Potent Quotables

Bonus points for anyone who get's the joke in the title of this post.

I'm not sure why but I really enjoy this first quote, I feel it's very informative of Ignatius' personality. He seems to hate anything and everything that represents modern modern America- the fact that even bowling falls victim to Ignatius' discriminant judgment is quite funny to me.

"My mother is currently associating with some undesirables who are attempting to transform her into an athlete of sorts, deprave specimens of mankind who regularly bowl their way to oblivion." (Toole 101)

This next quote appears right as Myrna arrives to rescue Ignatius from the mental hospital ambulance. This is a great example of the melodrama that is so constant with Ignatius' thoughts. Also another example of Toole's ability to write i dialogue without actually doing so (see rhetoric post).

Fortuna had relented. She was not depraved enough to end this vicious cycle by throttling him in a straitjacket, by sealing him up in a cement block tomb lighted by florescent tubes. Fortuna wished to make amends. Somehow she had summoned and flushed Myrna minx from a subway tube, from some picket line, for the pungent bed of some Eurasian existentialist, from the hands of some epileptic Negro Buddhist, from the verbose midst of a group therapy session. (Toole 389)

Ignatius hates the middle-class, bourgeoisie philosophy and associates it with everything that is wrong with the world ever since the French Revolution. This quote is an attestation of his strange and different world views, which I believe we can all, in someway, learn from. Also, I enjoy the tangent he goes on about the bliss being black and not being able to get a decent job would bring him.

I do admire the terror which Negroes are able to inspire in the hearts of some members of the white proletariat and only wish (This is a rather personal confession.) that I possessed the ability to similarly terrorize. The Negro terrorizes simply by being himself; I however, must browbeat a bit in order to achieve the same end. Perhaps I should have been a Negro. I suspect that I would have been a rather large and terrifying one, continually pressing my ample thigh against the withered thighs of old white ladies in public conveyances a great deal and eliciting more than one shriek of panic. Then, too, if I were a Negro, I would not be pressured by my mother to find a good job, for no good jobs would be available. (Toole 123)

Ignatius' Sexuality

Throughout the book, Ignatius contently makes clear his position on sex. He claims to be repulsed by the very thought of the act. The truth becomes clear as the story progresses. Whenever the opportunity provides itself, Ignatius does not hesitate to banter and rant about the obscenities and perversions brought about by television, movies, advertising and American commercialism. While he is probably accurate, he is not completely true to his word. Aside from his chronic masturbation (with bizarre fantasies, one involving his beloved, deceased collie, Rex) Ignatius represses any sort of sexual arousal which in turn manifests itself in the violent typically sexual verbal punishment of the person or people committing the offensive act.

This liberal doxy must be impaled upon the member of a particularly large stallion. (Toole 216)

This is all most likely attributed to his medieval, shame-based, Catholic beliefs. As time goes by, Ignatius' banter becomes more sexual, less violent, and we see the beginnings of his acceptance of these feelings as natural.

Purpose?

It is difficult to easily summarize A Confederacy of Dunces without going into every minute detail. The novel is full of sub-plots and side stories which makes it difficult to find a real plot. It's easier to look at all the separate events as a bunch of tangents all leading up to the same climax. I feel the true purpose of the story was to convey the truth that the people society typically views as different or even insane can end up being the one with the most insightful. No one in the book ever truly understands Ignatius or his actions, save for perhaps Myrna. I myself could not decide whether or not I liked Ignatius until the very end of the book.

In retrospect, the selfish and pompous things he did were justified. Ignatius J. Reilly is the perfect example of a tragic American hero, although feel him and Willy Loman might not see eye to eye on very much. While Lenny was a hero for his stubbornness and refusal to never quit working is directly inverse to Ignatius' philosophy, which he displays just as stubbornly. Inadvertently, many of Ignatius' crazy plans (such as his plans to start a riot at Levy Pants or organizing a all-gay policital party to help bring world peace) end up helping people, and although they were ironic consequences, some hints of his altruism and good intentions shine through.

About half way through the book, Ignatius gets a job working as a hot dog vendor- he from fired from his job at Levy Pants after attempting to galvanize the factory workers into going on strike for their low wages. Ignatius' pay as a hot dog vendor is below abysmal. This does not sit well with his mother, whom relies on Ignatius to make money in order to pay off her debt. Ignatius is happy to have a job where he can write and criticize society in his spare time, hardly caring about the meagerness of his salary. Where other minor characters in the story are constantly concerned about materialistic matters, money, and status, Ignatius sees through the facade of the American dream and in his own bizarre, unorthodox (and at times hypocritical) way rises above trivial concerns that most of us have. This allows him to focus his energy on the things he sees are of importance, such as his long term goal of bettering society through the one fruit of his labors: his novel.


In the final chapter of the book, Ignatius is "rescued" by his ex-lover, the overly-liberal and anarchistic Manhattanite, Myrna Minkoff. Myrna arrives at the Reilly home to take Ignatius to "flourish" in New York right before the ambulance from the mental hospital comes to institutionalize him. The ambulance was sent by his mother, who because of his unusual beliefs is convinced he is insane. Mrs. Reilly also wants Ignatius, who she now only sees as a burden, gone, because she has found a older man to marry who will pay of her debts. This yet again Toole using absurd satire to show the inherent greed and selfishness of Americans, rich and poor. Myrna is a complete foil to Ignatius. Her extreme set of beliefs directly contradict those of Ignatius' and these enormous differences are what make me believe they will be good for eachother. I say this because we do not learn much of their fates, the last scene depicts the two in Myrna's Renault, weaving in and out of traffic, happy- an emotion rarely displayed by Ignatius, much less being brought about by tha actions and presence of another human.

Theology and Geometry

The following is the opening paragraph of the novel, the rhetoric of which I will analyze and examine in the space below it:

A green hunting cap squeezed the top of the fleshy balloon of a head. The green earflaps, full of large ears and uncut hair and the fine bristles that grew in the ears themselves, stuck out on either side like turn signals indicating two directions at once. Full, pursed lips protruded beneath the bushy black moustache and, at their corners, sank into little folds filled with disapproval and potato chip crumbs. In the shadow under the green visor of the cap Ignatius J. Reilly's supercilious blue and yellow eyes looked down upon the other people waiting under the clock at the D.H. Holmes department store, studying the crowd of people for signs of bad taste in dress. Several of the outfits, Ignatius noticed, were new enough and expensive enough to be properly considered offenses against taste and decency. Possession of anything new or expensive only reflected a person's lack of theology and geometry; it could even cast doubts upon one's soul. (Toole 1)

The vivid and explicit imagery displayed within very first paragraph remains constant throughout the book and is also a large part of what makes Toole such a great writer. From this in-depth description not only can I envision Ignatius' person head to toe, but I can already make accurate inferences about his views on society, which as the reader soon learns is a huge credit to his character.

Ignatius' condescending and pompous nature is instantly revealed in just the last two sentences- Toole has an uncanny ability to subtly reveal the traits of a character's personality through a narration that practically mirrors that particular character's train of thought. In this narration he uses the same (or close to the same) words and phrases as uttered by the character. For instance, Toole when mentions poor taste and "a person's lack of theology and geometry" he is almost directly quoting Ignatius- of course, we don't learn this about Ignatius until later on, but this pattern in his writing becomes more and more apparent as the story progresses.

Another Excerpt:

"Perhaps he was very hungry. Perhaps some vitamin deficiency in his growing body was screaming for appeasement. The human desire for food and sex is relatively equal. If there are armed rapes, why should there not be armed hot dog thefts? I see nothing unusual in the matter."

"You are full of bullshit"

"I? The incident is sociologically valid. The blame rests upon our society. The youth, crazed by suggestive television programs and lascivious periodicals, had apparently been consorting with some rather conventional adolescent females who refused to participate in his imaginative sexual program. His unfulfilled physical desires therefore sought sublimation in food. I, unfortunately, was the victim of all this. We may thank God that this boy has turned to food for an outlet. Had he not, I might have been raped right there on the spot." (Toole 176)

It's sometimes difficult to pick out rhetoric in Toole's writing because all non-dialogue (save for his extended descriptions of people and places) is molded after the thoughts of that chapter's main focus which is typically Ignatius. So, in light of this I simply decided to use dialogue and analyze that. Aside from the apparent humor of this excerpt, it is rich in irony. Ignatius has just returned from his first day as a hotdog vendor, and is attempting to explain to his boss why ten of the twelve hotdogs he was given are missing, with no money to account for their absense- Ignatius ate them. It is indeed ironic that Ignatius, a scathing critic of the crookery and dishonesty of the mordern world, would spin a such a bizarre and far-fetched tale to pardon his name. Ignatius is full of these contradictions, caused by his selective narcissistic memomry and inabilty to see his own flaws- but this I feel is somewhat excused by the fact that most of his complaints about the world around him are valid and just, though sometimes exaggerated. In any casem the actions of others whom he criticizes are probably worse than his own, but I digress.

Ignatius: The Hero

It's hard, at first glance, to identify A Confederacy of Dunces as an American classic and therefore it is difficult to find themes of classic American literature. But, as I began to think about it I realized that Ignatius, despite his vulgar behavior and narcissistic persona is a hero...of sorts. Not so much an American hero in the classic sense (for example George Washington) but more of a Millerian, tragic antihero. Ignatius' habits and tenancies are not understood by other people and his beliefs are old-fashioned and strange- this is his tragedy. His frustration with humanity is born from the ignorance, hypocrisy, and overall impracticality of the modern world and it's his cruel fate to be surrounded by people who are completely oblivious to his preaching. But in a world where everyone misunderstands his frustration as audacity, Ignatius fares on, insluting everyone who gets in his way.

Levy Pants

Ignatius and his mother reside in an impoverished part of the French Quarter in New Orleans. Their house on Constantinople Street is small and decrepit and "except for the Plymouth and the weathered cross and the mummified banana tree, the[ir] tiny yard was completely bare."


After he and his mother are in a car accident (as a result of Irene's drunken driving) Ignatius has no choice but to grudgingly go job-hunting in order to pay for the damages. In the past, because of his inability to interact socially (Ignatius is terribly outspoken- this trait more than often gets him in a great deal of trouble) Ignatius has had trouble finding work, despite his evident genius.

Ignatius' attempt at finding a job (post-car wreck) does not go well- he is declined by an insurance company after he attempted "to explain the inadequencies of the place to the personnel manager" which included "those flourescent tubes baking [peoples'] brains out and blinding them" and the improper heating of the office. It is not unusual for Ignatius to show this poor sense judgement. There are a countless number of words, ostenatious and simple, in Ignatius' massive lexicon, but "tact" is certainly not among them.

Just when it seems all hope is lost, Irene finds a want ad for a desk job at the Levy Pants factory. The second Ignatius arrives for the interview, he becomes infatuated with the office's "stained ceiling [that] cast a weak yellow light upon the warped floorboards...a desk painted with a peculiar orange varnish...[and the] grey view of the Poland Avenue wharf." Luckily for him the manager, Mr. Gonzalez is in desperate need of new employees seeing as most others typically quit within a few months (some don't even bother to make note of their resignation, but rather don't ever show up again.) When Ignatius is told by Mr. Gonzalez that Mr. Levy plans to soon sell the business, he takes it upon himself to change Mr. Levy's mind and completely rejuvenate Levy Pants.


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"Mongoloids!"

Ignatius J. Reilly: Pompous, loud, imaginative, obnoxious, outspoken, well-read, lazy, arrogant, obese, intelligent, spiteful- Ignatius J. Reilly is the perfect example of a complex character- he is easy to love and yet even easier to hate. His cause is noble but this is overshadowed by the fact that he is an insufferable ass. He recognizes the imperfections and flaws of the modern world but opts to change them only by obsessively criticizing everyone and everything that goes on around him. Ignatius is 30 years old and still lives his mother in a particularly destitute area of New Orleans' French Quarter. Ignatius is extremely lazy and rarely leaves his house (with the exclusion of his trips to the movies, during which he audibly and obnoxiously expresses his disdain for the film and it's detrimental effects on humanity.) In fact, after an unpleasant experience while traveling to Baton Rouge for a job interview he vows to never leave his hometown again. Ignatius dresses eccentrically (always wears the same green hunting cap, tweed pants, and a plaid flannel shirt.


"I am at this moment writing a lengthy indictment against our century. When my brain begins to reel from my literary labors, I make an occasional cheese dip."


Irene Reilly: Irene is Ignatius' widowed mother. She is poor, uneducated and far too often the butt-end of Ignatius' harsh verbal treatment of people, most likely attributed to the fact that she is the one who spends the most time with him. Irene coddles Ignatius which may explain his inability to find initiative to do anything on his own.




Patrolman Mancuso: He becomes friends with Irene following an altercation that occurs at the mall in which Patrolman Mancuso mistakes Ignatius for a pedophile because of his bizarre clothes and overwhelming appearance.

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While this book has many characters, and continues to introduce more, there is only one main and constant character- Ignatius. In the entries that follow, I plan to tell more about other important characters that occur or are developed.

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A Confederacy of Dunces

This quirky, off-beat novel tells the misadventures of one Ignatius J. Reilly, a pompous, arrogant, narcissistic man who despises the modern world. The book gets its title from a quote by Irish writer Jonathon Swift- "When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him." (I've put key words from the quote in bold in an attempt to avoid confusion from those who are a bit slower on the uptake.)
The story opens with a lengthy description of Ignatius' peculiar manner of dressing. Just from the very first paragraph, it's easy to see that author John Kennedy Toole has a knack for vivid imagery and this trait remains constant throughout. A Confederacy of Dunces was published posthumously, 11 years after Toole's death by suicide. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1981.

Oh, Fortuna

"As a medievalist Ignatius believed in the rota Fortunae, or wheel of fortune, a central concept in De Consolatione Philosophiae, the philosophical work which had laid foundation for medieval thought."

--A Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy Toole

Bib: Toole, John Kennedy. Confederacy of Dunces. London: Allen Lane, 1981.

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