Justice and Judgment Quotes in A Confederacy of Dunces

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #7

"It wasn't your fault though, Miss Reilly. It's them police. They all a bunch of communiss." (8.170)

Communists in general were seen during the Cold War as quintessentially un-American, and, as such, were often persecuted by the police. Claude reaches an even higher level of Cold War paranoia by believing the police themselves are the Communists. While the specifics are garbled, his general point—that the police are not just—is more or less born out by the book.

Quote #8

"I recommend Batman especially, for he tends to transcend the abysmal society in which he found himself. His morality is rather rigid also. I rather respect Batman." (10.213)

Batman is one of the few figures that Ignatius approves of other than Boethius. He seems to like in particular his isolation and his harsh application of justice. You wonder if Ignatius occasionally sees himself in a Bat-costume, swinging hugely through the city like a bat-spackled blimp, confronting evil-doers and threatening to sue them.

Quote #9

A policeman was a policeman. It was always best to ignore them unless they bothered you. (12.210)

As a black man, Jones expects no justice from the police; the best he can hope for is to be overlooked when they start dispensing injustice. In this, he's cleverer than Lana Lee, who can't identify a policeman when he pops up in front of her. Maybe she's been doing too much reading.