Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in A Confederacy of Dunces, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Medievalism, Modernity, and Fate
The Legacy of Slavery
Sexuality, Attraction, and Repulsion
Freedom
Appearance, Identity, and Disguise
Hypocrisy and Self-Interest
Summary
Analysis
Outside the D. H. Holmes department store on Canal Street in New Orleans, Ignatius J. Reilly stands amid the crowds beneath the clocktower, eating chips and surveying the outfits of the people around him. He sees that many of the people wear expensive or fashionable clothes and takes this as a sign of their moral and spiritual bankruptcy. He himself is dressed comfortably—in a flannel jacket, baggy pants, and large hunting cap with ear flaps—and regards this as the ideal outfit for a sensible and intellectual person.
The opening passage establishes Ignatius as an individual who is staunchly opposed to modern conventions. The department store symbolizes modern society, from which Ignatius feels he is separate. Ignatius, similarly, distances himself from the people in the crowd, who wear modern clothing. Although, of course, Ignatius’s clothes are also modern, he takes no pride in them, and therefore views himself as separate from modernity, which he thinks is vain and obsessed with image. Ironically, however, Ignatius is just as preoccupied with appearance as the others in the crowd, as he, too, thinks about what his clothes represent and how they make him look compared to others.
Themes
Ignatius waits for his mother, Irene, who has been inside the store for some time. Ignatius grows indignant about this—he is overweight, and his feet hurt when he is forced to stand for a long time. He decides he will hold this against Irene later to “keep her in her place.” The sun is beginning to set, and Ignatius and Irene have been in town all afternoon. Ignatius went to the music shop, to buy strings for his lute, and after this, went to the arcade and played on a baseball machine.
Ignatius is hypocritical here—he convinces himself that he wants to help Irene (who he believes gets out of control without his censorship) when, really, he just wants to control her. It is ironic that Ignatius despises modernity because the things he enjoys are modern. This suggests that Ignatius does not always understand his desires and is both attracted to and repelled by many aspects of modernity.
Themes
The machine broke, however, and Ignatius demanded his money back. The arcade owner tried to blame Ignatius for breaking it, but Ignatius won the fight. He wonders now, while he stands in the crowd, where the machine will need to be fixed. He thinks perhaps it will have to go to Chicago or another city. He associates cities with pollution and industry and hopes the machine will be returned in working order. Ignatius is so wrapped up in these thoughts that he does not notice that he is being watched by a policeman.
Cities represent modernity and capitalist production, things that Ignatius despises. However, Ignatius is again shown to be hypocritical as he enjoys many of the benefits of modern capitalism, and the leisure activities it produces, such as the game machine. The policeman symbolizes a threat to freedom and supports Ignatius’s idea that modern life is not free.
Themes
The policeman, Patrolman Mancuso, slides up to Ignatius and asks to see his identification. Ignatius replies indignantly that he is waiting for his mother. Mancuso notices the lute string dangling from his bag and wants to know what it is. Ignatius begins to shout at Mancuso for harassing him. He wants to know why the police target him when the city is awash with “vice” and crime. Mancuso tries to take Ignatius by the arm, but Ignatius smacks him on the head with the sheet music he has bought and the two begin to tussle.
Although there is a general preoccupation with freedom in American culture, Ignatius’s interactions with Patrolman Mancuso suggests that American culture is not as free as it appears. This encounter shows that people may be arbitrarily arrested if they merely look out of place, or that they are required carry ID cards with them. These standards are not generally associated with free societies, but are common in totalitarian societies, such as the Soviet Union, a communist country which America went to war with during the 20th century. This suggests that American attitudes toward freedom in the 1960s (when the story is set) are hypocritical, since the U.S. is freer in theory than it is in practice.
Themes
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Inside D. H. Holmes, Mrs. Irene Reilly, Ignatius’s mother, is in the bakery discussing Ignatius with the girl who works behind the counter. Irene complains that the arthritis in her elbow is bad but that she can’t soak it in the bath because Ignatius is in the tub all day. The woman behind the counter says she thought Ignatius was married, but Irene scoffs at this and tells the woman that Ignatius’s girlfriend left.
Irene’s conversation gives the reader a picture of Ignatius’s home and romantic life. The fact that Ignatius takes long baths suggests that he has little to do all day and is not a productive member of society. Since modern America is a capitalist society, it places an emphasis on productivity as a virtue because this is what drives the economy. This supports the idea that Ignatius does not fit into modern society, and the fact that his girlfriend has left suggests that he is romantically and sexually alienated as well.
Themes
Outside the shop, a crowd has gathered around Ignatius and Patrolman Mancuso. People begin to side with Ignatius and tell the policeman to leave him alone. One old man shouts that Ignatius is only waiting for his mother. Mancuso ignores the man and tells Ignatius that he must come to the station. The old man pipes up again and cries that the police are all “communiss,” and that the city never used to be this way. Mancuso turns on the old man while Ignatius swings the lute string at Mancuso, and someone else from the crowd screams that the poor old man is probably “somebody’s grampaw.”
The old man’s accusation of the police being “communiss” reflects the general paranoia about communism that pervaded the U.S. during this time. Communism was associated with authoritarianism in 1960s America because of the U.S.’s involvement in the Cold War with Russia, which was communist at the time. Although America was democratic, and was a liberal society compared with totalitarian Russia, there was a widespread feeling that state authorities in America, like the police, had too much power over citizens, whom they could arrest on thin pretexts. There was also concern that governmental power might increase in America and that this would mimic that of communist countries.
Themes
Irene exits the shop and rushes to Ignatius’s side. She grabs the lute string and demands to know what the policeman wants with her son. Patrolman Mancuso asks Ignatius if he has a job and Irene nervously tells the policeman that Ignatius helps her at home because of her arthritis. Ignatius confirms this and adds that he is also writing a book about the evils of modern society. The old man joins in again and says that Irene is very lucky that Ignatius helps her. Patrolman Mancuso tells him to be quiet.
Laws against vagrancy in New Orleans during the 1960s meant that it was illegal to be unemployed—it was essentially forbidden to be an unproductive citizen under capitalism, a system driven by productivity. On an ideological level, this is not so different from the enforced labor which existed in communist countries like Russia, which America viewed as a threat to democracy and freedom. Irene is quick to justify Ignatius’s unemployment because she knows that, if he is discovered to be unproductive, he will be considered a criminal in American society.
Themes
Irene quietly asks Ignatius what he has done, and Ignatius blames the old man and says that he started it. Irene tells Patrolman Mancuso that he should arrest the old man—who still insists the police are communists—and begins to shout about how much she loves the police force. People from the crowd take her side and join in while Patrolman Mancuso begins to arrest the old man.
Irene’s response reflects widespread fear of totalitarianism in American society and supports the idea that Irene, who has lived through the Cold War, is afraid that people’s freedoms will be taken away, either by communists or by authoritarian governments. This supports the idea that, among older generations in the 1960s, there was a widespread concern about protecting one’s rights. Patrolman Mancuso’s behavior suggests that he is willing to arrest almost anyone, so long as they look suspicious, purely for the sake of making an arrest. Toole implies that this is the role of the police in society and that, so long as state authority is given free reign, there will inevitably be groups who are unfairly persecuted.
Themes
Ignatius and Irene flee the scene and rush down Canal Street. Ignatius complains that he will have a heart attack if they do not slow down, and Irene tells him to shut up. They turn into the French Quarter and Irene demands to know what Ignatius did to get himself arrested. Ignatius protests that he did nothing and Irene ushers them into a nightclub, called the Night of Joy, for a rest.
This passage shows that, although Irene is suspicious of authority, she is equally suspicious of Ignatius and, in fact, believes it is more likely that Ignatius is in the wrong. This suggests that Irene is not anti-authority but, in fact, believes that government authority is necessary to protect people’s freedom from those who commit crimes or do not comply with society’s rules.
Themes
The Night of Joy is dark, dingy, and deserted. Irene takes a seat at the bar and sets the boxes of cake from the bakery out before her. Ignatius reluctantly sits down but complains that the bar smells terrible and that it will soon be raided by the police. Irene orders two beers and the bartender grudgingly serves them. He asks Ignatius is he will take off his cap and Ignatius furiously replies that he will not.
Ignatius’s reluctance to sit at the bar suggests that he ideologically rejects indulgence in vices like alcohol, and likely views this club as yet another symptom of modernity’s corruption. Ignatius’s cap symbolizes his individuality because it makes him stand out. He will not remove it because he is not willing to compromise his values or beliefs and his hat shows that he believes he is morally superior to the other customers.
Themes
Ignatius asks Irene how her doctor’s appointment went, and she tells him that her arthritic elbow needs frequent massages. Ignatius tells her that he cannot help because he hates human contact. He says that he would be more help to Irene if he could drive, but laments that he cannot because he gets carsick. He then begins to tell a story about a time that he took a Greyhound Bus to Baton Rouge and got sick on the journey. He hated being outside the city and felt that he had entered “the heart of darkness.”
This introduces the reader to Ignatius’s aversion toward human intimacy. Ignatius is a misanthropic character and tends to despise others or feel superior toward them. Ignatius is also extremely conservative—not only in his political and philosophical views, but also in that he dislikes change—and even a short trip out of the city has proven to be too much for him. Heart of Darkness is a novel by Joseph Conrad about a man who journeys into an Africa colony under European rule in the late 1900s. The novel contrasts the war-torn, colonized country the man travels into with the order of the narrator’s previous life. Ignatius relates to this idea because he sees any alteration in his circumstances, or in society, as a descent into chaos. Toole uses this comparison to comically highlight how dramatic Ignatius is about change.
Themes
Irene listens resignedly to Ignatius’s story, which she has heard several times before. He explains that he refused to get the bus back and, instead, went in a taxi. He made the driver go terribly slowly, however, and they were pulled over by the police. Irene remarks that Ignatius never did take the job that he went to Baton Rouge to apply for. Ignatius replies that the Medieval Department where he interviewed was a den of corruption—his favorite jacket was stolen while he was in the bathroom.
Ignatius is so averse to and afraid of change that he will not take an opportunity which might be good for him. As a medieval scholar, Ignatius would likely make a good medieval professor. It is implied that Ignatius’s avoidance of change and superiority complex—he wants to believe he is morally pure in comparison to the “corrupt” department—are ways to protect himself and avoid risking failure.
Themes
The bartender approaches again and seems to take an interest in Ignatius’s story. Ignatius furiously berates him for eavesdropping and Irene quickly orders two more beers, which the bartender sulkily serves.
Ignatius generally lacks social graces because of his superiority complex: he treats the barman as though he is inferior to them. Irene, by contrast, is better at judging social situations and tries to appease the barman. Ignatius looks down on working people because he feels that they have sold their freedom for conventional, material comfort. He does not realize that, for most people, freedom is dependent upon being able to earn a living and meet one’s basic needs.
Themes
