“I love you.” It is a phrase that has become overused, oversimplified, and often over scrutinized. It is used daily in the most casual of conversations. It is tossed away without a care. Even so, there are moments where those three special words really do mean something special. Sometimes, when we say “I love you,” we mean it. Booklist claims that A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving is a “soulful account of a remarkable friendship.” In each of the 617 pages of Irving’s novel, this assertion is proven true by countless demonstrations. John Wheelwright and Owen Meany share a relationship that puts others to shame. They know what it really means to say “I love you.”
In the beginning, Johnny and Owen are only children, but their bond is strong. At a young age, both boys suffer through a traumatic experience that changes their lives forever: the death of Johnny’s mother, Tabitha,…show more content… For example, the novel begins with an image of Johnny and his Sunday school classmates lifting Owen into the air and passing him around like he weighs nothing at all. Rather than “soulful” and touching, this scene can be interpreted as simply condescending and childish. Conversely, there is proof of the opposite. As the novel ends, John recalls this game and relates it to the fateful events that characterized Owen’s life and lead to Owen’s death. He realizes this and explains that, “there were forces beyond our play … that contributed to our illusion of Owen’s weightlessness … and they were also lifting up Owen Meany, taking him out of our hands (616-617). Johnny had always been practicing the shot with Owen, from the first time he lifted his friend into the air. They were fated companions from the start, not in control of their own destinies. What Johnny always thought was a game, was really a herald to Owen’s many miracles. There is nothing more
