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Ignatius J. Reilly In A Confederacy Of Dunces

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Ignatius J. Reilly In A Confederacy Of Dunces
Like Chinua Achebe, John Kennedy Toole explores the dilemma of nonconformity through the outrageous character of Ignatius J. Reilly in A Confederacy of Dunces. Ignatius J. Reilly is different from the men in the Reserve Police Battalion 101 and Okonkwo in that he is an innate outcast. Because of his traumatic childhood and upbringing, Ignatius J. Reilly is a well educated thirty-year-old man with the mentality of a child. Ignatius struggles to conform to adulthood and puts forth his best effort to reject the modern societal symbols of adulthood. He chooses a “Dr. Nut” soda over an alcoholic beverage, prefers food over drugs, and disdains anything related to sex. Ignatius prides himself on being a virgin to not only sex, but also to any adult

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