Noah Eastman Character Analysis in A Prayer for Owen Meany

The eldest of John Wheelwright’s rambunctious cousins, Noah is three years older than John. He and his brother, Simon, are essentially good-natured, but they are extremely rowdy and competitive as children, and they lord their greater age and strength over their younger sister, Hester. Noah struggles with the demanding academics of Gravesend Academy and had to repeat his freshman year. He later goes into the Peace Corps to avoid going to Vietnam.

Noah Eastman Quotes in A Prayer for Owen Meany

The A Prayer for Owen Meany quotes below are all either spoken by Noah Eastman or refer to Noah Eastman. 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:

). Note: all page numbers and citation info for the quotes below refer to the Harper Collins edition of A Prayer for Owen Meany published in 1989.

I think [Hester] was up against a stacked deck from the start, and that everything she would become began for her when Noah and Simon made me kiss her—because they made it clear that kissing Hester was punishment, the penalty part of the game; to have to kiss Hester meant you had lost.

Related Characters: (speaker), , ,

Page Number and Citation: 59

Explanation and Analysis:

Noah Eastman Character Timeline in A Prayer for Owen Meany

The timeline below shows where the character Noah Eastman appears in A Prayer for Owen Meany. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...life came from visits with his cousins up north, in the rural country. His cousins Noah, Simon, and Hester Eastman, all older than him, were daredevils and wildly competitive. He always... (full context)

...her brothers for being a girl must have also formed her attitude about gender, but Noah and Simon refuse to believe they pushed their sister to become such a radical feminist... (full context)

...calls John to check in. One more time, they go over everything about the Eastmans: Noah is the oldest, Simon is next, but no smaller or less wild than his brother,... (full context)

...in the saving graces of a private education, and they have high hopes that sending Noah and Simon to Gravesend Academy will save them from the dangers of growing up in... (full context)

...Eastmans come to Gravesend and see Harriet’s television. Simon likes everything, and Hester hates everything. Noah is in his first year at the academy, and is feeling overwhelmed by the demands... (full context)

By the Christmas of 1957, both Noah and Simon are juniors at the academy—Noah having been held back a year. At Sawyer... (full context)

Other boys brag about their sexual escapades, but Owen does not. Noah and Simon assume Hester had slept with him—“Hester fucks everybody!” Simon claims—but the couple never... (full context)

...fights with the punks and earns a reputation as “a mean little fucker.” That fall, Noah and Simon start college in California, while Hester unhappily starts at the state university, where... (full context)

In the present day, Noah and Simon are married with their own families, and they take care of their parents.... (full context)

...vacation instead of someplace tropical. Martha and Alfred are polite to Owen, but not warm. Noah is in the Peace Corps, teaching Forest Management to Nigerians instead of risking the draft.... (full context)

...August vacation, John lies down on the couch where Hester once laid down while John, Noah and Simon searched the house for Owen. He finds a baseball card under the couch... (full context)

...to his funeral. Mr. Fish and Harriet sit behind them, with Alfred, Martha, and Simon. Noah is still abroad with the Peace Corps and Hester is nowhere to be found. Harold... (full context)