Previous
Chapter 7, Part 3
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in A Confederacy of Dunces, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Medievalism, Modernity, and Fate
The Legacy of Slavery
Sexuality, Attraction, and Repulsion
Freedom
Appearance, Identity, and Disguise
Hypocrisy and Self-Interest
Summary
Analysis
At Mr. Levy and Mrs. Levy’s house, Mrs. Levy has finally got Miss Trixie where she wants her. Mrs. Levy has always loved causes, and for years has wanted to have Miss Trixie brought to her home so that she can psychoanalyze her. Mrs. Levy even did a psychology course, which she completely failed. Mr. Levy has always refused to bring Miss Trixie home, but Mrs. Levy has blackmailed him because she threatened to tell her daughters that he fired a “young idealist” from Levy Pants for organizing a race riot.
Mrs. Levy only wants to help Miss Trixie because she is bored with her own life. Although she claims to want to protect Miss Trixie from Mr. Levy, Mrs. Levy’s apparent charity is only thinly veiled self-interest. It is ironic that Mrs. Levy wants to prove Mr. Levy is a bully, since her own attitude towards Mr. Levy—against whom she frequently uses emotional blackmail—is bullying and cruel.
Themes
Miss Trixie is asleep and is very confused to be woken up by Mrs. Levy. Miss Trixie asks hopefully if she is retired and is angry when Mrs. Levy says no. Mrs. Levy tells Miss Trixie that she must stop thinking of herself as “old and tired,” since she is still a “very attractive woman.” Miss Trixie seems confused and falls asleep again while Mr. and Mrs. Levy bicker.
Miss Trixie clearly wants to be free from her job at Levy Pants and views retirement as a symbol of her well-deserved liberation after years of work. Mrs. Levy does not accept Miss Trixie’s version of freedom, however, and instead tries to impose her own version of freedom onto Miss Trixie. Mrs. Levy is presumably projecting her own desire to be free from her marriage and live as a single, financially-independent woman onto Miss Trixie.
Themes
Miss Trixie wakes up again and tells Mr. Levy and Mrs. Levy to be quiet. She liked it better with Mr. Gonzalez, she says, where it was nice and peaceful. Mrs. Levy snaps at Mr. Levy that this proves Miss Trixie’s desire to work. Miss Trixie notices Mr. Levy and snarls that he is the man who fired Gloria, her only friend, who gave her “socks and luncheon meat.” Mr. Levy insists that he never fired any Gloria, but Mrs. Levy tells him that he will not ruin Miss Trixie’s life like he has ruined hers.
Mrs. Levy does not care about Miss Trixie’s desire for peace and relaxation, and is instead fixated on her own desire to prove that Mr. Levy is a tyrant who ruins women’s lives. Mrs. Levy feels trapped in her marriage and, rather than deal with this and set herself free through divorce (something which was still socially taboo in 1960s America), Mrs. Levy uses Miss Trixie to take revenge on Mr. Levy because she herself is unhappy.
Themes
