Mrs. Meany Character Analysis in A Prayer for Owen Meany

Owen’s mother and Mr. Meany’s wife. She never leaves the house or opens the windows, because she is supposedly allergic to dust. She rarely speaks, and she is likely mentally impaired. She wholeheartedly believes that she became pregnant with Owen while she was still a virgin, like Mary, and was painfully ostracized when she looked to members of the Catholic Church for support. After Owen hits the baseball that kills Tabitha Wheelwright in a freak accident, Mrs. Meany becomes convinced that her son is the child of God. After Owen is killed by a grenade, she often sits by the fireplace and wears his American flag as a shawl, until it accidentally catches fire one night and burns her. She dies in the hospital.

Mrs. Meany Character Timeline in A Prayer for Owen Meany

The timeline below shows where the character Mrs. Meany appears in A Prayer for Owen Meany. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Mrs. Meany can’t take Owen to school because she never goes outdoors, and never even opens the... (full context)

Mr. Meany is pleasant whenever John stops by with Owen, but Mrs. Meany only stares into the distance, or into the fireplace. When John mentions that Owen is... (full context)

John goes back inside to get his hat. In Owen’s room, he finds Mrs. Meany sitting on Owen’s bed, staring at Tabitha’s dummy. Without looking at John, she says, “I’m... (full context)

...sees his riveted parents in the crowd: Mr. Meany looks afraid of his son, while Mrs. Meany is overwhelmed with uncontrollable sobbing. (full context)

...he means, so some of them get up to leave along with Mr. Meany and Mrs. Meany . Owen tells John to get him out of there, so he and Mary Beth... (full context)

...to it. He was given a full military funeral with honors, and Mr. Meany and Mrs. Meany asked that he be buried in Gravesend rather than Arlington. Rev. Wiggin, a supporter of... (full context)

...be radical but stand by as tragedy and violence run riot. At the Meanys’ house, Mrs. Meany stares into the dead ashes of the fireplace while Mr. Meany talks with John. He... (full context)

...Bible. Mr. Meany sits down with John and tells him that Owen wasn’t born naturally. Mrs. Meany shouts at him to stop talking. Mr. Meany explains that Owen had been a virgin... (full context)

Mrs. Meany continues to order Mr. Meany to stop talking, and John thinks that she’s perfectly crazy—possibly... (full context)

John thinks that he could kill Mr. Meany and Mrs. Meany for their ignorance. He thinks of them as “monsters of superstition,” and “dupes.” He feels... (full context)

Rev. Merrill agrees with John that Mr. Meany is a “monster of superstition” and Mrs. Meany is likely mentally disabled, and he shares John’s horror that they told Owen their belief... (full context)

...listened to him since. John thinks that Merrill is no different from Mr. Meany and Mrs. Meany —they all used self-centered religion for their own ends. (full context)

...baseball, reflecting against the medal pinned to the flag on Owen’s casket. Mr. Meany and Mrs. Meany stare at the medal and the casket as if they expect Owen to rise and... (full context)

...is done, the honor guard folds Owen’s flag and hands it to Mr. Meany and Mrs. Meany . The recessional hymn is the same one played at Tabitha’s funeral. It’s another summer... (full context)

...the electric meter. His granite company was gone, and this was his new part-time job. Mrs. Meany had died not long after her son; she died of complications from burns. She had... (full context)