The existence of fate is an ongoing controversy. John Irving, when writing A Prayer for Owen Meany, gives the audience many encounters with fate to try to sway their opinions. However, he does not force it on the audience, merely educates them in the miracles that could happen and lets them decide for themselves. Owen not only believed his life was fated, but that he is an instrument of God who is there to carry …showed first 75 words of 1033 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1033 total…minds of believers and non-believers alike. The audience is left to decide for themselves whether or not Owen really was an instrument of God because that question is never really answered in the novel. He shows how one boy's faith in his predetermined future can affect the lives of so many. Owen Meany may not have been an instrument of God, but by giving faith to so many people, he may as well have been.