, considering how much of a fiasco the play is. “WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING HERE?” the angry Lord Jesus screamed. (Modern, p.228)
More offensive material includes Johnnie ridiculing and angrily discussing his attitude towards the Beatitudes, the Nicene Creed and calling “heavenly reward” a bribe (Modern, p.151, 152). Owen makes some cruel comments about Christ’s crucifixion (Modern, p.216, 221) and while talking with Rev. Merrill Owen also calls the disciples “DUMB-SHIT DISCIPLES” (Modern, p.322). Jesus’ name is also used with the F-word at least three times (Modern, p.406, 407, 409).
I must confess, however, that the sexual angle on Christianity and religion in general was the most disturbing part to this book. During the Christmas play, the minister’s wife causes Owen (who is playing the child Jesus) to have an erection (Modern, p. 223, 224). The author clearly meant this incident to be irreverent, and describes Owen as “the Baby Jesus,” as he does throughout the book, so he can put the word “erection” and “Baby Jesus” in the same sentence!
There are more incidents of erections in this book, namely when Johnnie has one in relation to his cousin, who he is forced to kiss (Modern, p. 64) and later on in relation to an adult maid who is sleeping in the room with him (Modern, p. 262). Johnnie views these in a positive light, feeling like God is causing it to connect him to his father. “Henceforth, whenever I was troubled by a way I felt-and especially when I felt this way, when I lusted-I thought that my father was asserting himself within me” and “Lust, he would later say, was God’s way of helping me identify who my father was; in lust had I been conceived, in lust would I discover my father” (Modern, p. 262, 263).
There are several more sexual incidents in A Prayer for Owen Meany. Johnnie describes watching a strip-tease in the city (Modern, p.356) and Owen and Johnnie explore the high school student’s dorms. “We learned where to look for the sex magazines, or the dirty pictures: between the mattress and bedspring” (Modern, p.162). Johnnie also discusses whether the pictures were censored or had pubic hair and nipples showing. At one point, when Johnnie and Owen are searching the dorms they get stuck in a room (Owen hiding under the bed) while one of the faculty and his wife have raucous sex (Modern, p. 201). Also while searching the rooms Johnnie and Owen find condoms and try them on, while Owen finds special reason to enjoy the act. “…but I realize now that the ritual…also had the significance of religious rebellion for Owen Meany-it was but one more affront to the Catholics whom he had, in his own words, ESCAPED.”
To sum it up, the way Owen and the ideas expressed in this book are portrayed is very clear. ‘“I am not the head of this class. The head of this class is Owen Meany; he is The Voice of our class-and the only voice we want to listen to.” Then that good, frightened boy would sit down-to tumultuous pandemonium: our classmates raising their voices for The Voice…”Owen Meany! Owen Meany! Owen Meany!” cried the Class of ‘62’ (Modern, p.423). The author’s view of religion can be summed up also. “I am a Christian because of Owen Meany. I make no claims to have a life in Christ, or with Christ-and certainly not for Christ…” (Modern, p. 3). This book is insulting towards Christianity and religion in general. As a Catholic I am deeply hurt by the cruel and biased nature towards Catholicism. As a girl I am disgusted by the sexual innuendo and do not want to indulge in boyhood “coming of age” incidents. I believe that A Prayer for Owen Meany is inappropriate for school, and that as we students have freedom of religion in the classroom, so too should we have the freedom to refuse to read a book so offensive towards it.
