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
Ignatius sits in the cinema, surrounded by snacks and intent on despising the movie he has come to see. It is a musical, and he despises many of the actors whose names appear in the credits. Ignatius makes a lot of noise and upsets several children in the audience. The manager recognizes him and observes that he comes to the cinema quite regularly. Ignatius sits through the film until the sex scene, when he jumps up furiously and goes to the snack counter. Ignatius begins to swear again, when he returns to his seat, and the manager wearily trudges down the aisle toward him.
Again, Ignatius seems to enjoy consuming media which he claims he despises. This suggests that his desires are nuanced and that he does not always consciously like the things which attract him. Ignatius’s extreme reaction to the sex scene suggests that Ignatius has repressed emotions when it comes to sex. If he was truly indifferent to sex then it would not arouse such fury in him, but his response suggests that he may unconsciously desire sex and feel that this is a shameful aspect of himself.
Themes
