Dunces

At the opening of the novel, Ignatius and his mother escape the clutches of the police by entering a nearby bar, the Night of Joy. Ignatius and his mother meet Darlene and the bartender in the sudden visit. As he speaks to Darlene, Ignatius' stories are unimportant but he tells them in an elevated fashion. Although the content may be trivial, Ignatius uses words that make the stories sound significant. For example, in his story about vomiting on his trip in a Greyhound Scenicruiser, he says, "that was the only time I had ever be

Ignatius makes a complete circle by the end of the novel in his location and also in his actions. He begins the novel as a thirty year old man with a "fleshy balloon of a head"(1) that is squeezed into a green hunting cap and he looks like a dunce. Throughout the novel, as Fortuna spins upward and downward and as Ignatius enters into smaller and smaller circles, he displays his years of schooling in his words and discourse. Although he has a vast amount of knowledge and can express himself according to the rules of propriety, his actions completely denounce his efforts. By the end of the novel, his physical form and the way in which he carries himself prevents everyone from listening to his ideas and he is labeled a "dunce." He does finally break free from the circles of Fortuna when he runs away to New York with Myrna Minkoff, but his "freedom" is only circumscribed by a new location. The reader is left to believe that Ignatius will create more circles and spins in New York. In Confederacy of Dunces, Toole emphasizes the disparity between the "bodily" dunce and the "intellectual" genius to underscore the impossibility of separating the mental and physical capacities of his characters.

en out of New Orleans in my life. I think that perhaps it was the lack of a center of orientation that might have upset me"(10). Ignatius continues to speak in an educated style to the bartender, even though his message is condescending. Ignatius tells him that, "it is your duty to silently serve when we call upon you. If we had wished to include you in our conversation, we would have indicated it by now"(12). Ignatius proves that he is genius in the aspect of speech but, on the other hand, his physicalities show him to be a dunce. He speaks to his mother and , in the middle of a sentence, he often "snorted loudly and cleared his throat"(9). Also, Dorian Greene, the man in the bottle green velvet jacket, notices Ignatius' "flannel shirt and.the hair curling down the back of his neck"(17). In dealing with Darlene, Ignatius does not leave a positive impression when he consumes many macaroons and wine cakes, "sending out his flabby pink tongue over his moustache to hunt for crumbs"(18). The images of Ignatius' hair, tongue, and moustache do not paint pretty pictures and he is seen as the "big crazyman." Following their departure from the Night of Joy, Ignatius and his mother have difficulties getting to the car and reach their destination after exerting much effort. In the car accident that is caused by Ignatius' relentless commentary, he fully shows his loss of physical control when he vomits down the side of the car. Toole's use of Grotesque realism places a decided emphasis on Ignatius' body and its flaws. With the exaggerated physical view of Ignatius, the reader can more easily place him in the dunce category. The situation at the Night of Joy and the subsequent car accident lead Ignatius to believe that Fortuna is spinning him downward, but, he does not realize that he creates his own luck by his actions and words. He is the agent of his own undoing. "Fortune" is of his own making.

In his last encounter in the novel, Ignatius returns to the ill-reputed Night of Joy. He is still employed by Paradise Vendors and wears the ridiculous costume of a pirate that is mistaken for a Mardi Gras costume. Ignatius attends Dorian Greene's strange party and the distance between the "bodily" dunce and "intellectual" genius is

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