Ignatius J. Reilly Ignatius Jacques Reilly is something of a modern
Don Quixote—eccentric, idealistic, and creative, sometimes to the point of delusion. However, he also enjoys many modern comforts and conveniences and is given to claiming that the
rednecks of rural Louisiana hate all modern technology, which they associate with unwanted change. The workings of his
pyloric valve play an important role in his life, reacting strongly to incidents in a fashion that he likens to
Cassandra in prophetic significance. Ignatius is of the mindset that he does not belong in the world and that his numerous failings are the work of some higher power. He continually refers to the goddess
Fortuna as having spun him downwards on her
wheel of fortune. Ignatius loves to eat, and his masturbatory fantasies lead in strange directions. His mockery of obscene images is portrayed as a defensive posture to hide their titillating effect on him. Although considering himself to have an expansive and learned worldview, Ignatius has an aversion to ever leaving the town of his birth, and frequently bores friends and strangers with the story of his sole, abortive journey out of New Orleans, a trip to
Baton Rouge on a Greyhound
Scenicruiser bus, which Ignatius recounts as a traumatic ordeal of extreme horror. Ignatius is portrayed as a monstrously overgrown, overeducated child: self-centered, impulsive, rebellious, mostly asexual, an extravagant daydreamer who is given to wearing a Mickey Mouse watch, reading comic books, writing in crayon, making crude arts and crafts projects, and gorging himself on doughnuts and hot dogs.
Myrna Minkoff Myrna Minkoff, referred to by Ignatius as "that minx," is a Jewish
beatnik from New York City, whom Ignatius met while she was in college in New Orleans. Though their political, social, religious, and personal orientations could hardly be more different, Myrna and Ignatius fascinate one another. The novel repeatedly refers to Myrna and Ignatius having engaged in tag-team attacks on the teachings of their college professors. For most of the novel, she is seen only in the regular correspondence which the two sustain since her return to New York, a correspondence heavily weighted with psychosexual analysis from Myrna and Ignatius's contempt for her bohemian activism. Officially, each deplores everything the other stands for. Though neither of them will admit it, their correspondence indicates that, separated though they are by 1,300 miles, many of their actions are meant to impress one another.
Irene Reilly Mrs. Irene Reilly is the mother of Ignatius. She has been widowed for 21 years. At first, she allows Ignatius his space and drives him where he needs to go; however, over the course of the novel she learns to stand up for herself. She also has a drinking problem, most frequently indulging in
muscatel, although Ignatius exaggerates that she is a raving, abusive
drunk. She is courted by Claude Robichaux, a dim but fairly well-off man with a railroad pension and rental properties. At the end of the novel, she decides she will marry Claude. But first, she agrees with Santa Battaglia (who has not only recently become Mrs. Reilly's new best friend, but also harbors an intense dislike for Ignatius) that Ignatius is insane and arranges to have him sent to a
mental hospital.
Others • Santa Battaglia, a "grammaw" who is friends with Mrs. Reilly and has a marked disdain for Ignatius • Claude Robichaux, an old man
constantly on the lookout for any "
communiss" who might infiltrate the United States; he takes an interest in protecting Irene • Angelo Mancuso, an inept police officer, the nephew of Santa Battaglia, who, after an abortive attempt to arrest Ignatius as a "suspicious character," features prominently in the novel as Ignatius's self-perceived
nemesis • the Sergeant, Mancuso's belittling supervisor, who requires Mancuso to wear ridiculous disguises and go looking for suspicious characters to arrest • Lana Lee, a fiery and abusive owner who runs the "Night of Joy", a downscale French Quarter strip club, and who secretly doubles as a pornographic model • George, Lana's distributor and accomplice, a young dropout who sells photographs of her to high-school children • Darlene, a goodhearted but none-too-bright bar girl, who aspires to be a "Night of Joy" stripper with a pet
cockatoo • Burma Jones, an irascible black janitor for the "Night of Joy" who holds on to his below-
minimum wage job only to avoid being arrested for vagrancy • Mr. Clyde, the frustrated owner of Paradise Vendors, a hot dog vendor business, who inadvisedly employs Ignatius as a vendor • Gus Levy, the reluctant, mostly absentee owner of Levy Pants, an inherited family business in the
Bywater neighborhood where Ignatius briefly works • Mrs. Levy, Gus's henpecking wife, who attempts to
psychoanalyze her husband and Miss Trixie despite being completely unqualified to do so • Miss Trixie, an aged clerk at Levy Pants who suffers from
dementia and
compulsive hoarding • Mr. Gonzalez, the meek office manager at Levy Pants • Dorian Greene, a flamboyant French Quarter homosexual from the Midwest who puts on elaborate parties • Frieda Club, Betty Bumper, and Liz Steele, a trio of aggressive lesbians living in Dorian's building who spar with Mancuso and with Ignatius • Dr. Talc, a mediocre professor at
Tulane who had the misfortune of teaching Myrna and Ignatius • Miss Annie, the disgruntled neighbor of the Reillys who professes an addiction to headache medicine ==Ignatius at the movies==