Kera Pezzuti

Period 8
2/23/09
Politics and Morality

John F. Kennedy once said, “Mothers may still want their favorite sons to grow up

to be president, but. . .they do not want them to become politicians in the process.”

Through these words, Kennedy declares that politicians are not the type of people who

are looked highly upon. In Owen Meany by John Irving, this theme of unlikable and un-

respected politicians is greatly enforced. Throughout the novel, John Wheelwright, the

narrator, expresses his immense distaste for American politics and their version of

morality. In a passage devoted to political affairs and its ethics, Wheelwright declares that

politicians can do anything regarding warfare, but are prohibited from cheating on their

wives. Through the rhetorical question that opens the passage, Wheelwright gets readers

to reflect upon their own feelings of morality. By presenting an extremely critical and

ironic tone throughout the passage, Wheelwright convinces readers that Americans have a

twisted view of morality. Through the meanings of certain words, Wheelwright implies

denotations towards politicians. Due to his word usage, Wheelwright implies to readers

that politicians are not the heroes some consider them to be.

Through a simple question, Wheelwright forces the readers to look upon their

own ethics and morals. Wheelwright asks, “What do Americans know about morality?”

He follows this with examples of political events that most Americans do not appear to

care about, and then some kind of sexual affair that arouses the interest of the country.

After this statement, readers realize that this is, in fact, the trend of American society. In

political elections, Americans appear to concern more about a politician’s social life than

their actual political views. Instead of Americans basing their opinion upon previous
leadership and morals, they judge politicians upon their sex lives and social affairs. From

a simple question, Wheelwright sets the tone of the entire passage and creates a sense of

realization for the reader.

During his every statement throughout the passage, Wheelwright adopts an

immensely ironic tone. He states, “[Americans] don’t want their presidents to have

penises but they don’t mind if their presidents covertly arrange to support the Nicaraguan

rebel forces. . .” While this is a bit of an exaggeration, the narrator declares that, today,

people are confused over what is important and what is irrelevant. One would assume

that people think the dealings of a president in the government setting are more important

than those in the bedroom. According to Wheelwright, though, Americans cannot

distinguish between characteristics that are truly vital to the running of a nation and those

that simply make an esteemed figure un-respected. Wheelwright voices during this

excerpt that politicians can get away with deceiving Congress, but Americans truly care if

a politician deceives his wife. They base their views and opinions upon, not their political

doings, but a politician’s social nature. Through his tone and cruel yet justified

statements, Wheelwright shows readers that most interpret morality in an improper way.

The word politics can be broken into two Latin roots, poli and tics which combine

to translate into “many blood-sucking creatures”. Readers can infer, from a description

like this, that politicians are not the high-esteemed people they appear to be, but

hypocritical and insincere. Wheelwright supports this view of politics by discussing the

controversial judgment system of Americans towards politicians. While these blood-

sucking creatures cannot deceive their wives without drastic consequence, they can lie

and cheat their subjects with less serious repercussions. The narrator supports this double-
meaning to its complete potential as he questions the morality of Americans and their

superiors.

Throughout the course of A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving, commentary

is made upon the judgment of Americans. In one particular passage, Wheelwright

displays his feelings toward the morality of America through rhetorical questions, tone,

and word meaning. He opens the passage with a question that forces readers to truly think

about what their own values are based upon. During the rest of the excerpt, Wheelwright

adopts a very ironic and sarcastic tone that convinces readers that Americans cannot

differentiate between important and insignificant affairs. The word politics is also known

to mean “many blood-sucking creatures”, a characteristic and implication that

Wheelwright uses to its full extent. Through Wheelwright’s tone and word usage, he

convinces readers that morality has become an immensely gray area and forces them to

think about their own values. He directs this view towards politicians and those that judge

them and says that these men and women are not as great or honest as they appear to be.