Fate and Free Will in A Prayer for Owen Meany

     Was Owen Meany destined to die? Was it fate that killed John Wheelwright's mother with the baseball on that fateful day? The psychological aspects of A Prayer for Owen Meany beg a reader to question if he brings on disaster or if there is a bigger picture where fate plays a role in his life. Support for the theory that random circumstances and not fate led to Owen's dramatic outcome can be seen in the various chapters. Fate had to do with neither Owen's death nor the death of Tabitha Wheelwright. What happened to Tabitha Wheelwright was nothing but an accident. The fact that pastor Merrill wished her dead the moment before the ball struck also has nothing to do with the death being the will of God and Owen's fate. Sometimes accidents do happen and regardless of coincidences that link events preceding the accident together, it will always be an accident. On the matter of the death of Owen Meany, if anything, Owen's delusions that it was his fate to die actually resulted in his own death. It is as if Owen was doing everything in his power to get killed, ignoring what he interpreted as the will of God, showing him how he would die, and following the steps that would lead to the death that he saw in his delusions. When Owen saw his name on the Tombstone in The Christmas Carol, he realized that he was destined to join the army as his name was written as 1st Lieutenant. Furthermore, in college, rather than focus on his studies, Owen became fully engulfed in the ROTC. Thus, it seems, Owen took every possible step to make what he viewed as how he was going to die a reality. If Owen had been truly fearful for his life, then perhaps he should not have enlisted in the military and instead remained a civilian citizen. Owen's desire to die sheds a new light on Owen. Perhaps his desire to see about the premature end of his life has something to do with the death of Tabitha Wheelwright, a woman that he loved. Maybe Owen believed that by dying early he would be able to see her again earlier. Perhaps, the pain he felt, knowing that he killed her caused his heart to fill with sorrow, and thus made him want to end his life. Nevertheless, fate had nothing to do with Owen's death; he had all the power over his decisions. He just choose the path that would lead to his untimely demise, regardless of any premonitions he felt about it.