Throughout the whole novel, Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita contains the complicated concept of love and lust between Lolita and Humbert Humbert. However, in my opinion, Humbert Humbert and Lolita’s relationship leans more towards lust. Humbert Humbert may sound like he is a true lover, but after observing his past life style, he is a true pedophile. He focuses much attention to sexual attributes of Lolita. His superficial love persuaded the readers and gave him an image of an innocent man. “And less than six inches from me and my burning life, was nebulous Lolita! After a long stirless vigil, my tentacles moved towards her again, and this time the creak of the mattress did nor awake her” (Nabokov 130). His ability of using complicated language gave him an advantage to avoid the image of a pedophile.
Lolita would be considered as an immature teenager. She fell for Humbert Humbert’s superficial love and care. However, her actions prove that she is a child prostitute. The second part of the novel adds more negative image of Lolita. Her betrayal on Humbert Humbert was a tragic moment for Humbert Humbert, and Lolita was masked with an image of a heartless woman. The lust was the only part that satisfied Lolita and Humbert Humbert’s relationship. Because of their immature and perverted nature, their relationship would not be considered as love but lust.
I somewhat agree with you, Tim. I think Humbert Humbert and Lolita’s relationship is a mixture between love and lust. I feel that Humbert truly loves Lolita as a person. Through Humbert’s lust and desire to sleep with Lolita, he falls in love with her. Although he may seem like a pedophile and a creep, he cares about her well being which is why is so overprotective of her in the second part of the novel. Lolita is without a doubt seducing Humbert, and even though it is wrong of him to give into her seduction, he loves Lo and would not want to harm her in any way. I personally believe that Humbert loves Lolita, but through Lolita’s eyes, their relationship is all lust.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Tim. I feel that the Humbert Humbert/Lolita relationship is based on lust. My basis on my decision comes from the fact that Humbert Humbert has the tendency to lie or trick the readers. Humbert Humbert's use of the word, "Vivian Darkbloom," shows how Humbert Humbert can not be trusted when one is looking for the facts of the Humbert Humbert/Lolita relationship. Humbert Humbert states that "Vivian Darkbloom" is a playwright, but, in actuality, the name unscrambles into the name of the author, Vladimir Nabokov (Nabokov 31). Humbert Humbert's actions show me that the Humbert Humbert/Lolita relationship is one based on lust as well. Humbert Humbert's decision to have non-consensual sex with Lolita, through the use of sleeping pills (Nabokov 122). Any love affair would not consist of non-consensual rape because that shows there is no presence of true love within their relationship. Lolita's actions show how her relationship with Humbert Humbert is based on lust. After encountering numerous sexual experiences with Humbert Humbert, Lolita has an affair with another man, and she gets married to another man as well. Lolita showed that she never loved Humbert Humbert. Each character's actions, in the novel, show how the Humbert Humbert/Lolita relationship is based on lust.
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