"Never judge a book by its cover." This idiom originated in the United States in the early 1900s, and is one of the most frequently used American proverbs. It simply means that things are not always what they appear to be which is also the meaning of the quote "Looks can be deceiving", another famous saying in America. These quotations both convey the same message of Appearance vs. Reality, which is one of the themes that John Irving was trying to get across to readers in his novel "A Prayer for Owen Meany." Appearance does not always reflect reality in "A Prayer for Owen Meany" because lots of things in the novel are not really what they appear to be and the reality behind these things is revealed to us as the novel progresses.

The theme of Appearance vs. Reality is portrayed...