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Burma Jones
Darlene is a bar girl in the Night of Joy strip club owned by Lana Lee. Darlene is hired on commission by Lana to sell as many drinks as she can to customers in the bar. Secretly, however, Darlene dreams of becoming an exotic dancer and begs Lana to give her a chance at this. Darlene develops an exotic performance with her pet cockatoo, in which the bird is trained to rip her clothes off. Darlene is ambitious but not unkind or ruthless with her ambition like Lana is. Darlene dreams of making a career for herself but does not do so at the expense of others and is kind to Burma Jones when he gets a job as a porter in the bar. Darlene encounters Ignatius and his mother, Irene, when they escape into the Night of Joy to hide from Patrolman Mancuso, who has tried to arrest Ignatius. At first, Darlene listens tolerantly to Ignatius’s story about a journey he once took on a Greyhound bus, which is notoriously boring, but when she sees him being mean to his mother she takes Irene’s side and starts to defend her. This suggests that Darlene is a genuinely good-hearted person who does not like to see people mistreated or abused.
Darlene Quotes in A Confederacy of Dunces
The A Confederacy of Dunces quotes below are all either spoken by Darlene or refer to Darlene. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 5, Part 1
Quotes
“Now look here, Darlene, don’t tell that Jones we suddenly got the whole force in here at night. You know how colored people feel about cops. He might get scared and quit. I mean, I’m trying to help the boy out and keep him off the streets.”
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Chapter 9, Part 2
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“I know this business. Stripping’s an insult to a woman. The kinda creeps come in here don’t wanna see a tramp get insulted […] Anybody can insult a tramp. These jerks wanna see a sweet, clean virgin get insulted and stripped. You gotta use your head for Chrissake, Darlene. You gotta be pure. I want you to be like a nice, refined girl who’s surprised when the bird starts grabbing at your clothes.”
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Like a note in a bottle, the address might bring some reply, perhaps from a legitimate and professional saboteur. An address on a package wrapped in plain brown paper was as damaging as a fingerprint on a gun, Jones thought. It was something that shouldn’t be there.
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Darlene Quotes in A Confederacy of Dunces
The A Confederacy of Dunces quotes below are all either spoken by Darlene or refer to Darlene. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 5, Part 1
Quotes
“Now look here, Darlene, don’t tell that Jones we suddenly got the whole force in here at night. You know how colored people feel about cops. He might get scared and quit. I mean, I’m trying to help the boy out and keep him off the streets.”
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Chapter 9, Part 2
Quotes
“I know this business. Stripping’s an insult to a woman. The kinda creeps come in here don’t wanna see a tramp get insulted […] Anybody can insult a tramp. These jerks wanna see a sweet, clean virgin get insulted and stripped. You gotta use your head for Chrissake, Darlene. You gotta be pure. I want you to be like a nice, refined girl who’s surprised when the bird starts grabbing at your clothes.”
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Like a note in a bottle, the address might bring some reply, perhaps from a legitimate and professional saboteur. An address on a package wrapped in plain brown paper was as damaging as a fingerprint on a gun, Jones thought. It was something that shouldn’t be there.
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