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Chapter 2, Part 1
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in A Confederacy of Dunces, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Medievalism, Modernity, and Fate
The Legacy of Slavery
Sexuality, Attraction, and Repulsion
Freedom
Appearance, Identity, and Disguise
Hypocrisy and Self-Interest
Summary
Analysis
Jones goes to see Lana Lee at the Night of Joy and applies for a job as the porter. Jones tells Lana that he needs a job because he has recently been arrested, and the police will imprison him for vagrancy if he is out of work. At first Lana is reluctant to hire him, but then she realizes that, because he needs the job so desperately, she can pay him almost nothing. She tells him the job pays $20 a week and Jones asks what happened to the minimum wage. Lana says Jones must take it or leave it and Jones bitterly accepts.
Whereas Ignatius is unemployed, Jones must find a job because otherwise he will be arrested. This suggests that vagrancy laws (which, in theory, were supposed to apply to black and white people) really only applied to black people in practice. Lana exploits Jones for her own gain because she knows there is nothing that he can do about his circumstances.
Themes
Darlene breezes into the bar, and Lana shouts that she is late. Darlene says that her pet cockatoo was ill, and Lana begins to berate Darlene for drinking with Ignatius and Irene the previous night. Darlene tries to explain that she felt sorry for Irene, but Lana says that Darlene knows the type of people Lana wants in the bar. Lana then announces that she is going to the shops. As she leaves, she warns Darlene and Jones to stay out of the cabinet beneath the bar.
Lana is totally self-interested and only cares about what makes her business look good. Darlene, on the other hand, is genuinely sympathetic and cares about other people. She sincerely worried about Irene, who was drunk and upset the night before.
Themes
When Lana has gone, Darlene complains to Jones that Lana is a slave driver and an awful boss. Jones agrees and says that Lana has not so much employed him as “bought” him. Darlene tells Jones that she wants to be an exotic dancer, but that she works on commission for Lana and only gets paid if people buy drinks. This is hard work, though, because Lana waters down all the alcohol she serves.
The American South, where the novel is set, has a long history of slavery. Jones suggests that he is like a slave for Lana because Lana disregards his working rights and pays him below minimum wage. He is also like a slave since vagrancy laws mean he will be arrested if he tries to leave the job. Systemic racism in the South allows Lana easily take advantage of Jones because he is unlikely to find a better situation elsewhere.
Themes
Darlene doesn’t understand what Lana has against Ignatius and Irene. They spent a lot of money and, she says, they get far worse people in the Night of Joy. Darlene thinks the sight of Ignatius’s strange cap annoyed Lana. She tells Jones not to worry about getting the bar too clean; it is too dark inside to see dirt on the floor. Jones can’t see it either—he can hardly see a thing through his dark glasses.
Lana seems to believe her strip club is somehow different from others to justify her behavior in running one, an attitude that demonstrates her self-deception and hypocrisy. Ignatius’s cap is a sign of his individuality and makes him stand out in most situations, marking him as someone who does not blend easily into conventional society. Jones’s sunglasses function in a similar way to Ignatius’s cap. Because Jones is black, he too struggles to fit into conventional white society; his sunglasses operate as a mask to disguise his emotions about this and to keep him at a distance from a society which rejects him.
Themes
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