Ignatius Jacques Reilly, a beautifully ludicrous character in nearly all aspects of his large nature. He is the center of the complex interwoven story web of A Confederacy of Dunces, surrounded by a diverse group of odd yet endearing characters. Ignatius and the ensemble of eccentric characters portray the painful truths of everyday life, such as racial and class inequality, in the most hilarious way possible. Ignatius, the grotesque gluttonous genius, in his journey of absurd misadventures in turn points out how absurd society looks, looking up and wanting to move up. With the very notion of optimism nauseating him, calling it “perverse” and suggesting that we should all just accept our “proper position in the universe
