A Response To Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

Humans have an innate need to belong and feel accepted. This need for belonging and its pursuit is a recurrent
theme in Vladimir Nabokovs Lolita . The novel is set primarily in late 1940s America and is presented as the
memoir of a late Humbert Humbert, a pedophillic European emigre. The novel observes his lust for his
landlady's 12 year old daughter, Delores or as he calls her- Lolita, as well as how his need for social
acceptance is rejected because of his pedophillic desires.

It was a friend that first introduced me to Lolita. After having done some more research I felt compelled to
read it due to its widespread notoriety. In my opinion, It didnt quite live up to its notorious reputation. But this is
only because it is written so delicately. I was expecting to pass time, reading upon aimless vulgarity. To my
delight, I got intriguing and thought provoking prose instead.

Humbert is suspiciously evasive when it comes to sensitive subjects, often refraining from elaborating upon the
cruder aspects of his actions. He does this because he doesnt want to disgust the reader. He wants the reader
to sympathize with him. An example of this is when he drugs Dolores, but then, instead of describing how he
rapes her, he goes on to describe his surroundings; particularly the colour of the walls. Through doing so
Humbert inadvertently concedes his intentions of finding sympathy within the reader. Humberts Lolita was
intended to be read by a jury, but since he died of a heart attack (which may be a pun or allusion towards
heartbreak), there was no court hearing. The fact that the jury doesnt exist adds to the already comically tragic
scenario. No one in Humbert's universe, bar Dr.John Ray Jr. and his colleagues, would ever read Humberts
memoirs.

In the foreword, a character named John Ray Jr. warns of the vague and evasive literary style possessed by
Humbert Humbert stating that (if it were) Viewed simply as a novel, Lolita deals with situations and emotions
that would remain exasperatingly vague to the reader had their expression been etiolated by means of
platitudinous evasions. To back this up, Humbert also acknowledges his backwards form of prose by saying I
remember the thing so exactly because I wrote it really twice. First I jotted down each entry in pencil (with many
erasures and corrections) on the leaves of what is commercially known as a "typewriter tablet"; then, I copied it
out with obvious abbreviations in my smallest, most Satanic, hand in the little black book just mentioned. In this
excerpt, Humbert recollects the process through which he wrote his entries into his pocket diary or exhibit
Number two. Most Satanic - The excerpt would have been rather trivial had it not been for this Blakean and
biblical allusion he makes. Satan is said to have read the bible backwards in order to analyze it. Thus, Humbert
challenges the reader to read backwards, to analyze, as Satan would in order to truly understand Lolita. To
truly analyze, is to defile and take away the sense of wonder the subject of the analysis possesses. Humbert
challenges us to defile his art, much like he himself had defiled Delores. He wants us to know what it is like, to
experience the disgust; the pain. His pain. His ultimate desire is for the reader to empathize with him and
understand him. He attempts to impose his self loathing upon us.
Humbert's narrative voice intertwines factual information with ambiguous messages, even blatant lies. In fact
Humbert Humbert's name in itself is a pseudonym. In a way this reduplicated name represents his sly and two
faced nature. Inversely so, Lolitas name (Delores) remains unchanged. This signifies how honest and innocent
she is which contrasts with Humbert; whose real name we dont even know.

One of the most commendable aspects of Lolita is how Nabokov developed such tragic characters, that
somehow, despite all their tragedies they still manage to arouse interest from their audience. Amongst other
exceptional candidates, Humbert is a prime example of this. There is not one drop of heroic blood in him, yet I
always found myself wanting more. In fact, Humberts quest for belonging, and the comic hopelessness of it is
one of the reasons I was attracted to him as a character. Humberts life seemed to be so messed up it validated
my own.

Humbert seems to believe he is fooling the reader into sympathizing with him through his captivating narrative
voice. Although there are certain parts in the novel in which he manages to do so, through his unreliable
narration and his insensitivity towards how he ruined Delores childhood, Humbert inadvertently conveys how
monstrous he is. Through reading Humberts memoirs, the writer is taken on an intimate literary journey with
Humbert himself. This intimacy is blinding when it comes to actually trying to understand Humbert's character
and in turn compels the reader to empathise with him. Lolita was a stunning reminder to how impressionable
and naive I am. Humbert bewitched me, like he did Lolita. The novel is beautifully sickening; perhaps a
reflection of the world we live in.The cause of Humbert's desperate quest for sympathy stems from a lust for
belonging. Tragically enough, his socially unacceptable pedophillic tendencies conflict with his longing for
acceptance, rendering him inescapably forlorn.