Owen Meany Character Analysis

A person that has insight into the future faces a moral dilemma; should you withhold information that you know of a person's future in order to protect them mentally, or should you tell them because it is information of their future? This is the dilemma that Owen Meany struggles with throughout this novel. Based on many events, it is quite apparent that Owen Meany has a solid idea of what the future holds for him and his friend. Owen Meany's choice is usually to withhold the information in order to keep those around him “safe”. Owen Meany's withholding of his own knowledge of the future has can have opposite effects however because he often ends up hurting more than he does helping. Owen’s intentions don't always hold strong when it comes to …show more content…
Owen believes that some of the things that he learns about the future are better left undiscussed with his friends, mainly Johnny and Hester. One of the biggest, and first events where Owen deceives Johnny is when Owen lies about the date he saw on the gravestone. Owen sees the date he will die on a gravestone at the annual playing of a Christmas Carol. He briefly mentions this fact, but not the date, in a state of histeria to Johnny. When Johnny approaches him later to ask if he saw a date as well, Owen hesitates in responding “THERE WAS NO DATE” p255 which gives away that he actually did see and knew the date of his death. This “deception” should not be viewed as such. If Johnny were to know the information about his own friends death date, he would be a mess. Since Johnny knows Owens super natural power has not been incorrect ever, he knows his own friend would die on that date. This