A Confederacy Of Dunces

*Please do not grade*  Just in case you do not understand the theme of the blog, and you missed the other two places where I explained it, I will explain it again.  Throughout the novel, Ignatius makes notes and writes journals on a notepad, then doodles all over the pad.  The graphics at the top of this theme remind me of the doodles that Ignatius makes.  In my opinion, they make it seem like Ignatius was doodling on the blog.

I AM SO GOOD.  I basically predicted the end of the book perfectly….well kind of.  In an earlier post I said, “If I were to make a guess, I would say that there is going to be a crime at the Night of Joy, which Mancuso will investigate.  He will probably tell Irene, who will then tell Ignatius.  Somehow, stories of the Night of Joy and Ignatius will become intertwined, but at the moment I am not sure how.  Until then, the Night of Joy provides an interesting side story and break from the real story.”  As it turns out, there was a crime at the Night of Joy:  the boss was charged with possession and distribution on pornography.  Mancuso was indeed the policeman who busted Lana Lee, but it happened slightly differently than I expected.  Basically, Lana Lee unknowingly showed undercover Mancuso a naked picture of her, and invited him into the bar.  Ignatius had previously obtained the picture of her, and then he passed out when a bus almost hit him in front of the Night of Joy.  Lana Lee took the picture and showed it to Mancuso who had been following Ignatius.  This effectively tied together the stories of the Night of Joy and of Ignatius.

I found this technique of tying the loose ends together very smooth and interesting.  Although Toole tied both stories together, this event was still not quite the end of the book.  Irene went on to try to put Ignatius in a mental hospital, but Ignatius escaped with Myrna.  Mr. Levy finally straightened things out with his wife, and Miss Trixie got what she wanted.  As the book ended, I was quite satisfied.  Ignatius got away just like I wanted him too, Irene did not get her way, Mrs. Levy lost, and Mr. Levy got his life straightened out.  In my opinion, Toole ended the book quite nicely.  I especially like the very end, because it was a cliff hanger. Unlike Toole’s set in stone setting, he left the end to the imagination.  The book ended with Ignatius and Myrna leaving New Orleans.  Personally, I like to imagine that Ignatius and Myrna have a wonderfully kooky relationship, and that someone finally learns to appreciate Ignatius.  Other readers, perhaps, may hope that Irene gets her way and the people from the mental hospital catch Ignatius.  Cliff hanger endings are great because the story can end in any way the reader wants, and it does not have to end with the book.  Unfortunately, there will never be a sequel because John Kennedy Toole committed suicide before this book was ever published.  Oh well, A Confederacy of Dunces is a great book, and I highly recommend it to everybody.

“The address that Patrolman Mancuso was looking for was the tiniest structure on the block, aside from the carports, a Lilliput of the eighties.  A frozen banana tree, brown and stricken, languished against the front of the porch, the tree preparing to collapse as the iron fence had done long ago.  Near the dead tree there was a slight mound of earth and a leaning Celtic cross cut from plywood.  The 1946 Plymouth was parked in the frontyard, its bumper pressed against the porch, its taillights blocking the brick sidewalk.  But, except for the banana tree, the tiny yard was completely bare.  There were no shrubs.  There was no grass.  And no birds sang.

Patrolman Mancuso looked at the Plymouth and saw the deep crease in its roof and the fender, filled with concave circles, that was separated from the body by three of four inches of space.  VAN CAMP’S PORK AND BEANS was printed on the piece of cardboard taped across the hole that had been the rear window.  Stopping by the grave, he read REX in faded letters on the cross.  Then he climbed the worn brick steps and heard through the closed shutters a booming chant.”Pg. 43

This passage, one of the few passages in the book without dialogue, perfectly exemplifies Toole’s style and use of rhetorical devices.  The most noticeable characteristic about this passage is Toole’s attention to detail.  Toole focuses on things, like the “piece of cardboard taped across the hole,” and describes them in great detail.  This helps the reader get a perfect picture of the setting, but it also does not leave much room for imagination.  I have to wonder if Toole did this to intentionally get the reader to see the scene exactly as he saw it, or if it was just a product of his attempt, which was successful, to make the book humorous.  Every scene in the book is similar to this one, although there is usually dialogue dotted throughout each description.

The next thing I noticed was his diction.  He uses simple diction for the most part, with the rare “big word” making an appearance.  I think that this use of simple diction helps to create a feeling of being in an uneducated southern town in the 1950′s.  This feeling immerses the reader in the setting, and in turn the story itself.  This leads back to his attempts to create a picture in the reader’s mind that is exactly like that in his own mind.  His word choice also effectively reveals the mood of the particular scene he is describing.  For example, the adjectives “brown and stricken,” as well as “mummified,” create an almost sad mood, reminding the reader of the poor condition of the house and city in general at the time that the novel takes place.

Strangely, his syntax seems too complex for the diction he uses.  Many of his sentences are long, with a variety of clauses.  This is a direct contrast to his simple diction, but it reflects how Ignatius thinks and talks.  The short sentences at the end of the first paragraph are uncommon in the book, but when they appear Toole uses them effectively to prove a point.  Personally, I like the combination of simple diction and complex syntax because I don’t get confused with words I don’t know, but I still feel smart because I know I am not reading a children’s book.  It’s a true win-win situation.

(http://www.monogramstravel.com/Common/Images/Destinations/french-quarter.jpg)

This book takes place in New Orleans, and Toole does a very good job throughout the book making that apparent.  Besides Ignatius, every character in the book has a strong southern accent and is relatively uneducated.  I think that the setting influences the way that the characters act.  One example of this is when Ignatius wears a pirate costume for his job as a weenie vendor.  He dresses as a pirate as an attempt to attract tourists in New Orleans, but his costume leads to a variety of events that would not have been possible in a place with a less rich culture and history.  The uneducated characters that are stereotypical to the south are also a huge part of the story because they cause confusion.  Well educated people, at least in my opinion, would be less inclined to form such strong biases against certain characters because they would try to investigate the situation further than just hearing one side of a story.  The setting, however, makes an interesting backdrop for the story and poses lots of opportunity for conflict.

(http://www.willydogs.com/images/willy_dog_hot_dog_cart_large1.jpg)

Another important part of the story is Ignatius’ job as a weenie vendor.  Despite having a Ph.D, Ignatius is unable to find a job.  This is mostly due to the fact that his condescending personality and outrageous world view repel people, especially bosses, away from him.  He is seen as a crazy, stubborn person by most, and that prohibits him from getting a proper job.  Eventually Clyde, the desperate owner of a weenie vending company, hires Ignatius.  Ignatius loves the job because of the lack of supervision, available weenies, and open air.  His mother, however, absolutely hates the job because she argues that it is a job for a subclass of humans.  After ranting to her “teammates,” Irene also convinces them that Ignatius is worthless.  This creates conflict because Irene wants Ignatius to stop, but Ignatius is perfectly happy selling weenies.  This job also lets Ignatius roam the streets, meeting some characters from the side stories in the process.  His job as a weenie vendor helps tie all of the side stories together.

(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3196/2521915183_e5cb48e0ae.jpg?v=0)

The crashed Plymouth at the beginning of the book is important in many ways too.  First of all, it is the root of all conflict in the book.  When Irene crashes the Plymouth at the beginning of the book, she damages a building.  The owner of the building then tells she must pay to have the damage fixed.  Irene, who does not have any money, tells Ignatius to get a job so he can pay for it.  This leads to him eventually getting hired at Levy Pants.  Shenanigans ensue, and he is then fired.  Next comes his job as a weenie vendor, which is the cause of many of his problems.  In addition to providing the main conflict of the story, I think the wrecked Plymouth symbolizes the chaos that engulfs the Reilly family.  Their lives are wrecks, and they are constantly struggling to pay bills.  In the end, the Reilly family ends up a broken family, very much like the broken Plymouth.

(http://www1.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/2813071/2/istockphoto_2813071_the_outcast.jpg)

While almost every character in A Confederacy of Dunces strives to not be an outcast, Ignatius does just the opposite.  He loves to be by himself, and other people often annoy and anger him.  As I have said before, this is partly because he is so much smarter than everyone else around him and partly because of his personality.  His hunger for confinement and individuality often creates conflict because his mother thinks he is weird and needs help.  In this way, being an outcast from society plays a big role in the novel.

As I was reading the book, I discovered one reason why I enjoy yet despise this book so much.  Every character in the book has their own perception of the events that are occurring based on whose stories they have heard.  Any given character in the book has one of two opinions about the Reilly family;  they either think that a) Ignatius is the one causing all of the problems in the family or b) Irene is the source of the issues that exist in the Reilly family.  The characters in the book are essentially split into two “teams.”  One team supports Ignatius, and the other supports Irene.  There is also a team consisting of characters that are mostly neutral, but that is only because the characters on this team do not know Irene and Ignatius well enough to form an opinion about which is the root of all the problems.

All of the characters who do not know the Reilly family well enough to choose a side are Jones, Lana Lee, Darlene, all of the homosexuals that are friends with Dorian Greene, Miss Trixie, and everyone else who either did not know both Ignatius and Irene or who only met one but did not hear about the other.

The first team that starts to develop, Team Irene, consists mainly of Irene, Santa, and Claude, but Mancuso is also a minor member of this team.  One might be able to argue that Darlene is also on this team because she feels sympathetic towards Irene after hearing about how awful Ignatius treats her, but I believe that Darlene does not know enough to be on this team.  Anyways, this team is able to develop because all Irene does is complain about Ignatius to all of her friends.  Although she exaggerates everything she says, most of it has at least some truth in it.  This forces all of her friends, Santa, Claude, and Mancuso, to end up hating Ignatius with a burning passion.  At one point in the book, Santa says that Irene should send Ignatius to a mental hospital.  At first Irene is reluctant because she does not want to send her son away, but as the story continues her opinion begins to change.  She and Ignatius get in more fights and she eventually decides that sending Ignatius away will not only help herself, but also help Ignatius.  Combine that with the fact that Claude tries to convince Irene that Ignatius is a “comuniss,” and you get a recipe for an exciting conflict. Throughout the novel, this team has its own side story that runs parallel to the main story.  Like the side story of the Night of Joy, it provides a nice break from the main story.

Team Ignatius is the second team that develops throughout the story, and it includes Ignatius, Mr. Levy, Clyde, Miss Trixie, and Myrna Minkoff.  Miss Trixie is only partly on the team because she is crazy, but she supports Ignatius in everything he does.  Mr. Levy is on the team because the Reilly’s neighbor, Miss Annie, ranted about how loud and troublesome the Reilly family is.  Based on her story, and talking to Ignatius and reading his notes, he decided that Irene is the real problem in the family.  Though he “joins the team” late in the book, he is still important because he eventually helps Ignatius get out of a lot of trouble.  Clyde, Ignatius’ boss, is also on this team because of all the things that Ignatius has told him about Irene.  He does not play a significant part throughout most of the story, but he does challenge Irene over the phone at one point.  In my opinion, this makes her realize how it feels to be talked about badly behind her back, but it does not stop her from doing it to Ignatius.  At the point that it happens she is so fed up with Ignatius that her mind is already made about sending him away.  Myrna, Ignatius’ quasi girlfriend and pen pal throughout the novel, also thinks that Irene is a crazy woman.  She does not do much about it until the end of the book when she comes to visit Ignatius in New Orleans.  This is perhaps the most important action for Ignatius in the entire book because her arrival saves him from going to the mental hospital.

In my opinion, Toole created these teams in order to let the reader pick a side and get more engaged in the book.  I support Ignatius’ team because I feel that Irene’s team is crazy, but I could easily see how someone would choose the other side.  I found myself happier when people sided against Irene throughout the book, and it made me enjoy the book more than I would have had these “teams” not been included.

Ignatius Reilly is a rather peculiar character because he is rebellious and he strives to be different from society and those around him.  Although he believes that this is because he is better than everyone else, I feel like it is his outrageous personality that distances him from the other characters in the book.  Either way, Ignatius is a character who almost directly refutes many themes prevalent in American Literature.  Many of these themes, however, apply to other characters in the book.

The American Dream

The American Dream, or the ability to advance socially and economically, is a theme commonly found throughout American Literature.  The idea of the American Dream is also found throughout A Confederacy Of Dunces.  In the book, every character except Ignatius is obsessed with improving their socioeconomic status, but most of the characters refuse to work for it.  This is seen with Irene early in the novel, when she orders Ignatius to get a job and support the family.  Irene wants to have a steady supply of money, be able to afford luxuries, and be respected by people in the town.  I found it interesting, as well as frustrating, that she is unwilling to work towards her goal.  Although she is constantly forcing Ignatius to get a job or associating with the rich Claude Robichaux, Irene never considers getting a job herself.  Despite this fact, the American Dream is still present in Irene’s mind.  Jones, on the other hand, was a great example of a person with the true American Dream.  He wanted to get a job and make money, but unfortunately he was unable to do so.  Because he is black, and the book took place when racism ran rampant, he was unable to make an honest wage.  Lana Lee was also a great example of a person with the American Dream because she always talks about her business as her “investment,” and all she wants to do is make money.

As I stated earlier, Ignatius is the one character in the book to which the American Dream does not apply.  Instead of trying hard to make money in any way possible, Ignatius prefers sitting at home and writing journals that criticize American society.  He does hold small jobs at various times, but never does he put in the effort required to make lots of money.  I find this contrast between Ignatius and the other characters interesting and humorous, although it does directly refute a theme I know and love.

Individuality

Interestingly enough, there is one theme from American Literature that Ignatius exemplifies:  Individuality.  Ignatius is a rebel who hates everything about society, the middle class, and people in general.  He has unique views on life that are constantly shown in the book, and he is not influenced by what others think of him.  American Literature is always filled with messages that say to be unique and to not give in to what society thinks, and Ignatius does just that.

Ironically, none of the other characters behave like individuals.  Irene, for example, molds her personality to please Santa and Claude.  All of the other characters are so caught up in the American Dream that they conform to almost everything society says is acceptable.  I found this funny because once again, Ignatius is different than all the other characters.

Near the beginning of the book, Mrs. Reilly has an accident while driving home from the Night of Joy.  She ends up smashing another car, and drives away.  A few days later, Patrolman Mancuso shows up at her house to talk about the accident, and they soon become friends.

In my opinion, Mancuso and Mrs. Reilly get along so well because they both get bossed around, the former by his boss and the latter by her son.  While Mancuso first came to the Reilly house to discuss payment for the smashed car, the two ended up sharing coffee and talking about life.  During their conversation, Ignatius comes into the kitchen and immediately starts complaining.  He recognizes Mancuso from the street in front of the department store, and he still has sore feelings about him.  Despite Ignatius’ hostility towards the cop, Mancuso and Mrs. Reilly agree to start bowling together, and then Mancuso leaves.

I think that Mancuso likes Mrs. Reilly a little more than a friend.  They flirt a little bit, and the bowling seems almost like dates.  Mancuso is married and has children, but throughout his first conversation with Mrs. Reilly he constantly complains about her.  As the book continues, the two are seen together more and more.  They get along very well, and I would not be surprised if they ended up having an affair soon.  If they do end up having an affair, I think it would cause Ignatius to freak out, causing a funny scene.

One reason that Ignatius does not like Mancuso is because Mancuso seems to be making Mrs. Reilly less of a pushover.  Naturally, this is bad for Ignatius because it means that his mom will no longer do exactly what he orders her to do.  For someone who is accustomed to such obedience, rebellion can be very frustrating.  I am anxious to see how this friendship plays out, and hopefully it will cause Ignatius to freak out and cause a hilarious scene.

A Confederacy of Dunces, there is a mini story that occurs alongside the main story.  It consists of three characters, Lana Lee, Darlene, and Jones, who work in a bar called the Night of Joy.  Lana Lee is the owner, and she is a corrupt and mean woman.  Darlene works to sell people drinks by striking up conversation with customers and suggesting that they buy more drinks.  Her job is tough because Lana fills her alcohol bottles with water in an effort to get the same amount of money for less product.  When it comes to money, Lana will do just about anything.  This is shown when she hires Jones, the porter.  Jones is in a bad situation because if he does not find a job, the police told him they would put him away.  Fortunately for Lana, that means that she can hire him for a tiny amount of money, and he will be unable to quit.  She loves the deal because it saves her tons of money.

The bar story, while a nice break from Ignatius and his obnoxious nature, seems to be only loosely connected to the main story.  Ignatius and his mother went into the Night of Joy in the first scene, but that is one of the only times where the main story and the side story connect.  Each story will occasionally mention the other, but so far they seem to have very little to do with each other.  As I said in an earlier post, Toole likes to introduce characters briefly at first, and expand on them later in the novel.  Because of this, I think  that later in the book he is going to connect the two stories.

If I were to make a guess, I would say that there is going to be a crime at the Night of Joy, which Mancuso will investigate.  He will probably tell Irene, who will then tell Ignatius.  Somehow, stories of the Night of Joy and Ignatius will become intertwined, but at the moment I am not sure how.  Until then, the Night of Joy provides an interesting side story and break from the real story.

Finally, Ignatius got a job at Levy Pants, a place that “impressed and overwhelmed” Ignatius.  He likes the office because the “atmosphere of the place reminded Ignatius of his own room, and his valve agreed by opening joyfully.”  When Ignatius gets there, there are two other people, Mr. Gonzalez and Miss Trixie, working there.

I think that Toole includes Levy Pants as a source of conflict for the novel, as well as a symbol of his own view of the lower middle class.

Levy Pants works very well as a source of conflict for the novel because it is a place where Ignatius will go cheerfully, but there are still things about the office which he wants to change.  Mr. Gonzalez, like Mrs. Reilly, is a pushover, and Ignatius promptly starts taking advantage of that.  Mr. Gonzalez’ ability to be pushed around is another reason that Levy Pants works as a perfect job and source of conflict for Ignatius.  Ignatius has many ideas that he feels are great, but a good and strong boss would never approve of.  Luckily for Ignatius, Mr. Gonzalez is anything but a good and strong boss.  Ignatius’ ideas range from throwing away records instead of filing them to building a cross in the middle of the office that supposedly helps with productivity.  Although Mr. Gonzalez does not actually know that Ignatius throws away records instead of filing them, I am sure that he would not do anything if he found out.  Levy Pants should be the site of lots of humorous and wacky adventures in the chapters to come.

Toole’s portrayal of Levy Pants also makes me think that he finds the lower middle class to be a depressing, failure ridden rat hole.  This is apparent because of the working conditions of Levy Pants, and because of the employees who are unfortunate enough to be employed at Levy Pants.

The working conditions at Levy Pants are awful.  The office itself is small and smells funny, and it’s lit by flickering florescent lights.  There are rats in the filing cabinets, and including Ignatius there are only three workers who have not quit or been fired within the first few weeks of their employment.  The working conditions are surprising because the owner of the company, Mr. Levy, is rich.  I think Toole is criticizing rich company owners who do not care at all about their employees, but only about getting more money.

He also criticizes the lower middle class by characterizing the employees as lazy quitters who do not care about their jobs at all.  I feel like he had a bad experience with workers such as the ones portrayed in the novel, and therefore has a prejudice against them.

As I said in my previous post, Toole has a very interesting way of introducing his characters.  Instead of introducing them in detail one by one like many books, he creates a scene in the introduction in which many of the characters appear.  In this scene, the reader gets a preview of each of the charaters’ personalities.

The first character the reader meets is also the main character:  Ignatius J. Reilly.  Ignatius is an overweight, obnoxious, and rude 30-year-old who still lives with his mother.  Although he has all the tools he needs to succeed, such as a doctorate degree, he is a complete failure.  He spends his days sitting in his room criticizing modern society in his journals, but he only gets a few paragraphs done a day.  He then throws the finished papers on the floor, in an unorganized pile that has accumulated for four years.  He blames his laziness, or lack of ability to do work, on his “valve.”  If anything upsets him, and most things do, his valve closes, and he claims to be bloated and unable to do anything besides sit around and wait for it to open again.  For the most part I find Ignatius to be funny, but his constant complaining about his valve gets on my nerves.  I have known people who constantly make up ridiculous excuses for not doing things, and it bothers me a lot.  I would rather them just be lazy and admit it, but the excuses annoy me to no end.  If I could change one thing about Ignatius it would be getting rid of his “valve problem.”  Ignatius uses his valve problem as a reason to walk all over his mother.  Despite having a doctorate, he refuses to find an actual job for the first few chapters.  This causes his mother to be stressed.  On top of that, he makes his mother do everything for him, but then yells at her for not doing things exactly right.  While I do feel bad for his mother, I think that Ignatius’ bossy yet sensitive nature adds a humorous element to the novel.

The second most important character in the book is his mother, Irene Reilly.  Irene is an uneducated, stereotypical southern woman who resides in the French Quarter of New Orleans.  She is an older woman, and she has arthritis in her elbow.  Despite her disability, Ignatius is still quite rude to her.  The most noticeable thing about her is that she is a pushover.  At the beginning of the novel, she constantly does what Ignatius commands her to do, and she does it without question.  The few times that she actually tries to stand up to Ignatius, he does not listen and she ends up doing what he says anyway.  Later in the novel, however, she begins to take control of her son.  This starts occurring after she meets and befriends Mr. Mancuso, who is a positive influence on her.  She starts going out of the house more, and starts bowling with Mr. Mancuso and his cousin.

Although Ignatius and Irene are the two most important characters, there are many other supporting characters.  Perhaps the most important not important character is Mr. Gonzalez.  He is Ignatius’ boss, and he has a personality that is very similar to Mrs. Reilly’s.  He is a pushover, but he lives to impress people.  He also is partially the reason that Ignatius likes his job, but I will address that in a later post.

Another supporting character is Mr. Mancuso.  He is a policeman that tried to arrest Ignatius in the first scene, and we learned that he is somewhat of a failure at his job.  At the police headquarters, his boss always makes fun of him and gives him a hard time.  He becomes fast friends with Mrs. Reilly, and they end up going bowling.  I suspect they get along so well because they both get bossed around everyday.
In the side story, there are three main important characters: Lana Lee, Jones, and Darlene.

Lana Lee is the corrupt and mean boss, Jones is the black porter, and Darlene is the girl who is supposed to get customers to buy more drinks.

All the characters compliment each other nicely, but Ignatius is definitely the most dominant character in the book.