Who has the Power?

After reading Vladimir Nabokov’s novel, Lolita, I witnessed a power struggle between the two main characters, Humbert Humbert and Lolita Haze. Humbert, a pedophile in his late 30’s who desired sexual intercourse for a nymphet, uses Lolita to fulfill his pleasures. Meanwhile, the young girl, Lolita, takes advantage of Humbert’s sexual desires and the law against pedophilia in order to gain possessions. By being advantageous of one another’s strengths and weaknesses, one is able to obtain power from the other party.

With his disturbing, perverse mindset, Humbert used Lolita to fulfill his sexual desires. “Her legs, her lovely live legs, were not too close together, and when my hand located what it sought, a dreamy and eerie expression, half-pleasure, half-pain came over those childish features (Nabokov 14). In this instance, this was the first time Humbert had sexual intercourse with Lolita. He desired a nymphet, and he used Lolita to fulfill his craving. By using Lolita’s body to pleasure himself, he took her innocence and purity that she had. Even though she knew it was wrong to have sex with him, he was able to persuade her to have sex with him. Because Humbert satisfied his sexual desires by using Lolita, he shows that he has control over her mind and body. In addition to using Lolita for sex, Humbert took advantage of Charlotte’s death. After she died, Humbert knew that this was his opportunity to be with Lolita. When he eventually tells her about her mother’s death, she shows her sadness that night. “At the hotel we had separate rooms, but in the middle of the night she came sobbing into mine” (Nabokov 142). In this instance, Lolita shows that she needs someone to comfort for in her time of need. The only person who she believes cares for her is Humbert. Because Humbert is all she has, she wants to follow his demands which is to have sex with her.

While Humbert uses Lolita to fulfill his sexual craves and makes her believe that he is the only person who cares for her, Lolita uses his sexual desires to backfire on him. Because Humbert has sex with Lolita to pleasure himself, Lolita is able to get what he wants from him. “She constantly received from me all kinds of small presents...she earn her three pennies--or three nickels--per day” (Nabokov 184). In this instance, this shows that she now has control over Humbert. She is able to take advantage of his sexual desires in which she is able to gain money and presents from him. Even though she is young, she shows that she is manipulative and an intelligent person. In addition, she is able to use the law against pedophilia to her advantage. In an instance where Humbert argues with Lolita, she accuses him of rape. “She said I had attempted to violate her several times when I was her mother’s roomer” (Nabokov 205). Since Humbert is a man in his late 30’s and Lolita is 13 years old, she is able to threaten him with the police. If he is found out of his crime, he will be taken away from Lolita. As a result, Humbert agrees to her demands in which she wants to leave Beardsley and live somewhere else. Here, Lolita shows that she has control over him is able to influence his decisions.

Overall, I believe that Lolita remains powerful over Humbert. By receiving $4000 from Humbert and keeping her life the way it is, that shows that she has total control over him. Even though she had a disturbed childhood, she still has her husband who cares for her, while Humbert is left $4000 poorer and alone.