"A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole: Ignatius Reilly.

In John Kennedy O'Toole's "A Confederacy of Dunces", Ignatius Reilly feels a certain air of superiority over Myrna Minkoff even though she transforms his life through her advice. In three separate attempts to quiet her insistent criticism and suggestions, Ignatius listens to her advice, each time failing miserably and causing greater misfortune for himself. At the end of the novel, in comedic irony, she saves him from mental and physical captivity. At the beginning of …

…and body from institutionalization. Relationships sometimes have profound effects on the people in them. At the beginning of the novel, Ignatius feels a great deal of superiority over Myrna. However, as the relationship between them develops through the novel, it causes a tremendous amount of hardship in his life, due to Myrna's critical letters to Ignatius, and his insistence to take her advice. Her letters affect Ignatius in a manner that only she can fix.