Native Son

Throughout the novel A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving writes a story about two boys growing up and learning the works of the world. The protagonist, John Wheelwright, is narrating the book about his life as an adult and sharing details about his childhood. In his childhood, he writes about his closest companion, Owen Meany. Owen leads John to become an anti-American, pessimistic, all girls private school teacher in Canada. As John is going through college and Owen is serving the Vietnam war…

God’s Instrument After years of typing away on his antique typewriter for hours on end, the Oscar winning storyteller John Irving triumphantly finished his seventh novel A Prayer For Owen Meany in 1989. The emotional tugging that the novel forces upon its audience made it one of the most read novels of the 20th century (McCarthy 2). This humorous yet heart wrenching tale tells of an unlikely friendship between two boys just before the Vietnam era. As a time full of war, death, and lost hope;…

What is culture and what does it have to do with Christianity? Was Jesus “culturally engaged”? Did Jesus even care about culture at all? Cultural engagement is the acknowledgment of culture outside of our own and actively participating in applying its uniqueness to our lives, or using it as a tool for ministry. As Christians, we must first look at our Leader to understand if we should culturally engage or not, and, in this case, we will see that it is important. In many parables, Jesus used the…

Was it? He was born by God’s power, lived like a monk, preached great sermons and all the people followed him. He was very popular and kings were scared of him. He baptized the Son of God! He could be forgiven if he thought it was his story. Perhaps the greatness of John was not what he is, or what he did, but because he played his part in the story in the best way possible. He recognized that it is not his story. Read John 3…

The Sons of Liberty stressed the symbolic significance of the tax, and that they are being controlled by the British. The common folk were not really affected by the tax, but they were being influenced by the ideals behind the tax. The upper class called for…

The doctrine of depravity says that man is as bad off as he can be. There is a vast difference between being as bad as he can be, and being as bad off as he can be. The doctrine of depravity has to do, not with man’s estimation of man, but rather with God’s estimation of man. (Pentecost 9-10) The doctrine of depravity has to do not so much with man’s conduct as with man’s state. It has to do not so much with man’s behavior as with his condition before God. In Galatians 3:22 we read, “…the…

history lesson would jump to images of Revere riding through Lexington on horseback, shouting warnings about the imminent arrival of the British troops. However, there is more to this historical figure than what is commonly perceived. A member of the Sons of Liberty, Paul Revere delivered countless messages that kept the revolution alive. He created propaganda for the war, such as his much praised Boston Massacre engraving. What was Paul Revere’s most influential feat? Many argue that it was…

he Future is determined by one’s action in the present, So when given a chance to look at the future, people will want to come back to the present, and change their actions for a better future. In the novella A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, Scrooge, the main character, is a wicked and grumpy man to start with. As four ghost visits him, with the ghost of future as the most influential, Scrooge becomes a caring, joyful man. While the all the ghosts are important in the development of…

The theme, characterization, and social aspect of Macbeth are different from those in Antigone. Macbeth, a respected man, pursues power by all means, killing people and manipulating those that believe he respects them. Meanwhile, Macbeth communicates with three witches to ensure that his plans of action are uninterrupted trying to become king by any means necessary. However, during his mission to become king, all turn tragic and he never achieves the chance to learn from his actions. On the…

Often, it is the responsibility of oneself to determine the outcome of your life, however there will always be influential people who either directly or indirectly affect the decisions made. Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a play believed to be written in 1605, focusing on the downward spiral of Macbeth after he murders King Duncan in order to become King of Scotland, consequently developing feelings of guilt and paranoia. Through the establishment of atmosphere, comments on the actions of major…