Wearing the Dunce Cap

I started reading A Confederacy of Dunces. The lead character is a pompous, overweight man-child with a master's degree who plays the lute. I went to sleep wondering what the author was trying to mock. Was it pseudo-intellectualism, obesity, unjustified self-importance or what?

I awoke later with a terrible epiphany. He was making fun of ME! That bastard.