Ignatius meets Nurse Rached

Today in class we discussed the ending of John Kennedy Toole's A Confederacy of Dunces and I learned, much to my surprise, that a significant number of my classmates wished Ignatius had ended up in the mental institution at the end of the book, instead of making a mad escape to New York. All I could think of was how awful this situation would turn out for him when taking into account the very non-conformist nature of his personality and the state of metal hospitals in the 1960s (think less 'rehabilitation center' and more 'pen of crazy people').While Kelly made this point in class before I had the opportunity to, I would like to delve deeper into the subject and state why I believe sending Ignatius to a mental asylum does absolutely nothing beneficial to both parties and could serve as the absolute worst idea someone could have in regards to getting Ignatius more socially acceptable. I envisioned Ignatius' stay at the mental ward to draw many similarities to McMurphy's in the novel and film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest; he would rebel against the authoritarian staff and create a whole slew of problems for himself. In Cuckoo's nest, the protagonist also does not belong in the hospital, as he faked a mental illness to get out of a more cruel jail sentence, and starts to regret his decision as he can not stand the near complete lack of freedom such a psychiatric ward limits. Also note that Ken Kessy (the author) released his novel in 1962, the exact same era Ignatius lives in. In the hospital they keep the patients sedated and offer absolutely no stimulation; Ignatius knows this and does not want them to tamper "with [his] soul and world-view and mind" (384). I predict that if Ignatius had gotten admitted to such an institution he would end up in the same ending as McMurphy: a shell of his former self, completely reduced to something more akin to an animal than a man; only capable of basic tasks. Ignatius' mind, specifically his higher education, causes many of his problems, but without said mind Ignatius gets reduced to absolutely nothing of significance. His nature and superiority complex would cause him to rebel and the next thing he knows his 10 years of college education is lying on an operating table, and Ignatius does not have any tall Native American friends to help him out of his situation.