Thoughts on Lolita

For the book assignment, I am reading Lolita. I have really enjoyed the novel and am almost finished it. I was initially hesitant about it because of the subject matter (it is hard to empathize with such a sick and twisted narrator). The more I read though, the more I got sucked into Humbert’s world, as scary as it was.

One of the most interesting aspects of Lolita is the way in which it is told. If it had been written as a mere sequence of events, the book would be about twenty pages long. It is the narrator, with his long asides about his love and lust for nymphets, who makes the story unique. It is also interesting to sort the actual events from Humbert’s memory. In some places, his memory is uncannily accurate (he describes an entire letter verbatim) while at other times it falters (during Humbert and Lolita’s trip across the country, he can only vaguely recall the various places that they visited). The narrator has a weird sense of the reality. He creates in his mind a fictitious island of Nymphetdom where girls between nine and twelve are seen as goddesses with an ability to please him. But often he contradicts himself about who is defined as a nymphet and how appealing different nymphets are to him. Any young girl that he is around for a long period of time seems to become a nymphet, suggesting that his concept of nymphets is not purely about love as he claims it is. One thing that can be said for Humbert is that he is trying to be honest in the book. He does not show much remorse about what he does, even when it is clear that he is hurting others (for example, Charlotte’s death, which was indirectly caused by her finding out about his sick fantasy, is seen by him as just a lucky opportunity to be with Lolita). But to his credit, he does not make excuses for his actions or blame them on something else.

I have done some research into possible interpretations of the book. One interpretation that I found (and that is repeated on the book’s flap) is that Humbert symbolizes civilized Europe and Lolita symbolizes crass America. This interpretation had not occurred to me, but I do think that it does make a certain amount of sense: Humbert (like Europe) has a very specific vision of how Lolita and everyone else is supposed to act and behave, and he is also very set in his ways. Lolita, on the other hand, does not always fit into Humbert’s vision of her, and is both rebellious and multi-faceted (like America).

I am currently taking a psychology course, and the psychological elements of this book are something that I would like to focus on in my paper. The book begins with the narrator discussing his childhood love and loss of a young nymphet. From there, all he wants to do is be with other nymphets. And every little girl he sees seems to be transformed by him into a possible nymphet, or a replacement for his first lover. This is similar to ideas put forth by Freud, because Humbert is reliving an unfulfilled childhood memory later in life. Humbert’s case is made more interesting by the fact that he himself has studied psychology. He even alludes to Freud later in the book when he compares a situation Lolita and he get into with a situation that he and his first lover experienced.

In conclusion, Lolita has given me a lot to think about and many avenues for my paper. It is a strange novel with strange language and a strange plot but I have enjoyed reading it. (623)