The Freedom Within

When John Kennedy Toole wrote his novel 'A Confederacy of Dunces' in the early 1960's, I wonder if he knew how prophetic his words would be. Toole committed suicide in 1969, long before his novel was published. He was posthumously awarded the Pulitzer prize for fiction in 1981. It is said that Toole was devastated that his 'masterpiece' was not to be published and his health began to deteriorate because of it.
Both Toole's autobiographers Rene Pol Nevils and Deborah George Handy, alluded to the issue of his sexuality and believed it contributed to his suicide. They both believe that Toole was confused about his apparent homosexuality and was unable to cope. I'm not sure it is as simple as that. There is no doubting that homosexuality plays a huge part in the novel (among other sexual themes). It must be noted, however, that this novel is set in New Orleans. Ignatius is accosted at the beginning of the novel by a policeman. Our anti-hero is flabbergasted that the policeman should pay him any attention at all when he city is rife with sin and wrongdoing all around them.

"Is it the part of the police department to harass me when this city is a flagrant vice capital of the civilized world?"

Ignatius goes on to list all manner of undesirable citizens he would not wish to associate with, including "sodomites and.... lesbians". My point being that in a city like New Orleans with it's rich acceptance of everyone and at the same time acceptance of no-one ( I know, bear with me), it would be hard not to write of gay people. Dorian, a homosexual character in the novel, makes a point which is incredibly true of the city. Dorian grew up in a small town in Nebraska. His family send him checks each month to stay away. We must remember that the early 1960's saw a time of great change in American society. People were able to express themselves as they had not been able to before. However, this may have been centered upon big cities like New York, San Fransisco and New Orleans. Nebraska probably would not have been such a place.
What we learn from Dorian is that in New Orleans he can be himself.

"Oh, New Orleans is such freedom."

The freedom of the city of New Orleans still stands today. Toole's words ring true and are relevant to current French Quarter events. My first trip to New Orleans was to Southern Decadence, a festival where one can truly express ones self.
I will not pretend that every single New Orleans resident is accepting of gay parades, pornographers or even daiquiris-to-go. What I will say though, is that the city is confident enough in itself to embrace 'vice' or indeed people who are merely being themselves, to not worry about those who do have a problem with it. New Orleans is where you may certainly find true freedom.
Now, is Ignatius a gay character? As far as I can tell, Ignatius is asexual. He is not really attracted to any single character in the novel. Certainly not Myrna, and especially no gentleman characters. He has a fleeting attraction to Lorna Lee's pornographic pose but I think that says more about his book that she's holding than of her physical attributes. As far as the apparent incident of masturbation over the memory of his pet dog, I feel Ignatius' sexuality is supposed to be ambiguous, and this event solidifies that theme. Maybe Toole is making his reader's work a little harder, or merely allowing us to make up our minds.
Read the book-you'll love it!