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
One early morning, Mr. Gonzalez sits in Levy Pants and waits for his employees to arrive. He ponders the amazing change Ignatius has made to the office. Ignatius has decorated, brought plants, and is kind to Miss Trixie. His filing is so rapid Mr. Gonzalez hardly notices him doing it. While Mr. Gonzalez sits and smokes a cigarette, Miss Trixie arrives in her nightdress and Mr. Gonzalez sends her home to change. Ignatius arrives next and continues work on a large cardboard cross he has made to decorate the office.
Unlike Ignatius, who only pretends to care about Levy Pants and, in fact, throws all his files away, (which is why they disappear so fast) Mr. Gonzalez is genuinely dedicated to the wellbeing of the factory. Mr. Gonzalez mirrors Patrolman Mancuso, who is similarly dedicated to the police force. These hapless and much abused characters suggest that, although it is admirable, there is not much advantage to being dedicated to one’s job when the upper management is corrupt. However, both Gonzalez and Mancuso share the belief that, with hard work, a person can change their fate—a belief that Ignatius scorns because he believes, instead, that one’s fortune is decided by a medieval goddess, Fortuna, instead.
Themes
Mr. Gonzalez suggests that Ignatius could visit the factory that afternoon, but Ignatius says the cross is his top priority. Ignatius tells Mr. Gonzalez that he has brought a sandwich for Miss Trixie and hopes that Mr. Gonzalez has not “broken her spirit” by sending her home. Miss Trixie returns at lunchtime, however, and takes the sandwich from Ignatius, whom she confuses with Gloria.
Ignatius pretends that Mr. Gonzalez is a dictator who cruelly drives Miss Trixie, and the rest his workforce, to the brink of despair with his unreasonable demands. However, this is clearly not true. Really, it is Ignatius who wants to take over the factory use the workers to his own advantage, to annoy Myrna and prove he is socially progressive. Ignatius, therefore, hides his true intentions behind a façade of charity.
Themes
Miss Trixie munches her way through the sandwich while Ignatius watches. Mr. Gonzalez works on some papers. Miss Trixie stops after eating half the sandwich, and Ignatius suggests she give the other half to Mr. Gonzalez. Mr. Gonzalez says no, but Miss Trixie insists and drops the sandwich onto the paper he is working on.
Ignatius uses Miss Trixie to try and provoke Mr. Gonzalez. Since Ignatius wants to cause a riot at the factory, he looks for an excuse to do so and feels that, if Mr. Gonzalez snaps at Miss Trixie for dropping a sandwich on his work, then he can prove Mr. Gonzalez is an authoritarian boss. It is ironic, then, that Ignatius is the one who behaves authoritatively as he tries to manipulate the situation to his own advantage.
Themes
Mr. Gonzalez rounds irritably on Miss Trixie and Ignatius seizes his opportunity to berate the manager and rile up Miss Trixie. He is disappointed, however, when Mr. Gonzalez tells Miss Trixie to go to the bathroom and she obediently agrees. Ignatius finishes painting the cross and announces that he will now visit the factory. He says that he “cannot tolerate injustice” and Mr. Gonzalez weakly agrees.
Ignatius wants to start a riot in the factory and wants to provoke Mr. Gonzalez into doing something that will justify this. This suggests that Ignatius knows he has no justifiable reason to disrupt the workplace—other than his own selfish goal of annoying his ex-girlfriend Myrna—but still wants to pass his behavior off as moral when really it is self-interested.
Themes
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