Character Study

            MY NAME IS OWEN MEANY, AND I AM CONSIDERED BY MOST TO BE VERY SMALL, AND TO HAVE A STRANGE VOICE. THE OTHER KIDS (AND SOMETIMES DULTS) ARE ALWAYS TOUCHING AND TICKLING, THROWING ME ABOUT AS IF I WAS A TEDDY BEAR. I DON’T MIND IT THAT MUCH AND I AM NOT WITHOUT FRIENDS.

            MY BEST FRIEND IS JOHN. JOHN WHEELWRIGHT, AS HIS STERN GRANDMOTHER WOULD POINT OUT, IN AN EFFORT TO ESTABLISH HER HIGH PEDIGREE. JOHN IS MY BEST FRIEND BECAUSE HE PLAYS WITH ME, RATHER THAN USING ME AS A TOY. WE ALWAYS PLAY AT HIS HOUSE, BECAUSE MY PARENTS ARE CONSIDERED "STRANGE". FURTHERMORE, I LIKE TO GO TO JOHN'S HOUSE TO GAZE UPON THE BEAUTY THAT IS HIS MOTHER, TABITHA. SHE IS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMAN, AND TO BE SNUGGLED IN HER WARM, CARING EMBRACE IS SOMETHING THAT NEVER FAILS TO DELIGHT ME. IT WAS I, HOWEVER, WHO KILLED HER, ON THAT FATEFUL DAY WHEN MY FOUL BALL STRUCK HER TEMPLE, AND SHE COLLAPSED, NEVER TO WAKE UP.

            I KNOW BECAUSE OF THIS THAT I AM AN INSTRUMENT OF GOD. I ONCE INTERRUPTED AN ANGEL OF DEATH, WHO WISHED TO TAKE TABITHA, SO THE TASK WAS LEFT TO ME TO MOVE HER TO HIS KINGDOM. I DON'T KNOW IF JOHN BELIEVES ME, BUT AT LEAST HE IS STILL FRIENDS WITH ME. DAN, HER WIDOWER, HELPED BOTH OF US THROUGH THE TIME AFTER HER DEATH. DAN MET HER IN BOSTON, WHEN SHE WAS AT ONE OF HER MANY VOICE LESSONS. DAN UNDERSTANDS EVERYONE, AND A FANTASTIC BELIEVER IN THE CAPABILITY OF EVERY HUMAN BEING, AS SEEN IN HIS DRAMA PRODUCTIONS.

            THE OTHERS OUTSIDE MY FAMILY ARE OF COURSE ALSO RELATED TO JOHN. SPECIFICALLY, HIS RAMBUNCTIOUS COUSINS COULD BE CONSIDERED FRIENDS, OR PLAYMATES AT THE LEAST. BEFORE MEETING THEM, I STUDIED UP ON THEM A GREAT DEAL, PREPARING MY SMALL BODY FOR THE ROUGH TUSSLE THAT THE COUSINS INEVITABLY WOULD INVOLVE ME IN. THE TWO BOYS, SIMON AND NOAH, ARE BOTH EXTREMELY PHYSICAL, BUT NOAH, BEING THE OLDEST, IS SLIGHTLY LESS CRAZY THAN HIS YOUNGER SIBLING. THEY BOTH TEASE THEIR YOUNGER SISTER, HESTER, WHO DOES NOT LIVE THE HAPPIEST OF LIVES, CONSTANTLY ABUSED BY HER BROTHERS. I SUSPECT THAT JOHN HAS A CRUSH ON HER, BUT IS ASHAMED, AS HESTER IS HIS COUSIN, EVEN IF SHE DOES POSSESS A UNIQUE, IF MANISH, BEAUTY AND WILD SPIRIT.