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.