Who Took Lolita's Innocence?

In "Lolita", Humbert Humbert looks at young Dolores Haze and sees a sultry nymphet. Every innocent action little Lo does in front of him is unintentionally seductive. "She grasped it and bit into it, and my heart was like snow under thin crimson skin, and with the monkeyish nimbleness that was so typical of that American nymphet, she snatched out of my abstract grip the magazine I had opened (pity no film had recorded the curious pattern, the monogrammic linkage of our simultaneous or overlapping moves) (Nabakov 58). Humbert's will power prevented him from damaging Lolita's innocence. Despite his self control, Lolita comes back from Camp Q, totally different. Her sexual prowess is not hidden within her but she openly shows it. Before she left for camp, Lo would never be sexually promiscuous towards Humbert Humbert intentionally. However, now it seems that she is flirting with him and seducing him. One might wonder if her "innocence" was taken away at Camp Q, or that her innocence was not taken away at all and she pretended to be a sultry, experienced little nymphet. One may wonder if her promiscuousness was a ploy for Humbert to think her innocence was taken away from her already so that he would not feel guilty of actually taking her innocence. And how are we supposed to believe Lolita? Have we ever been given a reason to believe her? Because the story is not told from her perspective we are unable to fully know if she ever told the truth. Was Lolita's innocence taken at Camp Q? Or was it taken by Humbert Humbert?

Raising The Youth Wrong.

After reading the controversial novel, Lolita, by Vladimir Nabokov, it led me to think about how society has a big impact on our youth. It also led me to question how today’s children are being raised. Lolita, or Dolores Haze, is an interesting child for her age. Lolita appears to be stubborn, self-centered, and promiscuous. Many feel no sympathy for Lolita, but who is really to blame? Lolita was raised in a household where she did not have a parental figure to guide her. Lolita’s mother, Charlotte, treats Lolita with disrespect. Lolita’s stubbornness may be caused by the bad example of Charlotte. Lolita also does not seem to have a father figure, except for Humbert. Humbert may be Lolita’s stepfather, but he is not a father figure to her. Being that Lolita and Humbert are sexually involved, Lolita’s innocence has been lost. Humbert says, “...nothing could make my Lolita forget the foul lust I had inflicted upon her” (Nabokov 283). Humbert admits he has taken away Lolita’s innocence. Humbert has corrupted Lolita and has too, led her by bad example.

Parents have a big impact on the way children are raised. Parents are the ones that instill morals and beliefs on their children. If parents do not lead their children by good examples, then who will? It is certain that society will not help to raise a child in the right direction. In today’s society, the youth is lured into unimportant notions brought on by the media. Our tragic flaw in society is that people make decisions without thinking about their actions. It is up to our parents to teach the youth about good morals and values that will raise the youth in the right path. And so I question, are parents raising their children wrong?

Can we trust Humbert Humbert, our narrator?

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.

A Real Love Story?

Although one may find Humbert Humbert’s love for Lolita to be completely true and innocent, I believe otherwise. Despite the fact that Humbert Humbert’s first love Annabel deceased, the ability to fall in love with a twelve year old girl as a middle aged man is absurd. Even though Humbert Humbert claims to still love Lolita as she grows out of her nymphet stage, I still cannot get passed that fact that Humbert Humbert had sexual relations with Lolita, his twelve year old step daughter. Humbert Humbert’s full recognition of having incestuous relations with his step daughter made it more difficult for me to believe Humbert Humbert was not a pedophile. However, Lolita’s promiscuous behavior throughout the relationship causes me to feel less compassionate towards her. Humbert Humbert is composed of pedophiliac characteristics while Lolita is simply a tramp.

As we conclude the novel, Humbert Humbert professes his love that still exists for Lolita. Although Lolita is now a young adult, I still find it extremely difficult to consider this a true love story. Humbert Humbert having sexual relations with his stepdaughter and Lolita’s interest in having sexual relations with her stepfather is repulsive. Although Humbert Humbert’s love for Lolita may be real, it does not rectify the actions taken by both characters throughout the novel.

True Love

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.

The Runaway is Justified

Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita is, without the slightest controversy, a unique literary work. Although the novel is portrayed from Humbert Humbert’s standpoint, Nabokov provides enough information to inevitably force one to favor either Lolita or Humbert Humbert. I favor Lolita. Humbert Humbert- a possessive, psychotic, delusional, selfish pedophile- is a man who has yet to cease turning my stomach. However, not all readers feel as I do. Some love Humbert Humbert and offer a strong counter argument to my opinions; one may feel Humbert Humbert truly loves Lolita and she has seduced him.

Humbert Humbert finds every aspect of Lolita delightfully becoming. The way she moves, speaks and acts fascinates him. He finds beauty in the simplest forms. Lolita- marvelously mature for her age- is aware of Humbert’s scandalous feelings and she uses them to her advantage. Charlotte and Lolita do not share a healthy mother-daughter relationship; Charlotte loathes her daughter. In an effort to attain the ultimate form of spite against her mother, Lolita flirts with Humbert. If flirting is a form of seduction, than I do agree with Humbert supporters in the sense Lolita “seduced” Humbert Humbert. I do not, however, think Humbert Humbert truly loved Lolita.

After Lolita had sex with Humbert, she wanted to call her mother. Lolita had satisfied her desire to spite her mother. Unfortunately, Humbert had been deceiving her throughout their trip and finally confessed Charlotte was dead. It is here that Humbert’s unloving characteristics are highlighted. Personally, I do not think love entails deceiving or drugging a loved one. Furthermore, treating a “lover”, who happens to be a step daughter, as a sex slave is certainly not a form of love. Humbert gives her petty change and buys her desirable items in order for him to have his way with her. Lolita is trapped. If she were to go to the police Humbert states, “you would become the ward of the Department of Public Welfare. [They] will take away your lipstick and fancy clothes. You will dwell in a dirty dormitory under the supervision of hideous matrons” (Nabokov 151). Lolita was left no choice; she could not expose Humbert.

Humbert’s feelings for Lolita are not love, but lust. Humbert states, “lust is never quite sure- even when the velvety victim is locked up in one’s dungeon” (Nabokov 125). Humbert’s lustful fantasies and practices ultimately lead Lolita to seek love else where. She loves Claire Quilty.

Humbert's Reasoning Is Wrong

In Vladimir Nabokov’s, Lolita, Humbert Humbert is clearly a pedophile. But why does he try to make us feel sympathy for him? He knows getting involved with Lolita is morally wrong and inappropriate, not to mention against the law. The reason for this could be because his first love, Annabel, was a nymphet. He loved her and she was taken away from him. Humbert Humbert never got over her death. He is a young boy trapped in a grown man’s body. It has been years since the tragic event, yet he still tries to find his nymphet. Lolita, a nymphet, is what captivated his attention. He says, “It was the same child-the same frail honey-hued shoulders, the same silky supple bare back, the same chestnut of hair” (Nabokov 39). Humbert Humbert thinks he can relive his moments he had with Annabel through Lolita. Lolita is the victim in this situation. Humbert Humbert may not have taken her innocence, but her innocence was lost to someone who was her age. That fact does not allow him to continue what he is doing. He even admits it is still wrong, but he tries to reason with himself to make it seem fine. Humbert Humbert needs to face the truth and realize he cannot have a nymphet.