A Confederacy of Dunces Lesson Plan

Santa gives Mrs. Reilly a pamphlet, “Is Your Neighbor Really an American?”, with questions to help Mrs. Reilly test Ignatius. How might Ignatius’ behavior be interpreted as un-American? With which themes does this idea interact?

Ignatius not only disregards but also actively disdains middle-class American values. We learn when he applies to Levy Pants that he feels himself to be the opposite of the "[c]lean, hardworking, dependable, quiet type" trying to "make good" that most employers assume potential employees will willingly perform. The humor of that moment comes from the idea of a person taking sincere offense to these qualities, which seem the very definition of...