I once heard the saying, “Never trust the teller, trust the tale,” but I was never able to connect the quote to a work of literature – that is, before I read Vladimir Nabokov’s novel, Lolita. In Lolita, the story exists more within the imagination of the narrator and less on the written pages of the novel. Humbert Humbert, the narrator in Lolita, solely exists in realities created within his own mind, while telling the story to suit his personal desires. Because of this, the reader trusts that the narrator is real; yet the reader questions whether Humbert Humbert is telling the truth. As one explores Nabokov’s writing further, the idea that the narrator exists becomes more difficult to believe as Humbert Humbert is revealed to be as imagined as the story he is telling. Humbert Humbert begs the readers to allow him to exist in their minds declaring, “Please, reader; no matter your exasperation with the tenderhearted, morbidly sensitive, infinitely circumspect hero of my book, do not skip these essential pages! Imagine me; I shall not exist if you do not imagine me” (Nabokov 129). The reader must allow Humbert Humbert to exist in their minds, because nothing can be proven to exist outside of one’s imagination. Humbert Humbert’s only chance at reality is to have his reader allow him to dwell in their imagination.
Monday, May 16, 2011
Can we trust Humbert Humbert, our narrator?
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I agree, Dana. I also question the truth in Humbert’s narration of Lolita. Throughout the story, Humbert Humbert pleads with readers to understand his love for Lolita. It is almost as if Humbert is trying to convince himself, rather than the readers, that he is doing no wrong. Being that Humbert is on trial for an unknown crime, it is understandable that he is writing in a defensive mindset, but he may confuse readers with his bizarre thoughts. I believe Humbert, in his mind, overdramatizes the events that have occurred earlier in his life. For example, he writes of how he contemplated killing Valeria, Charlotte and even at one point, Lolita. Although these thoughts were very detailed, Humbert never went through with his plans. It is these moments that may make a reader question the truth in the story, from another character’s perspective.
ReplyDeleteI also agree, Dana. While reading this novel, I found myself not believing about 50 percent of what Humbert Humbert is saying. The reason for my belief is that he has a tendency to play with the reader's minds. An example is his use of the name "Vivian Darkbloom" (Nabokov 31). Humbert Humbert makes up an author's name that unscrambles to spell his name, which indirectly tells the reader not to trust him, and I felt that I could not trust him. I also felt that he uses his double entendres to conceal different truths to his stories. In Chapter 4, Humbert describes his sexual experience with Annabel Lee. Humbert states, "her bare knees caught and compressed my wrist, and slackened again; and her quivering mouth...then my darling would draw away with a nervous toss of her hair" (Nabokov 14-15). The reader might receive this as an erotic description of Humbert Humbert's sexual experience. With Humbert's use of double entendres, one can view this as non-consensual rape. Humbert's erotic description shows how Annabel is trying to resist Humbert's sexual acts and her "quivering mouth" shows her sense of fear. This shows that Humbert's use of double entendres are attempts to convey to the reader that his actions are justified. Humbert's ability to play with the reader's minds gives one a reason to not trust him. Also, He uses double entendres that can confuse the reader because one cannot know the truth of his story. Since Humbert Humbert is the narrator telling his story, one cannot believe everything he is saying.
ReplyDeleteDana, you bring up a good point because I also question whether or not Humbert Humbert is telling the truth. I also agree with Keri that Humbert Humbert "overdramatizes the events". It is true because there have been moments where he describes everything n a detailed manner, then it ends up being false. He tries to reach out to his readers by telling us to believe in him, also. There are several things Humbert says which seem to "play with the reader's mind" as Brandon explained.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I somewhat believe Humbert Humbert is saying the truth. Every little detail shows how focused he is in the things he sees or does. The book seems real itself and Humbert Humbert has entered my mind as a real, actual being. Since the beginning of the chapter, I was amazed of the language he used. Everything made me feel as if I was reading someone's absolute diary. He captured my attention with his use of language in which he describes Lolita. But the question of trusting Humbert Humbert remains unanswered. It is quite difficult to either believe him or not.
I agree with you, Dana. I think it is difficult to tell if Humbert is telling the truth. I do not think he is telling the truth. At points, many people give Humbert compassion because he thinks he loves Lolita and thinks their relationship is real. I do not believe that their relationship is real because of Lolita’s reactions. Humbert says that Lolita said, “Well you haven’t kissed me yet, have you?” (Nabokov 112). In my eyes, Humbert tells us this so that we give him compassion and take his side. If he tells us that Lolita did seduce him, it makes his actions justifiable. Since Lolita did eventually run away from Humbert, I think she never wanted the relationship with him and he made up some things she said so that we would not classify him as a pedophile. It is possible that Lolita teased him in the beginning, but after a while she seemed to be afraid of him.
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