When asked to run an errand for Lana, Jones flatly refuses.

Jones knows he cannot quit for fear of vagrancy, but he regularly asserts his opinions. He understands Lana Lee’s economic dependence on him and regularly tests his limitations while working. While hidden behind his stereotype, Jones also recognizes the security of his job due to his codependent relationship with Lana Lee. Toole refers to Jones as “the cloud of smoke and the broom” to present society’s nescient view of Jones. Lana sees Jones only as “the cloud of smoke and the broom.” Toole employs this metonymy to emphasize Jones’ lack of identity in the eyes of Lana Lee and the rest of society. Physically hidden behind his glasses and metaphorically hidden behind his stereotype, Jones skillfully escapes any interpretation from Lana Lee. Toole reveals that Lana Lee senses something out of the ordinary concerning Jones, and she cannot make sense of his sarcastic comments and sharp remarks.

Lana becomes nervous not only because of Jones’ seemingly reckless sweeping patterns, but because of the anonymity he manages to maintain throughout his employment. Toole uses the word “nervous” to reveal Lana Lee’s feeling of discomfort. Then the cloud of smoke and the broom moved off across the floor (Toole 70). “Goddammit to hell, you making me nervous.” “Stop knocking that broom against the bar,” she screamed. “For twenty dollar a week, you ain running a plantation in here. “The glasses stayin on.” Jones bumped the push broom into a bar stool. “I told you to take the glasses off, Jones.” Her lack of success in doing so often makes her feel uneasy. When Lana Lee physically attempts to see Jones through his dark glasses, she also attempts to see Jones beyond his stereotype. Along with keeping Jones relatively anonymous, Toole uses the smoke and sunglasses as metaphors to symbolize the stereotype in which society casts Jones. From the moment Toole introduces Jones at the police station, he makes routine references to Jones’ glasses and the cloud of smoke that seems to surround him in order to subtly deemphasize Jones’ identity.

A confederacy of dunces online