Posted by Ritch on June 9, 2002, at 23:33:39
In reply to Re: now i need to go check it out again, to remember , posted by mair on June 9, 2002, at 21:51:31
> Yeah but Owen wasn't the virgin - Johnny was. It's an interesting observation, Mitch, about him being the Joseph figure, but he's really not a father figure in any other respect. He's critical as the person who tells Owen's story - as the witness to the miracles; but I still don't see the significance of making him a virgin.
>
> Mair
Perhaps when he mentioned just "being another Joseph" he was talking about having a *passive role*, simply an observer (a witness-an apostle) not an *actor*, not a *hero*. Owen is the doer, the hero, the one who doesn't question or doubt anything, just does it. The main theme in the entire book is the two different types of faith. The kind derived from reason (through doubt) like Johnny and his father (Pastor Merrill) and the kind that is literal or "matter-of-fact" like Owen-"EASTER MEANS WHAT IT SAYS". What I found interesting is the illustration by the author that highly rational and doubting people can still be quite superstitious. Pastor Merrill "thinks" about Tabitha dropping dead immediately prior to her death-so therefore he feels that he was responsible (that God granted his "wish"). Pastor Merrill was also "fooled" by the dress-maker's dummy and the baseball through the stained glass window. Owen Meaney, however was told by his parents that he was the product of a virgin birth, but his parents *believed* that he was-so they weren't *intending* to *fool* Owen. There is where the critical difference lies.Mitch
poster:Ritch
thread:448
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/books/20020206/msgs/480.html