How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Miss Lee said, "I never liked mothers. Not even my own."
"My mother was a whore," the man with the racing form said, not looking up from his paper.
"Mothers are full of s***," Miss Lee observed and took off her leather coat. (1.304-306)
As with her hatred of books, it's hard to know exactly what to make of Lana Lee's hatred of mothers. We like that it isn't that she hated her mother in particular, and therefore hates all mothers in general, but rather than she hates mothers in general, and so hates hers as well. Perhaps Lana is expressing the opinion of the book to some degree. Mrs. Reilly is likable overall, but mothers as mothers in Confederacy mostly are there to sow guilt and bickering.
Quote #2
"You can't go bowling," Ignatius bellowed. "This is the most absurd thing you have ever done." (3.230)
An example of bickering, but of course. The hyperbole is especially nice; after all, we've already seen Mrs. Reilly do more absurd things than bowling (she sold her hat, she ran into a building…). Though maybe bowling really is some sort of quintessence of absurdity. It's hard to imagine Mrs. Reilly rolling a ball down a lane, and even harder to imagine Ignatius doing so. In his pirate costume. With a parrot on his head.
Quote #3
"A beautiful and meaningful love affair would transform you Ignatius. I know it would. Great Oedipus bonds are encircling your brain and destroying you." (7.298)
This is Myrna telling Ignatius that he has an Oedipal sexual desire for his mother. Ignatius's refusal to leave home, his reliance on his mother for basically everything, and his utter lack of sexual desire in anyone (except perhaps fleetingly for Lana-behind-Boethius) is suggestive for anyone who has heard of Freud. The novel isn't exactly advancing this Oedipal theory seriously; it's more playing with it to get a giggle.