The Role Of Alienation In 'Confederate Of Dunces'

In a country that lives off the back off capitalization, the majority of people wake up every morning to go to a job they either love or hate, for a wage of money to help them stay afloat in life. Majority of the jobs that are worked in this capitalizing society are jobs where someone is producing a product for someone over them who pay them. They do not produce the product for the benefit of themselves, but for the benefit of their employer. This is Marxian definition of alienating labor. Marx states Alienating labor estranges man’s own body from him, as it does external nature and his spiritual essence. (Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844) Marx states the worker is alienated from the product of his work. He makes it for his employer,
On page 110 Reilly tells his boss Mr. Gonzalez " The cross is top priority at the moment. Filing alphabetizing -all of that must wait until I have completed this project. Then when I am finish with the cross I am going to have to visit the factory."(Toole110). Although Mr. Gonzales is his boss, Ignatius tells him when he will do the work. He doesn’t ask, he simply makes the statement and follows through on it. Ignatius doesn’t like boundaries put upon him, he likes to make his on routine and stick to it, even if it is outlawed. When it comes to Levy Pants, Ignatius is more like Mr. Gonzales boss, except he doesn’t benefit from the product that’s produce. When Mr. Gonzales sends Ms. Trixie home for inappropriate work wear, Ignatius chastises him for it. . He states "I do not understand why she was sent away...You may not be surprised to see me appear to see one morning in my nightshirt. I find rather comfortable."(Toole110). The irony of the situation is due to the fact that Ignatius verbally chastises his boss as if he were the owner telling off someone, who manages his store, about making a bad business decision. This yet another way Ignatius resists alienating labor, showing he will not be
Ignatius writes in his journal, “personally, I would agitate quite adamantly if I suspected that anyone were attempting to help me upward toward middle class… the agitation would take the form of many protests marches complete with the traditional banners and protests, but these would say ‘End the Middle Class’ ‘The Middle Class Must Go’” (Toole122). Ignatius Reilly loves being at a low in life. This makes him content. He makes this clear in his journal when he references an alternative life as an African American. He claims “ Then, too, if I were a Negro, I would not be pressured by mother to find a good job, for no good jobs would be available. My mother herself, a worn old Negress, would be too broken by years of underpaid labor as a domestic to go out bowling at nigh. She and I could live most pleasantly in some moldy shack in the slums in a state of ambitionless peace, realizing contentedly that we were unwanted, that striving was meaningless” (toole123). Although Ignatius are making his wishes about an alternate lifestyle as a black male are stereotyped, this quote does show however, how desperately he wants to have a lazy life. He doesn’t want a life full of hard work. He wants what, he assumes black people have and are content with, nothing but poverty and