--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: he had seen his share of heroes, too…" description: "\"“he had seen his share of heroes, too. Major Rawls never knew everything that Owen had known; the major knew only that Owen had been a hero—he didn’t k..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/282/john-irving-337_owen-meany_he-had-seen-his-share-of-heroes-too-majo_408313.png" --- # he had seen his share of heroes, too. Major Rawls never… ![“he had seen his share of heroes, too. Major Rawls never knew everything that Owen had known; the major knew only that Owen had been a hero—he didn’t know that Owen Meany had been a miracle, too. There’s a prayer I say most often for Owen. It’s one of the little prayers he said for my mother, the…” quote by John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/282/john-irving-337_owen-meany_he-had-seen-his-share-of-heroes-too-majo_408313.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/282/john-irving-337_owen-meany_he-had-seen-his-share-of-heroes-too-majo_408313.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/282/john-irving-337_owen-meany_he-had-seen-his-share-of-heroes-too-majo_408313.png) > ““he had seen his share of heroes, too. Major Rawls never knew everything that Owen had known; the major knew only that Owen had been a hero—he didn’t know that Owen Meany had been a miracle, too. There’s a prayer I say most often for Owen. It’s one of the little prayers he said for my mother, the night Hester and I found him in the cemetery—where he’d brought the flashlight, because he knew how my mother had hated the darkness. “‘INTO PARADISE MAY THE ANGELS LEAD YOU,’” he’d said over my mother’s grave; and so I say that one for him—I know it was one of his favorites. I am always saying prayers for Owen Meany. And I often try to imagine how I might have answered Mary Beth Baird, when she spoke to me—at Owen’s burial. If I could have spoken, if I hadn’t lost my voice—what would I have said to her, how could I have answered her? Poor Mary Beth Baird! I left her standing in the cemetery without an answer. “Do you remember how we used to lift him up?” she’d asked me. “He was so easy to lift up!” Mary Beth Baird had said to me. “He was so light—he weighed”” [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator reflects on Owen Meany’s miraculous nature and the lingering grief and unanswered questions after his death, emphasizing the power of prayer and memory. **In simple terms:** Remembering a lost friend and feeling unresolved grief. Key Takeaway Honor the memory with personal prayers. Themes grief memory faith friendship Mood sad reflective Type literary emotional When to use this quote - funeral - personal reflection - writing - talking about loss Key Concepts miracle prayer unanswered questions Questions to Reflect On - What would you say to a grieving friend? - How do personal rituals help cope with loss? A Different Perspective The narrator’s introspection may not resolve the pain of loss. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Owen Meany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/owen-meany/) ## Related quotes > [“He was amazing. He was addicting. At that moment I knew...Owen Mycroft wasn't just a male. 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I have read like a man on fire my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/the-world-of-literature-has-everything-in-it-and-it-refuses-to-leave/) [Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/) > [It is amazing to me, now, how such wild imaginings and philosophies - inspired by a night charged with frights and calamities - made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/it-is-amazing-to-me-now-how-such-wild-imaginings-and-philosophies/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) > [“who are always right, and are given to reminding us of it, are irritating; prophets are irritating, and Owen Meany is decidedly a prophet.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/who-are-always-right-and-are-given-to-reminding-us-of-it-are/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) > [“Tess of the d’Urbervilles, Johnny Got His Gun, A Farewell to Arms, A Prayer for Owen Meany, some years Wuthering Heights, Silas Marner, Their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-zevin/tess-of-the-d-urbervilles-johnny-got-his-gun-a-farewell-to-arms-a/) [Gabrielle Zevin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-zevin/) > [“will tell you what is my overriding perception of the last twenty years: that we are a civilization careening toward a succession of anticlimaxes—toward…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/will-tell-you-what-is-my-overriding-perception-of-the-last-twenty/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) > [“JUST THINK OF THIS AS MY LITTLE GIFT TO YOU," says Owen Meany”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/just-think-of-this-as-my-little-gift-to-you-says-owen-meany/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) > [“MADE FOR TELEVISION!' said Owen Meany.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/made-for-television-said-owen-meany/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) > [“From Hester’s bedroom—even though the door was closed—we could hear her breathing; Hester’s breathing, when she’d been drinking, was something between a snore and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/from-hester-s-bedroom-even-though-the-door-was-closed-we-could-hear/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) > [Anyone can be sentimental about the nativity; any fool can feel like a Christian at Christmas. But Easter is the main event; if you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/anyone-can-be-sentimental-about-the-nativity-any-fool-can-feel-like-a-2/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) [Browse all 33 Owen Meany quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/owen-meany/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“he had seen his share of heroes, too. Major Rawls never knew everything that Owen had known; the major knew only that Owen had been a hero—he didn’t know that Owen Meany had been a miracle, too. There’s a prayer I say most often for Owen. It’s one of the little prayers he said for my mother, the night Hester and I found him in the cemetery—where he’d brought the flashlight, because he knew how my mother had hated the darkness. “‘INTO PARADISE MAY THE ANGELS LEAD YOU,’” he’d said over my mother’s grave; and so I say that one for him—I know it was one of his favorites. I am always saying prayers for Owen Meany. And I often try to imagine how I might have answered Mary Beth Baird, when she spoke to me—at Owen’s burial. If I could have spoken, if I hadn’t lost my voice—what would I have said to her, how could I have answered her? Poor Mary Beth Baird! I left her standing in the cemetery without an answer. “Do you remember how we used to lift him up?” she’d asked me. “He was so easy to lift up!” Mary Beth Baird had said to me. “He was so light—he weighed”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Irving" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/he-had-seen-his-share-of-heroes-too-major-rawls-never-knew-everything/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Owen Meany" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/he-had-seen-his-share-of-heroes-too-major-rawls-never-knew-everything/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/282/john-irving-337_owen-meany_he-had-seen-his-share-of-heroes-too-majo_408313.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/282/john-irving-337_owen-meany_he-had-seen-his-share-of-heroes-too-majo_408313.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/282/john-irving-337_owen-meany_he-had-seen-his-share-of-heroes-too-majo_408313.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“he had seen his share of heroes, too. 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