John Kennedy Toole's A Confederacy Of Dunces

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. Throughout the entire story, Ignatius displays gluttony in the amount of food he eats and arrogance in the way he views society and its people.

Ignatius’s appetite knows no bounds. Near the beginning story, Ignatius makes his mother buy him a box of twenty-four jelly doughnuts. Patrolman Mancuso, who is visiting Mrs. Reilly to discuss the car accident, notices something strange about the same box of doughnuts: “She offered Patrolman Mancuso a torn and oily cake box that looked as if it had been subjected to unusual abuse during someone’s attempt to take all of the doughnuts at once. At the bottom of the box Patrolman Mancuso found two withered pieces of doughnuts out of which…the jelly had been sucked” (39 Toole). Ignatius could not even wait to eat one doughnut at a time; instead, Ignatius immediately took nearly all twenty-four doughnuts. Shortly after Mrs. Reilly and Ignatius

His lack of self-control contributes to his excessive consumption of food, while his lack of respect is seen in his arrogance. Ignatius devours food to no end regardless of consequences, such as getting fired. He also undermines the integrity of others based on trivial matters, such as how new their clothes are. Because of these major flaws, Ignatius can be seen as a disliked character without restraint and respect for