Ignatius, all at once you're your horrible old self. All at once I think I'm making a very big mistake

Ignatius, all at once you're your horrible old self. All at once I think I'm making a very big mistake

"Ignatius, all at once you're your horrible old self. All at once I think I'm making a very big mistake." These words, spoken by the character Myrna Minkoff in John Kennedy Toole's novel "A Confederacy of Dunces," encapsulate the complex and tumultuous relationship between Ignatius J. Reilly and those around him.

Ignatius is a larger-than-life character, a self-proclaimed genius who is lazy, arrogant, and utterly disdainful of the world around him. He is a misfit in society, unable to hold down a job or maintain relationships with others. His interactions with Myrna, his former girlfriend, are particularly fraught with tension and conflict.

Myrna is one of the few characters in the novel who sees through Ignatius's facade of intellectual superiority and recognizes him for the self-absorbed and delusional man that he truly is. Despite their shared history, Myrna is repulsed by Ignatius's behavior and is quick to call him out on his flaws.

The quote highlights the moment when Myrna realizes that she may have been mistaken in trying to reconnect with Ignatius. She sees him revert back to his old ways, his obnoxious and offensive behavior driving a wedge between them once again. Myrna's realization that Ignatius has not changed, and may never change, causes her to question her decision to involve herself with him.