Friendship_in_Owean_Meany

Johnson 1 LaTonya Professor Kinnaird English 101, Section 11 30 September 2010 Friendship in A Prayer For Owen Meany In John Irving’s novel, A Prayer For Owen Meany , the friendship between Owen and Johnny was refreshing. Throughout their lives, Owen and Johnny have to depend on each other for leadership, advice, and guidance on subjects ranging from religion to girls. They turned what could have been a forgettable friendship into a lasting relationship that shaped their entire lives. The two friends not only depend on each other, they seem to need each other as well. The friendship is not only special on the surface, as is the case with most friendships, it also has a deeper, more meaningful effect on each of the characters’ lives. Owen and Johnny’s relationship has the basic elements of any common good friendship. These elements include honesty, trust, forgiveness, loyalty, and mutual enjoyment. From the very beginning, Owen showed that he had a loyal personality. When he kids in the Sunday school class would pick him up, and pass him around, he never gave in and told Mrs. Walker, never complained about being passed around by the other kids. Johnny also showed that he could be trusted in this same way. Johnny trusted Owen with his most prized possession, his armadillo. They played baseball together and rode their bikes. They played in the attic and had sleepovers. Johnson 2 All of these things are the beginnings of friendship in most normal people’s lives. But Owen and Johnny’s relationship is different, it is extraordinary. Their extraordinary friendship can be summed up in one word: forgiveness. Owen viewed Johnny’s mother as a mother figure, perhaps more so than he viewed his own mother. Yet, he delivered the most heartbreaking moment of Johnny’s life, with the ill-fated hit of a baseball. Owen, rightfully, felt horrible, but was responsible for the death of his best friend’s mother, his own “adopted” mother. Most people would have a hard time forgiving the person that killed their mother, even if the death was accidental. Most would definitely have a hard time becoming best friends with that person for the remainder of their life. This is, however, exactly what Johnny did. That forgiveness was one of the first indications to me of their special bond. As Johnny stated, “Owen gave me more than he ever took from me--even when you consider that he took my mother” (93). It takes a lot of love and respect to not accept the person, but never once blame him. It’s almost as if Johnny doesn’t feel forgiveness is an option, it’s a necessity. He understands that it was an accident. Another thing that makes their relationship stand out above others is trust. Johnny obviously trusted Owen, not only with his armadillo, but with his life. He allowed Owen to cut off his right “trigger finger”. Although Owen did it with great intentions, it took a lot of trust on Johnny’s behalf to allow Owen to do it. Owen could have cut the wrong finger off, or worse yet, his entire hand. Yet even after Owen told Johnny the reason he wanted to cut off his finger, it was ultimately his decision, and Johnny placed his finger on the block of wood. Most friends would not allow a friend, or even a doctor to cut off Johnson 3 finger because of a dream they had. “I WASN’T GOING TO TELL YOU THIS--I DIDN’T WANT TO WORRY YOU--BUT YOU’RE IN THE DREAM--I KNOW I KNOW-BUT IT BOTHER’S ME THAT YOU’RE IN IT, I FIGURE THAT IF YOU CAN’T GO TO VIETNAM, YOU CAN’T BE IN THAT DREAM” Owen said (508). This shows the abundance of trust that Johnny had for Owen. Owen also showed trust in Johnny, by giving him his baseball cards, after Tabitha’s death. That took a lot of trust, because if Johnny decided to keep them, Owen would have lost his cards forever. But he understood that offering the cards was a way to show how truly sorry he was, and he trusted that his good friend would return them. This leads to protection, another factor in their extraordinary friendship. Not only did the cutting of the finger show trust, it showed Owen as a protector. “BETTER WASH YOUR HAND--SCRUB IT GOOD,” he said. “AND THEN RUB ON THE ALCOHOL.[…] YOU’RE GOING TO BE FINE,” he said. “I’LL HAVE YOU AT THE HOSPITAL IN FIVE MINUTES--UNDER TEN MINUTES,TOPS! WHAT’S YUR BLOOD TYPE” he asked me; I shook my head--I didn’t know my blood type. Owen laughed. “I KNOW WHAT IT IS--DON’T YOU REMEMBER ANYTHING! YOU’RE THE SAME TYE AS ME! IF YOU NEED ANY, YOU CAN HAVE SOME OF MINE ” (508). Owen really wanted to protect his friend, both from war and any excess injury that could have been caused as the result of the loss of Johnny’s finger. Johnny also tries to protect Owen. For example, when Owen wants to go to Sawyer Depot, Johnny worries for his safety, and wants to protect his undersized friend from his harsh cousins. “ I didn’t know how to tell him that I thought he’d have a terrible time with my cousins--that if we Johnson 4 picked him up and passed him over our heads in Sunday school, it was frightening to imagine what games my cousins might devise to play with Owen Meany (60) . Not only did Johnny want to physically protect Owen, he also couldn’t bear to hurt his feeling, thus attempting to protect him emotionally. Owen attempted to protect Johnny, even after his death, “I felt myself losing balance and starting to fall. […] I imagined how Dan would discover my body on the dirt floor at the foot of the stairs--when a small, strong hand (or something like a small, strong hand) guided my own hand to the light switch; a small strong hand, or something like it, pulled me forward from where I teetered on the top step of the stairs. And his voice--it was unmistakably Owen’s voice-- said: “ DON’T BE AFRAID. NOTHING BAD IS GOING TO HAPPEN TO YOU” (517). This loyalty, even after death is remarkable for a family member, but for a friend it shows protection at its best. The last component of their extraordinary friendship is loyalty. Owen showed Johnny a great deal of loyalty, most notably by staying back a grade so that the two of them could attend Gravesend Academy together, and, so that he could help Johnny with his homework. Most people would feel horrible about leaving their best friend behind, but would never voluntarily stay behind a grade and risk ruining their future, especially if they were financially dependent on the scholarship. Instead, Owen came up with a reason for the school to leave him behind with his best friend. Owen and Johnny’s friendship is something so rare that most don’t even feel the same connection with relatives. They love and respect each other, and will protect and be there for each other at all times. They place undeniable trust in each other’s care, and Johnson 5 depend on each other for their unique qualities. Johnson 6 Works Citied Irving, John A Prayer For Owen Meany New York: Ballantine, 1990.