A Confederacy of Dunces‘ unemployed anti-hero, Ignatius Reilly, explores the tension between the school ethic and the work ethic in a conversation with his long-suffering mother:
“I doubt very seriously whether anyone will hire me.”
“What do you mean, babe? You a fine boy with a good education.”
“Employers
sense in me a denial of their values.” He rolled over onto his back. “They fear me. I suspect that they can see that I am forced to function
in a century I loathe. This was true even when I worked for the New
Orleans Public Library.”“But, Ignatius, that was the only time you worked since you got out of college, and you was only there for two weeks.”
“That is exactly what I mean,” Ignatius replied, aiming a paper ball at the bowl of the milk glass chandelier.
“All you did was paste them little slips in the books.”
“Yes, but I had my own esthetic about pasting those slips.”
P.S. One recruiting blog’s take on Reilly.
READER COMMENTS
Steve Sailer
Dec 4 2012 at 12:03am
When are they going to finally make that into a movie?
Who should play Ignatius J. Reilly?
David R. Henderson
Dec 4 2012 at 10:27am
@Steve Sailer,
Who should play Ignatius J. Reilly?
I have not read the book but, based on the link, Jack Black?
Peter
Dec 4 2012 at 3:13pm
This should be the next Book Club entry, Brian!
Aiesha
Dec 5 2012 at 6:07pm
Jack Black, fosho. He’s my choice for most roles, though, lol.
Comments are closed.