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 takes a taxi home from his first day at Levy Pants. In the taxi, he begins to write on a sheet of paper. He writes that, although he despises work and modern systems, he is prepared to face them at Levy Pants and to find out all he can about them. He has already discovered that Levy Pants is partially controlled by a woman named Mrs. Levy who insists that Miss Trixie must not retire. The only person whom Ignatius disliked was a young woman named Gloria, who wore high heels and lots of makeup. Ignatius had Gloria fired when he told Mr. Gonzalez that she planned to quit anyway.
Ignatius despises modern capitalism because he thinks that it is shallow and focused on material gain. He also despises open displays of sexuality and dislikes Gloria because she wears makeup and heels, which Ignatius associates with modern vanity and vice. He has a dictatorial approach to the office and plans to get his own way as much as possible, even at the expense of others. This suggests that, although he is very concerned about his own freedom to do as he pleases at work, he selfishly disregards others’ freedom.
Themes
Ignatius continues that he has many plans to revitalize the factory, including getting everyone except himself and Miss Trixie fired. He has convinced Mr. Gonzalez to pay for his taxis to and from work out of Gloria’s salary. Ignatius thinks the job is a sign that Fortuna’s Wheel has spun upwards for him again. He concludes his piece and instructs the driver to take him home very slowly.
Rather than increase productivity at the factory, Ignatius plans to stop it entirely. Ignatius is willing to put everyone at the factory out of a job in order to organize the workplace into a place where he can do as he likes. This suggests that Ignatius is extremely self-interested and that he is willing to infringe on others’ freedoms (such as the economic freedom their wages give them) to make himself comfortable.
Themes
When Ignatius arrives home, Irene hurries out to meet him and tells him that their neighbor, Miss Annie, has taken a fainting spell. Annie claims it is because Ignatius wakes her up too early playing his lute. Ignatius indignantly denies this and tells Irene about his job. Irene is delighted but wishes it was more money. Ignatius tells her that there are opportunities for advancement. Irene tells him that she is going out bowling with Patrolman Mancuso and Mancuso’s aunt, Santa Battaglia. Ignatius is extremely annoyed by this. Irene tells him he has a letter from Myrna Minkoff and hurries out.
Ignatius is not considerate of Annie and views her desire to sleep in as an attack on his freedom to play his lute whenever he wants. These types of conflicts are frequent throughout the novel and in real life, as people often have clashing desires that infringe upon or interfere with other people’s needs or wants. Compromise, to which Ignatius is so resistant, seems a necessary part of peacefully coexisting in a free society.
Themes
Left alone, Ignatius rips open the letter from Myrna. She writes that she does not believe that Patrolman Mancuso tried to arrest Ignatius. Instead, she thinks Ignatius had a paranoid sexual fantasy linked to Freud’s theories of homosexual repression. Ignatius scoffs at this. Myrna urges Ignatius to have sex as soon as possible.
Myrna suspects that, although Ignatius pretends to hate sex, he secretly desires it and that, because he represses these desires, they manifest in unusual ways. This is a modern psychological perspective which Ignatius despises because he believes that medieval ideas about the human soul are superior to modern ideas about the human psyche.
Themes
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Myrna’s letter continues that Ignatius must participate in society and that he must align himself with a social cause. She uses herself as an example and tells Ignatius that she has endless opportunities for activism in New York. She is working on a play about race relations and has befriended several black actors. She has a gift, she says, for making them think about racism even when they don’t want to. The play is being funded by her father. She signs off with a note which begs Ignatius not to write to her until he has taken part in something—she “cannot stand cowards.” Ignatius closes the letter and thinks that he will have revenge.
Myrna is the opposite of Ignatius—she is politically progressive rather than conservative. However, although Myrna believes that she is a force for social good, she often comes across as hypocritical and overly aggressive. For example, this passage suggests that Myrna does not empathize with the black people she claims to help but, instead, forces them to engage in uncomfortable conversations to make her feel better about herself.
Themes
