A Prayer for Owen Meany

by

John Irving

Amanda and Arthur Dowling Character Analysis

A young married couple who believe in challenging gender norms. The Dowlings always request to be cast in the roles of the opposite sex in Gravesend’s theatrical productions. They also protest against girls’ exclusion from Little League baseball and against the types of sexist stereotypes in classic literature taught to children.

Amanda and Arthur Dowling Quotes in A Prayer for Owen Meany

The A Prayer for Owen Meany quotes below are all either spoken by Amanda and Arthur Dowling or refer to Amanda and Arthur Dowling. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Fate and Predestination Theme Icon
).
Chapter 5 Quotes

Sexual stereotypes did not fall, [Amanda] liked to say, from the clear blue sky; books were the major influences upon children—and books that had boys being boys, and girls being girls, were among the worst offenders! Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, for example; they were an education in condescension to women—all by themselves, they created sexual stereotypes! Wuthering Heights, for example: how that book taught a woman to submit to a man made Amanda Dowling “see red,” as she would say.

Related Characters: John Wheelwright (speaker), Amanda and Arthur Dowling (speaker)
Page Number: 244-245
Explanation and Analysis:
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A Prayer for Owen Meany PDF

Amanda and Arthur Dowling Quotes in A Prayer for Owen Meany

The A Prayer for Owen Meany quotes below are all either spoken by Amanda and Arthur Dowling or refer to Amanda and Arthur Dowling. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Fate and Predestination Theme Icon
).
Chapter 5 Quotes

Sexual stereotypes did not fall, [Amanda] liked to say, from the clear blue sky; books were the major influences upon children—and books that had boys being boys, and girls being girls, were among the worst offenders! Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, for example; they were an education in condescension to women—all by themselves, they created sexual stereotypes! Wuthering Heights, for example: how that book taught a woman to submit to a man made Amanda Dowling “see red,” as she would say.

Related Characters: John Wheelwright (speaker), Amanda and Arthur Dowling (speaker)
Page Number: 244-245
Explanation and Analysis: