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Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita is considered now to be one of American literatures masterpieces, even though the explicit sexual nature of this novel resulted in public controversy. Basically, Lolita is the apology of a pedophile. Contemporary critics suggest that it is impossible to figure out what the author was trying to tell us in this novel, as it is completely deprived of moralistic underlining. At the same time, we cant consider Lolita as a literary form of ones worldview statement, because the pedophile motives in it seem to serve as a cover for something even more perverse. It is not a secret that Nabokov's novel contains an unusually high number of peoples sudden deaths. The tendency to repeat things over and over signifies the lack of literary talent, on the part of the writer.
Yet, in the case of Lolita we can be sure that Nabokov had a good reason for incorporating them in his story, as its integral part. In this paper I will argue that the motive of pedophilia in Lolita is meant to serve as a tool to exploit the authors fascination with death and depravity. In the very beginning of his novel the author mentions the death of his mother: My very photogenic mother died in a freak accident (picnic, lightning) when I was three (Nabokov, Part 1, 2). It is by no accident that author mentions word photogenic instead of pretty. Nabokov adopts the attitude of a remote observer, who watches terminally ill people die, knowing that they are his distant relatives.
This what keeps him at a distance, the author simply doesnt want to get emotionally involved. That death and chance seem to be inseparable, but if we analyze Nabokov's novel more closely, it will appear that such impression is an illusion. The author does not describe the process of dying in details because his fascination with death simply has a numerical quality. We cannot say that the author is being very descriptive, while mentioning the death of Charlotte, who had been knocked down and dragged several feet by the Beale car as she was hurrying across the street to drop three letters in the mailbox, at the corner of Miss Opposite's lawn (Nabokov, Part 1, 23). His protagonist Humbert is rather being focused on his own reflections, concerning the death of another human being. It is very symbolic that he spends a great deal of time, describing the atmosphere of death than the death itself.
He talks about the sharp unity of impression, which indicates that death is nothing but a stimulus for the author to experience the same feeling over and over. Nabokov's dad was killed, just before the outbreak of the revolution in Russian. Therefore, it seems very probable that the author of Lolita has written his story more for himself than for anybody else, as it allowed him to experience the same set of emotions. It would be a mistake to think that the true meaning of Lolita can be interpreted differently. With a great degree of accuracy we can tell of what the author was trying to tell us, if we read his story between the lines.
There is no doubt that his Humbert is represented to us as a sinner. But the nature of his sin does not derive from breaking a moral code. It is the breaking of the laws of nature that makes Humbert a true sinner. His relations with Lolita is abnormal, therefore evil, as it represents the ultimate transgression against the laws of nature. Thats why accidental deaths surround Humbert.
Even though Nabokov was an atheist, he nevertheless, believed in some sort of divine justice. And this is exactly the reason for the author to use multiple references in his novel, as if he was trying to mislead some imaginary detectives from discovering the real person, behind Humbert's mask. In Lolita, Nabokov indulges in word games: I am not a criminal sexual psychopath taking indecent liberties with a child. The rapist was Charlie Holmes; I am the therapist a matter of nice spacing in the way of distinction (Nabokov, part 2, 1).
Opposing the rapist against therapist appears to be very superficial in this passage, as if the author was trying to imply that they both can be at the same time. In the authors mind, Humbert's willingness to provide spiritual counseling to the child he abused, elevates him above a common criminal. The killing of Quilty, on his part, is nothing but the act of justice, motivated by Humbert's subconscious desire to stop the pattern of sudden deaths around him: Quilty, I said. I want you to concentrate. You are going to die in a moment. The hereafter for all we know may be an eternal state of excruciating insanity.
You smoked your last cigarette yesterday. Concentrate. Try to understand what is happening to you (Nabokov, Part 3, 35). It is not that Humbert just wants Quilty to concentrate on his own death, the protagonist also concentrates on the process of killing, as something that is totally deprived of accidental properties.
Yet, this act of human sacrifice does not seem to have any effect, as sudden deaths continue to occur in Nabokov's novel right to the very end. We learn that Lolita dies at childbirth, being 18 years old and Humbert suffers the same fate in prison, where he was being put for the murder of Quilty. In his closing words on Lolita, Nabokov says: Teachers of Literature are apt to think up such problems as "What is the author's purpose?" or still worse "What is the guy trying to say?" Now, I happen to be the kind of author who in starting to work on a book has no other purpose than to get rid of that book (Nabokov, Part 3, 36). We can think of this statement as the authors admission that he simply wanted to get rid of his subconscious anxieties, by making them open to the public.
It is a well known psychological phenomenon called sharing the burden, when one seeks inner relief by disclosing the external appearance of his anxieties, while trying to keep its essence well hidden. Even though that author says: It is childish to study a work of fiction in order to gain information about a country or about a social class or about the author, Lolita provides us with biographical information about Nabokov. Both, him and Humbert are immigrants, whose never-ending search for their identities has led them to explore the dark side of their personalities. Also, they both have another thing in common, they are intellectuals. Given the fact that story takes place in Europe and America, before the outbreak of the Second World War, we can also conclude that Humbert's depravity can be explained by the depravity of the author, who had invented this character. Basically, we can talk of contemporary white intellectuals as being dispossessed of vitality, which explains the fact that more and more of them engage in alternative lifestyle.
The perversion can only be thought of in terms of degradation. This lack of vitality is another reason for so many sudden deaths in Lolita. They are meant to symbolize the unfitness of the protagonist. It is also very likely that Nabokov did not intend to mention people being struck by lightning and hit by a car for any particular reason, which was meant to become apparent to people through the process of reading. In Lolita, the characters are entitled with a set of psychological features that define their true nature and therefore, cannot be changed. Yet, as the story progresses, the author strives to show us the full spectrum of Humbert's inner drives, but this requires a new setting.
Thats why him and Lolita continuously travel. By the end of the story it appears that they had visited 48 out of the 50 American states. The natural setting can be changed by moving from place to place, but the people can only die, in order for Humbert to keep exploring his inner self. Both Humbert and Nabokov are very sensual individuals, they concentrate on their own feelings, without much of a regard to the feelings of others. Therefore, sudden deaths in Nabokov's novel are incidental, yet they are necessary, as they correspond to the authors perception of physical reality as something illusive. The death and depravity in Lolita do not seem to derive out of each other on the surface.
But the pieces of the puzzle begin to fit if we take into account the authors biography. The abstract philosophy always turns into chemistry, when applied practically, and usually involve deaths Bibliography: Amis, M. On Lolita (2000). Everyman's Library. Retrieved May 10, 2005 from web Andrews, D. Aestheticism, Nabokov, and Lolita. (1999) New York: Mellen Press.
Berardinelli, J. Lolita Review (1998). Movie Reviews. Retrieved May 10, 2005 from web Bowman, J. Clues to Nabokov the Man. (April 9, 1999).
CNN. com. Retrieved May 10, 2005 from web Nabokov, V. Lolita. (1989). New York: Vintage.
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