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A young married couple who believe in challenging gender norms. The Dowlings always request to be cast in the roles of the opposite sex in Gravesend’s theatrical productions. They also protest against girls’ exclusion from Little League baseball and against the types of sexist stereotypes in classic literature taught to children.
Amanda and Arthur Dowling Quotes in A Prayer for Owen Meany
The A Prayer for Owen Meany quotes below are all either spoken by Amanda and Arthur Dowling or refer to Amanda and Arthur Dowling. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 5 Quotes
Sexual stereotypes did not fall, [Amanda] liked to say, from the clear blue sky; books were the major influences upon children—and books that had boys being boys, and girls being girls, were among the worst offenders! Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, for example; they were an education in condescension to women—all by themselves, they created sexual stereotypes! Wuthering Heights, for example: how that book taught a woman to submit to a man made Amanda Dowling “see red,” as she would say.
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Amanda Dowling is a passionate feminist who serves on the Town Library Board, and who condemns books for teaching harmful gender stereotypes to young readers. Irving satirizes her opinion, depicting her objections to classic stories as an oversensitive simplification of the issue. The frequent emphasis to Amanda’s words—“worst offenders,” “created sexual stereotypes,” “taught a woman to submit”—make her sound worked up, even hysterical. Indeed, books are far from the only influence upon children’s views of the world, but they do present an important example of behavior to developing minds. John seems to recognize how his male cousins’ sexist words had Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui
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Amanda and Arthur Dowling Character Timeline in A Prayer for Owen Meany
The timeline below shows where the character Amanda and Arthur Dowling appears in A Prayer for Owen Meany. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 5: The Ghost of the Future
The girls Maureen Early and Caroline Day were at the game. Arthur and Amanda Dowling were also there. Amanda is playing the Ghost of Christmas Past. She...
(full context)
Chapter 9: The Shot
Mrs. Walker is there, and Arthur and Amanda Downing. Larry O’Day and his daughter Caroline, John’s former girlfriend, are there, with...
(full context)
