Vladimir Nabakov’s Lolita

“It’s no use, he sees her, he starts to shake and cough. Just like the old man in that book by Nabakov.” Ah, yes The Police. You can always count on Sting to make things awesome with an allusion to one of the most taboo books in history.

What’s amazing about Lolita is the sheer hatred that the reader has for every character. Humbert Humbert because he’s a pervert, Dolores because she is a manipulative coquette, and her mother because she’s an annoying twit. What’s worse, is that the reader identifies and relates with each character, despite the disgust they cause.

People understand Humbert, because who doesn’t lust after youth and beauty. Yes, there is more to Humbert’s fascination than that, and he is undoubtedly a pedophile, but his attraction to Dolores, or Lolita, is not purely sexual. He sees her faults, and cares for her anyway. Even after she has lost her appeal to him, he still offers to take care of her. He does love her, and that’s the worst part. The fact that he can love her and still steal her innocence because he cannot help it. His fantasizing about her from the very beginning proved to the reader that he would stop at almost nothing, including killing his wife, to have her. Weirdly, his plot to kill his wife was a rather amusing part in the novel. Nabakov’s detached and yet passionate description of Humbert’s idea astounds the reader and strikes one as funny.

Dolores/Lolita is the object of Humbert’s passion. He is also the object of her school-girl and unassuming crush on him. This is where things get interesting and tricky. She is innocent because she is young and cannot possibly understand the full implication of her actions. And yet, she is the one who purposefully seduces Humbert. He wouldn’t have initiated intercourse with her if it were not for her actions. He might have, but she pushes the matter as a manipulation technique. Eventually this evolves into her using it as a tactic to get whatever she wants from Humbert. And it works. One can understand Dolores, because everyone has had those crushes and passions that one would die to have realized. It’s complicated because the reader sees that she knows what she’s doing, that she knows just how much she affects Humbert, but you can’t blame her. She is immature and infantile and uses whatever methods will work the best and the fastest. This continues with other men as well, and the reader can’t tell if Dolores would’ve naturally turned out this way or if it’s a product of Humbert’s actions, for Humbert is her victim at least as much as she is his.

Dolores’ mother is one of the most tragic characters in the novel simply because of her unending ignorance. She is blind towards Humbert’s feelings towards her daughter. She finds evidence of it and doesn’t really have any concern for her daughter, only for herself and for the fact that Humbert’s feelings towards her may not be genuine. So selfish a woman has not been seen, that would care for herself and her feeling of being loved more than the safety and well-being of her pre-adolescent daughter. It’s confounding. One is amused at the thought of her death, simply because of the weird poetic justice of it all. The reader would loathe Humbert even more if he were to be the cause of her death, but in the end, he has nothing to do with it and the reader is actually relieved by her death, because she is no longer hindering Humbert. He is one understandable anti-hero, and that is irritating and also interesting to see how an author can make that happen. If anything, one should feel compassion for Dolores’ mother and Dolores herself, but because the novel is from Humbert’s point of view, the reader can’t help but want him to succeed.

The events that unfold within Lolita leave the reader uneasy, uncomfortable, squeamish. Mostly because you’re rooting for Humbert. He is sensitive, guilt-ridden, and easily affected. It’s easily seen that Dolores is taking advantage of him, and that’s what makes the reader so upset. The fact that Humbert truly cares for her and that she’s just using him is…uncomfortable. It makes Humbert be almost the better person. “If only he had more self-control!” one thinks. Which is really the crux of the matter… everyone wishes they had more self-control, don’t they?