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
Lana Lee sits on a stool in the Night of Joy and thinks about how strong and beautiful her body is. Backstage, Darlene prepares for her first rehearsal. Lana is glad that she has agreed to let Darlene perform because she thinks that it may give her club an edge to have a bird in the show.
Lana views everything in terms of how she can profit— she even sees her body as a commodity to be sold. In this sense, Lana represents self-interest and modern concepts of capitalism taken to an extreme. Her exploitative attitude is also not drastically different to that of slave owners—the way in which Lana sells women’s bodies is a loose parallel to how slaves were dehumanized and sold.
Themes
Darlene calls out that she is ready, and Lana tells Jones to put the music on. Jones says he needs to be paid more to do extras like that and Lana threatens to call the police. Jones replies that he will call the police on her and Lana asks him what he means. Jones says he is sick of being threatened and will report Lana for suspicious behavior in the “orphan trade” if she doesn’t start to treat him right. Lana hisses at Jones that the police will never believe him over her, and Jones sulkily puts on the music.
Lana pays Jones less than minimum wage and exploits him at work simply because he has no other option. The police are much more likely to believe Lana’s accusations against Jones than Jones’s accusations against Lana because Lana is white, and Jones is black. This demonstrates the way in which systemic racism puts black people in danger and at a disadvantage in society.
Themes
Darlene walks onstage and sets the bird on its perch. She begins to grind and writhe around the pole and offers the bird a piece of her dress to rip off. The bird pulls the little hoop sewn into the gown and Darlene’s clothes tear off. Lana cries out for her to stop. Lana says that Darlene acts like a tramp and that this will never do in her classy establishment. Darlene protests but Lana says that the men who come into the Night of Joy do not want to see a stripper because “stripping’s an insult” to women.
Lana explains to Darlene that customers want to see demure women perform sex acts, not strippers. Jones calls Lana his nickname for her, “Scarlett O’Horror,” and this gives Lana an idea. She says that Darlene will dress up as a virginal “Southern Belle” who lives on a plantation and has come to say goodnight to her pet bird. When Darlene goes to kiss the bird, the bird will rip off her clothes.
Lana is aware that American society is hypocritical when it comes to sex—despite the liberalism of the 1960s, people were still uncomfortable with the idea that women enjoyed sex and wanted to be overtly sexual. Lana assumes her audience would rather see a woman who is forced to be sexual rather than a woman who chooses this for herself, suggesting that Ignatius is far from the only person in modern society with repressed and potentially sinister sexual proclivities. Lana is also willing to exploit the South’s history of slavery to make a profit, referencing the novel Gone with the Wind, whose main character, Scarlett O’Hara (on whom “Scarlett O’Horror” is based), is a plantation owner.
Themes
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Jones makes a sarcastic comment and Lana has an idea. She says that Jones will be the doorman for the night and will dress up as the plantation slave. Jones tries to refuse, but Lana says she will call the police. Jones says he will work the door, but that he will let in all sorts of disreputable customers. Lana sends him away and he hears she and Darlene begin to argue as Darlene practices the act.
It is extremely insulting to dress Jones as a slave, as his ancestors probably were slaves in the American South. Lana’s willingness to exploit this suggests that, although slavery has long been abolished, this is still how Lana thinks of Jones, and presumably black people in general.
Themes
Jones goes behind the bar to get himself a drink of water. While Lana is distracted, he notices that the cabinet under the cash register has been left open. Jones crouches down, takes off his sunglasses, and looks inside. He sees several packets of brown paper, a box of chalk, a globe, and a book. Rather than move anything in the cabinet, Jones gets a pencil and writes the address of the Night of Joy in very small letters on each packet.
Jones knows that he cannot do anything to sabotage Lana—he is trapped by his circumstances. Jones appeals to fate and hopes that writing on the packet will cause something consequential to happen. Jones is one of many of the characters in the novel who believe in fate, which cannot be explained or controlled, likely because he does not have the personal agency to enact change directly.
Themes
