"Oh, Fortune, blind and careless goddess, I am bound to thy wheel. Do not crush me beneath thy spokes. Lift me high, deity" (Toole: 42). Here, Ignatius Reilly makes one of his many supplications to Fortuna, the goddess who he believes controls his destiny and life by spinning him in circles of good and bad luck. The cycles that Ignatius Reilly goes through in A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole play an important role in the story, as they influence not only him, but also many others in the book. The cycles that Ignatius goes through, in fact, influence those around him. These cycles that Ignatius goes through are very similar to gears, connected to the cycles of the other characters in the novel. Although it is not obvious at first, one can see that as Ignatius' cycle, or gear, is spun downward by Fortune, the cycles of those around him who, at first, experience bad luck, eventually are rotated upwards. This can be seen by examining the effects of Ignatius Reilly's cycles on the situations that occur in the Night of Joy, Levy Pants, and with his mother and her acquaintances. The situation at the Night of Joy bar is, certainly, an interesting case to examine. At first, both Burma Jones and Darlene are going through an unlucky period or a downward cycle. However, as Fortuna turns Ignatius Reilly down, their situation begins to improve. We are introduced to Jones at the police station, at the beginning of the novel, after having been arrested allegedly for stealing a bag of cashews. He exclaims: "I was walking around Woolsworth and a cat steals a bag of cashews from the 'Nut House' star who screams like she's been stabbed. Hey! Next thing, a river walk got me, and then a police my mother drags me away. Man still doesn't have a chance. (A... middle of paper... in A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole works much like the gears. main gear of the machine and the other characters occupy the role of secondary gears. While Fortuna turns Ignatius' fortune downwards, that of the other characters, who are unlucky at the beginning, is then turned upwards work even more "grotesque" and attractive to the contemporary reader, a modern classic: the working machine of A Confederacy of Dunces. Works cited and consulted Clark, William Bedford. Essays in Literature 14.2 (1987): 269-280. McNeil, David. “A Confederation of Dunces as Reverse Satire: The American Subgenre.” Mississippi Quarterly 38.1 (1984-1985): 33-47. Toole, John Kennedy, 1980.