Parts of Owen Meany I Find Confusing

Here are some aspects of the story that confuse me or just don't seem right. I guess some of them might be considered just technical inconsistencies.

Age-
Irving described the sisters Tabitha and Martha as being quite a few years apart, but this still confuses me. Johnny is less than a year younger than Hester, Martha's youngest child. So one would assume that Tabitha and Martha are rather close in age. But, Irving wrote that Martha was already a senior in college and already engaged to be married when Tabitha had said she wasn't going to college because she wanted to give comfort to her dying father. After she declares she isn't going to college, Tabitha starts going to singing lessons in Boston. One would assume, knowing the prudish nature of the Wheelwright family that Martha would not have had any children out of wedlock, so we have to assume that Martha is around 22 years old when she gets married. If we assume the shortest possible time, that would make her 23 when Noah is born, 24 when Simon is born and 25 when Hester is born. Also, that would make her 26 when Johnny is born to Tabitha. Since Tabitha is 19 when Johnny is born, that would make her and Martha about 7 years apart in age. But, it was at least 4 years earlier that Tabitha declared she wasn't going to college and that would put her singing lessons starting at around age 15 or 16. Since her father died while she was pregnant, one would have to assume that her father was ill and dying for at least 3 years. Remember, this is the shortest time span in which all of this happened. It could very well be that Martha is more than 7 years older than Tabitha. This seems strange to myself, but maybe it makes sense.

Owen and the Vespers-
Owen had been participating in the Christmas Pagent at the Episcopal Church for a number of years. The first year that Johnny participates, 1953, Johnny notices that Pastor Merrill and his wife are in attendance at the Wiggin's Pagent. He is surprised by this and he says that "Owen was surprised, too." Owen says to the Merrils, "HAVE YOU CHANGED CHURCHES?". Rector Wiggin replies that he and his wife go the Congregationalist Vespers every year and the Merrills attend the Pagent every year. It seems odd that Owen would not have noticed them in the years past when he had participated in the Pagent.


The Diamond Wheel-
In the novel, Owen uses the diamond wheel to cut off Johnny's right index finger to keep him from passing his physical and going off to fight in the Vietnam War. This seems reasonable, but someone told me that the ability of a diamond tipped blade to cut through something as awkward as a human finger would require a lot of time and strength. In the novel, Irving describes the entire amputation as taking fractions of a second, but in real life supposedly this would have been a very painful and longer process. I cannot verify this as true, but if it is, there might be something that either is overlooked by Irving or another testament to Owen's miraculous abilities as a human being.



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