2020 is the year of Ignatius J. Reilly

A book that you must read (if you must read) this year is: 'A Confederacy of Dunces'.

If there were anyone who would be able to put in words the frustrations, insecurities, paranoia and instabilities of 2020- the year that pushed the world into a self-imposed sloth - it would be Ignatius J. Reilly, the protagonist of John Kennedy Toole's cult classic posthumous publication 'A Confederacy of Dunces'. It was published after over 17 years of being written and was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1981 for its accurate description of the city and society of New Orleans- but more so the Uptown human condition. It is clearly a timeless novel, as it remains excessively relevant today. 

Not going into the tragic story of its creator (which makes for an insightful commentary of its own), we shall talk about the central character of the book and how we relate to him this year more than ever- on a rather spiritual level. 

In the book, 'The lengthy indictment' that Ignatius is preparing against the century is derived heavily from the medievalism of Boethius' 'Consolation of Philosophy' that talks about Fortuna, the Roman goddess of Fortune, who spins the Wheel of Fortune and controls the destiny of mortals. Ignatius considers it to be the chief driving force of progress and condemns scientific development induced modernity as a facade. 'With the breakdown of the medieval system, the gods of chaos, lunacy and bad taste gained ascendancy,' he writes. 

The sophisticated foul-mouthed brat of a person with a perpetually sick stomach and a brain brimming with delusional intelligence, Ignatius is the lethargic paradox that the year 2020 has made out of each one of us. He flaunts pessimism and abhorrence that reflects on himself. His gut is always unhealthily rotten and the 'pyloric valve' continuously suffocates him. The motion-sickness he feels even on experiencing the littlest of movements is a condition that leads to long duration of stagnation.

Ignatius is a couch potato 'parked' at home- with no regard for his loving mother. He devours all fruits of modern capitalism and yet hates them by their very existence. He doesn't believe in the socialist cause either (though he feigns it in the story later). All he genuinely likes is to hate. And that's what makes him strangely repulsively lovable as a protagonist. 

He is a supremely flawed centerpiece of a tragicomedy and yet the inherent optimism of the reader is rooting for him. He gets into multiple scenarios of trouble and commits irredeemable mischief but what stays with you are the very first lines of the book- taken from Jonathan Swift: 'When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him.'

And that is a quote with seamlessly dangerous potential. This year, due to the ongoing pandemic and economic crisis globally- students, workers, media-persons, politicians, everyone has the tendency to turn into Ignatius J Reillys- reaping the fruits of the Internet and yet pouring vitriol through it. As we are forced to distance ourselves from each other and get restricted to our own spaces like Boethius in prison or Ignatius in his room, it will take a conscious effort to recognize the touch of optimism from the reader who is reading through the lives of us dunces. Swift is a known master of satire and John Kennedy Toole might have become one himself- a darker edgier one, if he would have read through the prospective readers' undying love for the protagonist regardless of his pessimistic stubbornness.

Read 'A Confederacy of Dunces'! Read it for the chaos it is, for abuses it hurls for you and from you. Read it till it makes your stomach churn and makes you puke while your mind applauds its magnificence.  

-Vikram Grewal

17-08-2020