Owen Meaney as Atonement Figure: How He Saves

Abstract: In Images of Redemption, Patrick Sherry displays the reciprocal relationship of literature and theology. The essay applies this complementary relationship in asking about an atonement motif reflected in the death of the eponymous Christ figure in John Irving's A Prayer for Owen Meany. The analysis reveals that Irving assumes a traditional satisfaction atonement image, which adds a new element to the literature on the novel, but also illuminates a characteristic of this atonement motif. These insights also explain two points of ambiguity raised by other interpreters, showing that in fact the questions are unanswerable within the theological framework assumed by Irving. Introduction As Patrick Sherry artfully shows, literature (as well as art) and theology may exist in a reciprocal relationship--literature can express theological concepts while theology can explain or correct literary images; each form "is subject to assessment and criticism by the other" (Sherry 172). In this essay I apply the complementary relationship of literature and theology to an analysis of atonement imagery in John Irving's novel A Prayer for Owen Meany. A number of critics described Owen Meany as a Christ figure or pointed out similarities in the narratives of Owen and Jesus. (1) None, however, took the seeming natural next step of asking whether an atonement image might be discovered in the narrative of the Christ figure's seemingly divinely inspired death. (2) The analysis reveals that despite the novel's oblique relationship to Christian theology, Irving frames it within one of the classic atonement images, a finding that adds a new element to the literature on the novel. (3) The novel in turn illuminates a primary characteristic of this atonement motif. Describing characteristics of this atonement motif also sheds light on two sets of questions raised by other interpreters of the novel, showing that in fact these questions are unanswerable within its theological framework. In traditional atonement theology, an atonement motif answers the questions, "Why did Jesus have to die?" or "How does Jesus' death save?" Several answers are possible, with each reflecting a particular atonement motif. For the novel, the questions become, "Why did Owen Meany have to die?" or "How does Owen Meany's death save?" These questions concern a plot that depicts the inexorable march of Owen's life to his premature but heroic death. Unique among his friends, he was born of a claimed virgin birth, is small of stature, has a high, screeching voice that never changes, and believes that he has a divine calling. This sense of mission stems in part from Owen's conviction that when he hit a baseball that killed narrator Johnny Wheelwright's mother, God had directed the baseball. Throughout his life, Owen's sense of being called and groomed for the heroic death grows as he gathers clues, including even the date on which it will occur--except that until the moment actually arrives Owen does not know precisely what it entails or how it will happen. Readers looking in on the marvelously contrived, intricate and humorous plot have only the vaguest idea what the mission entails--certainly less aware than is Owen--as they consider the innumerable, seemingly random details that Irving strews throughout the evolving plot. The one thing that both Owen and the readers can know is that innocent Owen will die in heroic circumstances. It is this innocent death, which satisfies his divinely ordained mission--a parallel to claims about Christ--that offers the possibility of discovering an atonement motif in the Christ figure of Owen Meany. Interpreters' Questions Understanding the implications of this plot has posed some challenges for critics. My analysis will address three of them. One question concerns the relationship of God to what appears to be evil in the world. As the conclusion to an insightful religious reading of the novel, Stephen R. …