Two Funerals

Typically when thinking of a wedding, one pictures vivid flowers, a beautiful white dress, along with excitement among the guests and wedding party. In contrast, when picturing a funeral one thinks of a coffin, black clothing, and mourning family members. These two events are never thought of together and are especially never thought of to be alike. In John Irving’s novel A Prayer for Owen Meany, the narrator Johnny compares his mother’s wedding day to her funeral.

First, Johnny describes his mother’s wedding day. While telling of the event, he never sounds excited or happy, as the reader expects. He describes the weather as being hot and muggy. He says it was so hot that the roses in the garden were wilted and so hot that no one was willing to dance. Along with the sultry weather not being ideal for a wedding, it is pointed out that Owen Meany is dressed for a funeral, which further makes the wedding scene feel off for the reader. It also foreshadows Tabby’s actual funeral. When the newlyweds are about to leave, the sky lets loose and it begins to pelt rain and hail. One of the hail pieces actually hits Tabitha on the head. Johnny describes the hailstone being as hard as a baseball, which foreshadows Tabby’s death. He also mentions that both ministers who officiated the wedding forgot to mention the important blessing “that she and I may grow old together.” This is important since Tabby ends up dying young and is only married to Dan for about a year.

After Johnny tells of the wedding, he moves on to describing Tabby’s funeral. He describes most of the same people that were at Tabby and Dan’s wedding not so long ago. The funeral is held at Hurd’s church, which is the same place the wedding took place at. Just like during the wedding, the same two ministers read passages out of the Bible. The same ministers that married Tabby and Dan also held her funeral within the short span of a year. Additionally at the funeral, Owen shouts “I’M SORRY” as he places dirt on top of Tabby’s coffin just as he did when Tabby was hit by the hailstone at her wedding and just like when he hit her with the baseball. Owen connects the funeral and wedding by repeating the same phrase multiple times.

Even though weddings and funerals are emotional gatherings, Johnny did not have a joyful tone when telling of Tabby’s wedding day nor did he have a mournful tone when telling of his mother’s funeral. Along with the actual events that took place at both the wedding and the funeral, the key connection between these two gatherings was Johnny’s solemn telling of each one.