Essay on “a Confederacy of Dunes” by John Kennedy Toole

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English 2000/Section 1225 05.10.2013 Homework Essay on “A Confederacy of Dunes” by John Kennedy Toole “A Confederacy of Dunes” is the great novel written by John Kennedy Toole. The novel is about the adventures of big, lazy man, Ignatius J. Reilly. His unusual behavior and appearance set Ignatius apart from everybody. He “exists outside the inner realm of American society." Around him the reader can see a lot of absolutely different characters, who he tries to oppose, such as Irene Reilly, Burma Jones, Mr. Levy, Santa Battaglia, Lana Lee, and Myrna Minkoff. They all came from different social class, have different level of education, salary, and worldview. But all together they direct the life’s path of the main character Ignatius and the development of the whole novel. The first character is Mrs. Reilly – the mother of Ignatius. She loves her son but frequently complains that after all the money she spent on his education, he has not made anything of himself. She is addicted to alcohol, particularly to muscatel. Mrs. Reilly may herself be a primary cause of Ignatius’ problems. Rather than playing the role of the doting, supportive mother, Mrs. Reilly repeatedly emphasizes that he is a failure and disgrace for having wasted his education. She is not a good example for him; she spends her days sitting around the house, drinking muscatel, talking to Santa Battaglia on the phone, and going bowling. Mrs. Reilly expresses disappointment that he is not measuring up to the model of success, which she and her peers prefer. She is right; he is far from meeting his potential. However she seems to be embodying the stereotype of the parent who is never satisfied. Even though in the Chapter 11 readers find out that Ignatius's birth does not appear to

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