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Essay / Analysis of John Wheelwright's Change in A Prayer for Owen Meany
In the book A Prayer for Owen Meany, many different characters appeared in the story. All these characters have a very strong characteristic, they have a lot of thoughts about different things and have their own ideas. Although not all the characters were involved in every chapter or event, all the characters played a very important role that makes the whole story stand out. In all of these characters, I want to talk more about John Wheelwright, the narrator of the story, explaining how John Wheelwright changed from the beginning to the end of the story. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay Although the book is primarily about Owen Meany, John Wheelwright, also known as Johnny, is the narrator of the book. John is a very quiet boy, he lives with his grandmother and mother and has no idea who his father is. John is Owen Meany's best friend, they met since they were very young. But they knew each other better until Owen accidentally killed John's mother, Tabitha, during a baseball game. It is very interesting that even Owen killed John's mother, they could still get along and became best friends. John and Owen's relationship is truly special compared to others because it shapes and defines who he is and who he will become in the future. We all might think that John always protects Owen, but in reality, Owen is the one who always stands by John and helps him when he needs help. One of the most striking examples is that Owen spent ninth grade twice, making sure he was there for John whenever John needed help. Owen also went to collage with John and helped him, which greatly helped John do well in school and succeed in college. It is very difficult to see that John has big changes from the beginning and end of the book, but that does not mean that John has not undergone any changes. One of the changes is his physical changes, the story begins when John and Owen were still children, and there must be physical changes to them. The first physical change we know about is John's missing finger, mentioned in chapter 8, the finger. The reason John has a missing finger is because of Owen. Owen wants to stop John from fighting in the Vietnam War, so he cuts off John's finger. This also shows that Owen truly cares about John and always stays with him when John has questions or problems. Because Owen saved John's life, John was also very grateful that Owen cut off his index finger, so that he could continue to be a student and become a teacher later. Another physical change of John is that his hair turns white, but this happened after Owen died, John almost falls from the stairs, and he hears Owen's voice and feels something pulling him up . These events cause him to experience a permanent and memorable physical change. In addition to the physical change, John also changed his insides, his thoughts had a very big change after growing up, especially after Owen's death. The biggest change that happened to John was the death of Owen Meany. When Owen dies, it means John has lost his best friend. This affects John's beliefs about God and his religion. At the very beginning of the book, we were able to see that John does not have a very clear vision and is not very sure of his beliefs in God, or of his religion. John goes from having a lot of doubt about his faith to deep reflection and great religion. And this made John decide to become a Christian, which was also.