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.
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