Posted

Aug 25th 2008

Mood

Vibrant

Music

SCREW YOU.

They Might be Giants’ “She’s Actual Size” is easily related to Owen Meany’s view of Tabitha Wheelwright.
“Words fail
Buildings tumble
the ground opens wide
Light beams down from heaven
she stands before my eyes.”

These opening lines are a reflection of Owen Meany’s inability to speak clearly, as well as his admiration towards Tabby Wheelwright, with the line relating Tabby to an angel. This stanza also references Owen’s religious beliefs, stating that she comes from heaven to visit him.

“She's actual size, but she seems much bigger to me
Squares may look distant in her rear view mirror but they're actual size
as she drives away”

The first line references Meany’s small stature, so, while his friends see her at an average child’s level, he sees her as “much bigger.” When Tabby dies, her body ascends to heaven, and the scope of everything on Earth, according to Owen’s religion, is meaningless, even though, to the people whom she looks back on, the life on Earth is very important.

“Big men
often tremble
as they step aside
I thought I was big once
she changed my mind”

Tabby’s death is a reminder to Owen, as well as to the reader, of the mortality of mankind. While people may think that their time on Earth is everlasting, Tabby, who died at a young age due to something unavoidable, is a counter-example to that notion. This sense of constant fear and paranoia makes “big” men feel small and helpless.

“She's actual size, but she seems much bigger to me.
I've never known anybody like her, she's actual size
Nationwide, believe”

Owen Meany’s statement about John’s Mother’s breasts being "THE BEST BREASTS OF ALL THE MOTHERS" is noted here.

“She's got
All the money
Money couldn't buy
She's got something special
That someone left behind”

The “something special” stated by this stanza could be the time that Tabby was granted by Owen when he disturbed the Grim Reaper who was trying to take Tabby’s life.

“Her face
hangs in portrait
on the post office wall
she's stuck in my heart now
where my blood belongs”

Her face hanging in the portrait notes the fondness with which the town misses her. The town, following Tabby’s death, acts sluggishly, and the post office, a place that symbolizes the necessity of speed, even slows down in remembrance of her. Even though Tabby is dead, she lives on in the townsfolk’s hearts, and she is remembered so strongly that she replaces the blood in their hearts.

“You think she's big, you think she's larger than life
But if you open up your eyes you'll see she's actual size
In your mind you have her on a pedestal
You admire her from afar like she's a china doll
You need to realize
So go ahead, approach the girl, it’s up to you.”

This stanza is a representation of the acceptance of death. While Tabby is held on a pedestal by Owen, and his view of her fragile china-doll body represents how easily Tabby was killed. But, the realization is that she is not fragile, but that Owen simply acted as an instrument of god to release her soul, and that he should approach Tabby and accept her death. This portion could also be speaking of Owen’s death, saying that he would join her in heaven. Owen’s belief in fate would also mean that the “you” that he speaks of could reference God, taking Owen’s life to save many, and to join Owen with God and Tabby as well.