In A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving’s narrative is so well woven that I almost feel apart of it. The story lives and breathes the essence of childhood, and this nostalgic vibe the book permeates allows for my inner child to come out. Whether it’s John Irving’s outlandish but somehow relatable humor, his use of framing the book as a story in the past, or even how John Irving beautifully transitions the boys from youth to teenhood, there always seems to be something that draws me as a reader into the story and characters more than before. At least, this was my sentiment on the novel before the injection of political beliefs through the form of a grown-up John.
In a nostalgic coming of age story, the reader wants to read about change. Changes in setting, changes in thought, and how the main characters are physically changing. What John Irving opts to do instead of alluding to these past events and how they influence his Canadian and adult self is insert his political belief into a tale of faith, religion, and coming of age. What I find interesting is that I completely agree- and even use these statistics or facts that Irving pulls- all the time. I actually love politics, and being a woke Gen-Z Bernie supporter, I’ll use seemingly any opportunity to manhandle a political fact into something inherently nonpolitical. The problem within A Prayer for Owen Meany is that I cannot shake the feeling of disappointment whenever we are graced with a jump to the present. Instead of listening to John’s insights that we see paralleled with how he learned them in the past, we instead get seemingly random political unrest from an old man. It’s perfectly reasonable to be mad about Reagan. It’s not reasonable to try to score points with the audience for holding similar opinions.
Mr. Wasowski's Personal Favorites (all written by Kurt) 
Although I agree that it is sometimes surprising when John Irvine decides to switch to the present for Johnny and include his political views in the future, I also see a purpose in this. In the childhood time period, Johnny and Owen talked about some political views even then. There is a discussion of war and the draft during the first three chapters somewhere. I think that Irvine was trying to highlight the continuous influence Owen has over Johnny. I personally am very tempted to skip completely over those paragraphs but I can try to see a reason for them. There has to be a reason behind why he’s been a Canadian for twenty years but he still is heavily invested in America and Reagan. Maybe he is just really into politics, but I think it’s because Owen must have discussed something similar in the past or it has some type of meaning behind it. It almost seems like an emotional attachment to it. Or it could be Irvine trying to sneak his agenda in. Either way I still hate reading political things and this doesn’t change that.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think you’re missing the point of the flashes back to John’s present life. The political beliefs are supposed to feel jarring, they’re supposed to feel “inserted.” This is because they’re completely out of character for the John we know. The John we know lives completely in Owen’s shadow and is irritatingly passive. He never seems to have his own opinion or make his own decisions, and what few that aren’t made by Owen are always made following advice from Dan, yet here we have this strong disgruntlement from John toward the Reagan administration and while Owen may be mentioned it is clear that these opinions are John’s own. The whole point is that these opinions are out of character for John. They’re meant to make the reader wonder what happened and why John has changed. My personal theory is the United States caused Owen’s death through drafting him in the Vietnam War and him subsequently dying there. It would make this “random political unrest from an old man” perfectly reasonable, for this government he’s critiquing killed his best and maybe only childhood friend.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Kurt,
I like this new-leaf student that you have become…submitting insightful blog posts on time. Keep it up.
I hope you read the two comments regarding your post, for they are both valuable. Recognize that you can understand the literary significance of the political commentary without actually enjoying/liking them at all.
LikeLike