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
In the booth at the bus station bathroom, Patrolman Mancuso has developed a terrible cold. What’s worse, when he tries to leave, he finds that he is locked in the bathroom and can do nothing but rattle the door meekly and call out for help.
Patrolman Mancuso’s accidental imprisonment in the tiny booth is an example of the various kinds of incarceration faced by characters in the novel. Mancuso’s cell is also meant to remind the reader of the figure of Boethius, the medieval philosopher who Ignatius idolizes and who wrote The Consolation of Philosophy while imprisoned.
Themes
