Satire In The Novel 'A Confederacy Of Dunces'
Alfred Joseph
April 24, 2011
Mr. Lundberg
AP Language
Authority; Author’s Itty Satire
“You can delegate authority, but not responsibility.” dfdddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd-Steven Comisky Satire is seen throughout the world as a means to ridicule just about everything for its misgivings. Satire is one of the staples of humor; they both go hand in hand. In John Toole's novel, A Confederacy of Dunces, satire is displayed as one of the prominent themes. A key satirical target of the novel is people of high authority. The Sargent who is supposed to be a noble chief of officers is depicted in the novel as a silly …show more content…
After explaining the situation at the shopping center to the sergeant Mancuso receives a harsh response. “‘Jesus Christ!’ the sergeant said. ‘Trying to arrest a kid with his momma, bringing in somebody’s grampaw. Get the hell outta here, Mancuso, and take grampaw with you. You wanna arrest suspicious characters? We’ll fix you up’” (pg 18). Not only does the sergeant ridicule Mancuso as an officer but also punishes him and demoralizes him for no true reason. Out of this quote one can see his cruelty at its finest. As a sergeant he is supposed to prep officers and teach them how to properly do things, yet instead he is simply bashing on his lower rankers. He abuses his power by using his authority to force Mancuso to wear a different goofy costume everyday throughout the novel. The humor of this scene is definitely one of absurdity since the idea of Mancuso being forced to wear foolish costumes everyday as a direct result of his hard work simply does not make sense. Police officers are also supposed to wear prestigious uniforms and not outrageous outfits because it will make them not appear serious, which is key trait of their jobs. The sergeant’s abuse of Mancuso provides a strong satirical caricature of typical immoral authority.
Lana Lee’s harsh treatment of workers and her pornographic side business constitutes her as another abuser of authority. While reviewing Burma Jones’s plea …show more content…
He has often described the speech of the sergeant and Lana Lee by saying that they are “screaming”. By bringing out the thoughts of two of them he denounces them by making them appear evil. Little thing such as “the sergeant asked greedily” (pg 17) shows that the author attacks the sergeant by making him out to be an avaricious person. When Toole says “Lana started to make sounds, like the imprecations of a priestess, over the bills that the boy had given her.” (pg 63) it not only makes her seem greedy but twisted as well. His attacks are not vicious they are just simple and critical and is often seen when describing the characters attitudes. By attacking these characters, Toole is truly attacking the people of society who are given great power and responsibility and use this advantage for
April 24, 2011
Mr. Lundberg
AP Language
Authority; Author’s Itty Satire
“You can delegate authority, but not responsibility.” dfdddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd-Steven Comisky Satire is seen throughout the world as a means to ridicule just about everything for its misgivings. Satire is one of the staples of humor; they both go hand in hand. In John Toole's novel, A Confederacy of Dunces, satire is displayed as one of the prominent themes. A key satirical target of the novel is people of high authority. The Sargent who is supposed to be a noble chief of officers is depicted in the novel as a silly …show more content…
After explaining the situation at the shopping center to the sergeant Mancuso receives a harsh response. “‘Jesus Christ!’ the sergeant said. ‘Trying to arrest a kid with his momma, bringing in somebody’s grampaw. Get the hell outta here, Mancuso, and take grampaw with you. You wanna arrest suspicious characters? We’ll fix you up’” (pg 18). Not only does the sergeant ridicule Mancuso as an officer but also punishes him and demoralizes him for no true reason. Out of this quote one can see his cruelty at its finest. As a sergeant he is supposed to prep officers and teach them how to properly do things, yet instead he is simply bashing on his lower rankers. He abuses his power by using his authority to force Mancuso to wear a different goofy costume everyday throughout the novel. The humor of this scene is definitely one of absurdity since the idea of Mancuso being forced to wear foolish costumes everyday as a direct result of his hard work simply does not make sense. Police officers are also supposed to wear prestigious uniforms and not outrageous outfits because it will make them not appear serious, which is key trait of their jobs. The sergeant’s abuse of Mancuso provides a strong satirical caricature of typical immoral authority.
Lana Lee’s harsh treatment of workers and her pornographic side business constitutes her as another abuser of authority. While reviewing Burma Jones’s plea …show more content…
He has often described the speech of the sergeant and Lana Lee by saying that they are “screaming”. By bringing out the thoughts of two of them he denounces them by making them appear evil. Little thing such as “the sergeant asked greedily” (pg 17) shows that the author attacks the sergeant by making him out to be an avaricious person. When Toole says “Lana started to make sounds, like the imprecations of a priestess, over the bills that the boy had given her.” (pg 63) it not only makes her seem greedy but twisted as well. His attacks are not vicious they are just simple and critical and is often seen when describing the characters attitudes. By attacking these characters, Toole is truly attacking the people of society who are given great power and responsibility and use this advantage for