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
Paradise Vendors is a business which sells hot dogs from carts. The carts are stored in a garage on Poydras Street, and when the door is open, a terrible, chemical smell emerges into the street. Walking along this road, Ignatius smells the hot dogs and goes inside. He finds an old man, Mr. Clyde, cooking sausages there, and asks for several hot dogs. While he talks with Mr. Clyde and eats the hot dogs, Ignatius tells Mr. Clyde that he needs a job, so Mr. Clyde offers Ignatius work as a vendor.
Ignatius makes no effort to actively find a job that he might enjoy and instead wonders into one by chance. Ignatius bases his worldview on the writings of the philosopher Boethius, who believed that humans had very limited control over their own fate. While this worldview was relevant in the medieval period, when people lived under a feudal system and did not have opportunities to transcend their birth status through work or material accumulation, this worldview does not translate to the modern industrialized world and especially does not apply to someone like Ignatius who, as an educated white man, has many opportunities.
Themes
Ignatius refuses—his health is too delicate to stand out in the cold all day. Mr. Clyde asks Ignatius to pay for the hot dogs he has eaten, and Ignatius says he only has enough money for his car fare home. When Mr. Clyde hears this, he grows enraged and threatens to stab Ignatius with his hot dog fork. Ignatius is adamant, however, that he will not walk all the way home. Mr. Clyde suggests that Ignatius take one of the hot dog carts out for an hour to try and earn the money back, and Ignatius agrees.
As a result of Ignatius’s belief that he has no control over his own destiny, he does not take responsibility for himself and takes hot dogs for which he knows he cannot pay. He treats the incident as an unfortunate accident, rather than something he could have prevented, because he takes no accountability for himself.
Themes
Mr. Clyde apologizes for his outburst but explains that no one respects the hot dog trade. He gives Ignatius a Paradise Vendors uniform—although Ignatius refuses to remove his cap—and a cart to push. Ignatius pushes the cart along for a short while, and then parks it in a secluded street and eats several hot dogs himself.
Ignatius’s cap symbolizes his individuality and his inability to fit in easily with the modern world. Ignatius feels that modernity is hostile toward him and persecutes him both for his antiquated worldview and his appearance. This scene demonstrates that people are often willing to compromise with Ignatius. However, because he is hypocritical and takes no responsibility for his actions, disrespectfully eating the hot dogs, this willingness to compromise is clearly not reciprocated by Ignatius.
Themes
Ignatius thinks about his mother, Irene, who has been in a bad mood all week. She will not leave him in peace and has threatened to sell their home. She compares Ignatius to Patrolman Mancuso, who Irene says loves his work. Ignatius gave her The Consolation of Philosophy to lend to Mancuso. Ignatius thinks it may inspire him because Boethius, the writer, was also unjustly imprisoned, as Mancuso is in his demoted job at the bus station.
Patrolman Mancuso’s approach to life is opposite to Ignatius’s. Mancuso believes that if he works hard, he can change his destiny. However, Ignatius believes that human life is controlled by a blind goddess, Fortuna, whose wheel of fortune decides people’s fates. This belief is based on Boethius’s writings in The Consolation of Philosophy, which gained popularity in the medieval period. It was also written while Boethius was in prison and suggests that all of life is a prison of fate, from which humans cannot escape—a lesson which Ignatius seemingly wishes to teach Patrolman Mancuso.
Themes
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Ignatius decides to move and sets out again with the cart. He runs into George, who steps into his path and asks to buy a hot dog. Ignatius looks George up and down and tells him that, as a young boy, George should eat healthy things. Ignatius refuses to sell him a hot dog and says he must save his supply for better clients. George demands a hot dog, and Ignatius rams him with the cart. George escapes into the crowd, who tut at Ignatius, and call him a “bum” for causing a scene.
Ignatius once again shows himself to be hypocritical, as he eats very badly himself but tells George to eat healthily. Although this advice seems to be for George’s own good, Ignatius really says it to benefit himself, as he wants to eat all the hot dogs rather than share with George.
Themes
To calm himself down, Ignatius eats some more hot dogs and then hurries back to the vendor’s garage. He runs the last few paces to the open door and, when he arrives, tells Mr. Clyde that he has been robbed and that the thief stole all his hot dogs. Mr. Clyde is amazed—he has never heard anything like this before. He asks Ignatius if he will come back the next day and try to make the money back, and Ignatius agrees.
Ignatius pretends to be a victim of random persecution so that Mr. Clyde will feel sorry for him. He pretends that he is invested in Mr. Clyde’s business to avoid being reprimanded or fired for eating all the hot dogs himself. Ignatius also evades responsibility for his actions, something he justifies with his belief in the medieval idea that humans are not responsible for their actions but, instead, are subject to the whims of fate.
Themes
Ignatius tells Mr. Clyde that he must get a job to appease his mother, who drinks, and says that he will wear the uniform home to prove to her that he is employed. Mr. Clyde seems confused by all this but does not object. Ignatius says that, before things go any further, he must tell Mr. Clyde about his valve.
Ignatius makes Irene sound worse than she is, painting himself as a victim of her abuse so that Mr. Clyde will feel sorry for him and will not hold him accountable for his behavior. Despite wanting to give off the appearance of a responsible employee to Mr. Clyde and Irene, Ignatius avoids taking responsibility for his behavior, even pre-emptively giving Mr. Clyde excuses about his valve (a stomach problem) so that he cannot be held accountable for his job performance.
Themes
