The Meaning of Meany

by admin on September 12, 2010

Everyone at some point in their life asks the question, What is the meaning of my existence? Socrates said a long time ago that if we do not take the time to ask ourselves questions like this one and examine what we do and why we do it, we risk being irrelevant. The search for meaning is the search for what it means to be human. The purpose of the humanities, which include subjects like literature, history, philosophy, is to embark on this exploration because through learning, through knowledge, we better know ourselves. Timeo nosce, know thyself, is what we desire and John Irvings, A Prayer for Owen Meany, is a story that provides valuable insight into ourselves. This article will stick with one key point that Irving makes at near the end of the story when John Wheelwright (the main character) says that life is disappointment. Without referencing too much of the story, Johns life is fairly unassuming. The stories seem to happen to the people around him and his best friend Owen Meany, is at the center of most. Life is a disappointment because he aspires for his life to be a great story and it always seems to fall short of his expectations. It cant be seen in an entirely negative way even though the thought of disappointment seems to be bad. If we can consider that humanity yearns for great things, has deep passions, desires so much, are we not constantly disappointed to varying degrees? We seem to live in a world where that same humanity finds ways to create systems and procedures that suck the life out of passion, limit our desires, tell us our yearnings are nothing more than chemical imbalances that can be manipulated with other chemicals. If one tries to rise about the morass of mediocrity the masses reach up to suck that one back down to their level. Ayn Rand wrote about this in Atlas Shrugged, where there are those who keep the world in place and limit the potential of humanity. Why should we try to be great if society is set against you being great. Try telling someone you want to write a book or be a rock star. Youll probably get some stat thrown at you about how rare it is for people to make it in that business, followed by questions about your backup plan. One would think that one way to combat this antagonism towards life is to search for meaning and try to see wonder in the world. Reading, watching movies, hanging out with others, are part of the active life and by taking time to reflect on this life we may just see the potential for the better life. Owen Meany believed he was destined to do Gods work from the moment he could think about that kind of thing. It drove him to be bigger than his own life (if youve read the book you can understand even more how his physical stature comes into play) and his best friend came to believe in the transcendent by being a part of Owens story. This may be the counter to Johns disappointment. If he had hope in something better, he wouldnt be disappointed. Is that what our society needs? Hope?

Write a compare and contrast essay on the differing worldviews of these two main characters.