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John’s Stepfather / Dan Needham
The antagonist in the novel, Dick Jarvits is a deeply troubled teenage boy whose older brother, Frank, was killed in Vietnam. Dick is obsessed with war and killing, and he often arms himself with lethal weaponry that his brother smuggled home from Vietnam and loiters menacingly around the airport. Although the airport security guards usually confiscate his weapons, they always return the weapons to him at the end of the day. One day, when a group of nuns and Vietnamese children are disembarking from a plane, Dick finally makes his move, throwing a grenade into the bathroom where the children have stopped off at. Just like in his dream, Owen Meany catches the grenade and does his long-practiced “slam-dunk” move with John to get the grenade as far from the children as possible. Owen dies in the explosion, and Major Rawls kills Dick, but everyone else is safe.
Dick Jarvits Quotes in A Prayer for Owen Meany
The A Prayer for Owen Meany quotes below are all either spoken by Dick Jarvits or refer to Dick Jarvits. 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:
).
Chapter 9
Quotes
“THAT IS WHERE THIS COUNTRY IS HEADED—IT IS HEADED TOWARD OVERSIMPLIFICATION. YOU WANT TO SEE A PRESIDENT OF THE FUTURE? TURN ON ANY TELEVISION ON ANY SUNDAY MORNING—FIND ONE OF THOSE HOLY ROLLERS: THAT’S HIM, THAT’S THE NEW MISTER PRESIDENT! AND DO YOU WANT TO SEE THE FUTURE OF ALL THOSE KIDS WHO ARE GOING TO FALL IN THE CRACKS OF THIS GREAT, BIG, SLOPPY SOCIETY OF OURS? I JUST MET HIM; HE’S A TALL, SKINNY, FIFTEEN-YEAR-OLD BOY NAMED ‘DICK.’ HE’S PRETTY SCARY. WHAT’S WRONG WITH HIM IS NOT UNLIKE WHAT’S WRONG WITH THE TV EVANGELIST—OUR FUTURE PRESIDENT. WHAT’S WRONG WITH BOTH OF THEM IS THAT THEY’RE SO SURE THEY’RE RIGHT! THAT’S PRETTY SCARY.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
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Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire A Prayer for Owen Meany LitChart as a printable PDF.
Dick Jarvits Quotes in A Prayer for Owen Meany
The A Prayer for Owen Meany quotes below are all either spoken by Dick Jarvits or refer to Dick Jarvits. 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:
).
Chapter 9
Quotes
“THAT IS WHERE THIS COUNTRY IS HEADED—IT IS HEADED TOWARD OVERSIMPLIFICATION. YOU WANT TO SEE A PRESIDENT OF THE FUTURE? TURN ON ANY TELEVISION ON ANY SUNDAY MORNING—FIND ONE OF THOSE HOLY ROLLERS: THAT’S HIM, THAT’S THE NEW MISTER PRESIDENT! AND DO YOU WANT TO SEE THE FUTURE OF ALL THOSE KIDS WHO ARE GOING TO FALL IN THE CRACKS OF THIS GREAT, BIG, SLOPPY SOCIETY OF OURS? I JUST MET HIM; HE’S A TALL, SKINNY, FIFTEEN-YEAR-OLD BOY NAMED ‘DICK.’ HE’S PRETTY SCARY. WHAT’S WRONG WITH HIM IS NOT UNLIKE WHAT’S WRONG WITH THE TV EVANGELIST—OUR FUTURE PRESIDENT. WHAT’S WRONG WITH BOTH OF THEM IS THAT THEY’RE SO SURE THEY’RE RIGHT! THAT’S PRETTY SCARY.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
