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
Patrolman Mancuso still has not arrested anyone. He tried the night before but met with three aggressive women and now has a bandage on his head because of the encounter. He approaches the sergeant, who irritably asks him why he hasn’t brought in anyone like the three women who were arrested for brawling the previous night. The sergeant is also disappointed with Mancuso’s tip about the Night of Joy; so far, they have turned up no criminal activity in the club. The sergeant tells Mancuso that they are transferring him to the bus station bathrooms until further notice.
Mancuso has still not learned to blend in and make himself inconspicuous while dressed in disguise. This suggests that society is quick to judge appearances, and to recognize those who do not conform. As a result, Mancuso loses his professional freedom, which suggests that even those in authority run the risk of having certain privileges removed. This supports Ignatius’s belief in the medieval wheel of fortune—someone who occupies an important place in society can suddenly find themselves reduced to a lowly one at a turn of Fortuna’s wheel.
Themes
