When I first began reading Lolita, I thought Humbert Humbert was infatuated with Lolita - he did not love her. I thought of him as a pedophile. He only wanted her because of her young appearance. He wanted to relive his past with Annabel. Humbert Humbert never discussed his true love for Lolita. When he spoke of her, he would speak of the way she looked and the way she acted. In my opinion, as the novel slowly progressed, it seemed as Humbert Humbert only spoke of his desires to have sexual intercourse with Lolita. Every chance he had to have sex with her, he would. He never spoke of any emotional attraction to her. It was only physical.
Now that I am finishing the novel, I have come to realize that Humbert Humbert truly loves Lolita for who she is.I think in the beginning of the novel, Humbert Humbert was attracted to Lolita because she was a nymphet; however, as time passed, he began to love her physically and mentally. Humbert Humbert says, “I will shout my poor truth. I insist the world know how much I loved my Lolita…and big with another’s child, but still gray-eyed, still sooty-lashed, still auburn and almond, still Carmencita, still mine”(Nabokov 278). Although Lolita is pregnant with another man’s child, Humbert Humbert is willing to take Lolita and take care of her. Humbert Humbert realized, despite Lolita not being a nymphet anymore, he still loves her. Humbert Humbert admitted to the reader that his love for Lolita was love at first sight, at last sight and at every sight. After Humbert Humbert admits his true feelings for Lolita, he says he truly feels sorry for taking away Lolita's childhood.
I agree with you Anna. I feel that Humbert Humbert does truly love Lolita. However, I feel that he has loved Lolita since the very beginning. Ever since he laid eyes on her, he has loved her completely. I feel that Humbert Humbert fell for the classic "love at first sight". In the beginning, Humbert gazed upon the simplicity of Lolita's beauty. Her child like features made him reflect on them almost every day. The simplest of things that she would do would make him be in awe. "After a while she sat down next to me on the lower step of the back porch and began to pick up the pebbles between her feet-pebbles, my God, then a curled bit of milk-bottle glass resembling a snarling lip-and chuck them at a can" (Nabakov 41). The little things that Lolita does,
ReplyDeleteHumbert think is beautiful. I feel that that is true love. Finding the beauty in simple things.
Anna and Michelle, I disagree. I do not believe that "love at first sight" can develop from sexual attraction. As Anna pointed out, Humbert Humbert's initial descriptions of Lolita are strictly physical. He loved Lolita because of her nymphet qualities and sexual attributes. I do not believe true love can develop from lust.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Humbert Humbert claims to love her even after she is no longer a nymphet, I do not believe this is true love. Rather, Humbert Humbert's mind is deceiving him because of their past sexual relationship. His feelings are lust, not love. True love can only develop from friendship. By stripping Lolita of her childhood, Humbert Humbert was anything but a friend. If Humbert Humbert was a true companion, he would have realized that $4,000 does not compensate for the damage he caused Lolita.
Anna, your views are interesting and I partially agree with you. I believe there is true love throughout the entire novel. Therefore, I completely disagree with you, Deanna. Michelle brings up more interesting points. However, I believe Humbert Humbert did not exactly fall for Lolita with the classic “love at first sight”. The first time his eyes met hers, there was an indescribable attraction that no reader will comprehend. It was not necessarily love, infatuation, or lust. It was a new feeling that ran throughout his entire self. Since he tells the readers that he loves nymphets, then we know he was first physically attracted to her. After time passes, Humbert Humbert gets to know who Lolita actually is and loves her like no other.
ReplyDeleteThis love story should not be looked down upon. It is not as strange as one thinks of it because Humbert Humbert truly loves Lolita for her looks, personality, and how she carries herself among others. One does not need to be friends in order to have true love. This is because real love may come from anywhere. Even when Lolita stopped being a nymphet, Humbert Humbert never stopped loving her. This is the true love he needs in his life. Lolita is Humbert's everything.