In A Confederacy of Dunces, costumes and clothing are constantly being used to make the characters more unique. The characters, alone, can be identified as eccentrics, but John Kennedy Toole’s use of unusual costumes and clothing augments their weirdness. Ignatius Reilly, the protagonist, is the most unusual character in the entire book. He is a lazy, over-weight 30-year-old man who lives with his mother. His whale-like appearance already makes him stand out in the crowd, but Toole decides to dress him in a “green hunting cap” (1) and warm clothing. This is very unusual because Ignatius lives in New Orleans, which is normally a warm and somewhat humid city. In doing this, Ignatius becomes different both physically and socially. As the story progresses, Ignatius’ life changes from a sedentary lifestyle into a ‘working boy’ lifestyle. Toole uses clothing to represent this …show more content…
In the beginning, he has the normal attire of a policeman, representing his normal pre-Ignatius life. However, due to his lack of arrests, he is forced to wear a multitude of costumes. His first costume is “ballet tights and a yellow sweater,” (27) which gives him the appearance of a prostitute. This signifies his decline in the societal hierarchy. As the novel progresses, Mancuso wears a Santa Claus suit, strange beards, and several other miscellaneous mismatches of clothing. This change of clothing enhances Mancuso’s embarrassment, and in doing so, worsens his ability to catch a suspicious character. It is obvious to the reader, in the beginning, that Mancuso is not good at his job because he is very easy to manipulate and he doesn’t speak up for himself. By placing him in these bizarre costumes, Mancuso loses all self-respect and sinks to the level of the characters he is trying to arrest. Mancuso’s final costume change is a “silk suit and a homburg,” (326) which represents his maturity and