A Confederacy of Dunces Essays

Kennedy Toole’s A Confederacy of Dunces is the story of an anti-modern man named Ignatius J. Reilly who lives in New Orleans in the early 1960s. Ignatius is an obese man who has become obsessed with disapproving of pop culture. He often entertains himself by attending modern events, such as going to movie theaters, merely to express his disdain with them. Throughout the story, Ignatius displays an outspoken personality and an unmistakable rude demeanor. In A Confederacy of Dunces, the main character

John Kennedy Toole’s A Confederacy of Dunces follows Ignatius J. Reilly in his journey through holding different jobs around the city of New Orleans. In his journal of his adventures as a working boy, Ignatius shows off his learnedness through his rather formal writing style in a setting that does not call for such. The decisive use of language develops the extent of Ignatius’s attack on Myrna’s philosophy on top of developing Ignatius as a character. In the above passage, three instances of alliteration

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

Analyzing a Dunce In the novel A Confederacy of Dunces, author John Kennedy Toole wonderfully depicts New Orleans in the early 1960s and protagonist Ignatius J. Reilly’s comical adventures throughout the city. When his mother (who he still lives with at the age of 30) crashes her car, he now finds that he must get a job to pay off the expenses. Ignatius has two main traits that truly define him: he is incredibly lazy and tremendously selfish. Ignatius J. Reilly is an appallingly lazy

In My Antonia, a historically-based novel about Western settlers, Willa Cather paints powerful picture of the culture of the American prairie. Two children, destined for opposite lives based on their backgrounds. Many themes are explored in this novel, from suffering to love to feminism. Feminism, and the view of women as objects, is a main struggle of pioneer society in My Antonia. Throughout the story, Jim’s mind is constantly on Antonia, and there is something about her that separates her from

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole tells the story of Ignatius J. Reilly, a thirty-year-old man living with his mother in New Orleans during the 1960s, as well as various other characters somehow involved with Ignatius. Ignatius and his mother face financial troubles after his mother hits a building with her car. To pay for damages, Mrs. Reilly forces Ignatius, who usually spent his days sitting at home, to get a job. As a result of joining the working force, Ignatius faces many problems

John Kennedy Toole’s A Confederacy of Dunces depicts the grotesque Ignatius J. Reilly as he waddles through the streets of 1960 New Orleans. In the beginning of the novel, Ignatius is the passenger of a car crash piloted by his mother, Irene Reilly, who drunkenly crashes into the front of a building which launches them into severe debt. Mrs. Reilly, who is becoming increasingly frustrated with the sporadic behaviors of Ignatius, decides her son must finally get a job to help pay off the damages

techniques, an author can address, and possibly make fun of these uncomfortable and even serious situations in a casual demeanor: this is known as satire. Author John Kennedy Toole's partially biographical, Pulitzer prize winning novel, A Confederacy of Dunces, is a literary masterpiece that embodies an extreme satirical spirit and one that is fully committed to ridiculing the culture of 1960s America. The novel is truly remarkable in the sense that Toole was able to create such a smooth and colloquial

have trusted to your unshaken will — then only will you have achieved.” We hold dear the notion of the solitary thinker or creator, courageously overcoming the odds. Holmes was now trying to vanquish a new, perhaps more dangerous Confederacy, the confederacy of dunces allied and arrayed against

their counterparts may be. The question of how religion can lead to dangerous mindsets, and which mindsets are preventative of the detrimental effects of fanaticism can be examined through the literary works American Gods by Neil Gaiman and A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole. These works of literature feature distinct characters who fulfill their motivations through the lens of one of or both of two religious perspectives: the individual's viewpoint and the collective

Kempley compares Thorntons character to that of other beloved dim-witted characters by saying how Karl “stands alone in the confederacy of endearing dunces that is also home to the Gomers, Goobers, and Gumps of folksy fiction.” She then goes on to refer to Karl as a homicidal maniac, albeit a lovable one. After spending 25 years in an Arkansas state hospital for the criminally insane, Karl