Humbert Humbert repeatedly refers to Dolores as Annabel. When he was around the age of thirteen, he fell in love with Annabel. This was a significant relationship, for Annabel Leigh was the only female he ever loved that was his age. They were in love and explored each other's sexuality and bodies. They attempted to make love but were unsuccessful every time. This is where an interesting theory can be explored. Perhaps Humbert Humbert is attracted to young girls because he wishes to return to that time in his life to possess that girl he shamelessly loved, “We loved each other with a premature love, marked by a fierceness that so often destroys adult lives.” (18) Is this a possible explanation given by Humbert Humbert to show why he is in love with nymphets now? Is it possible that he believes there is still hope to make love to an Annabel? It seems that he as an emotional attachment to Annabel, for he still remembers her and refers to her many times throughout the novel. He never got that chance to love, to possess, Annabel before she died.
Though Dolores and Annabel existed in different time periods, they seem connected in some uncanny way. Humbert Humbert makes this connection. From the moment he meets Dolores when he goes to the Haze household, he immediately falls in love with her and cannot help but feel that she is Annabel reincarnated, “It was the same child-- the same frail, honey-hued shoulders, the same silky supple bare back, the same chestnut head of hair. A polka-dotted black kerchief tied around her chest hid from my aging ape eyes, but not from the gaze of my young memory, the juvenile breasts I had fondled one immortal day.” (39) He flashes back to that last day he had with Annabel, the last attempt they made at making love on the beach, “ I saw again her lovely indrawn abdomen where my southbound mouth had briefly paused; and those puerile hops on which I had kissed the crenulated imprint left by the band of her shorts-- that last mad immortal day behind the “Roches Roses.” The twenty-five years I have lived since then tapered to a palpitating point, and vanished.” (39)
Humbert Humbert actually speaks of this day in the beginning of the novel, “But that mimosa grove—the haze of stars, the tingle, the flame, the honey-dew, and the ache remained with me, and that little girl with her seaside limbs and ardent tongue haunted me ever since-- until at last, twenty-four years later, I broke her spell by incarnating her in another.” (15) Here, Humbert Humbert clearly expresses his thoughts of Annabel being resurrected in Dolores.
It is plain to see that Humbert Humbert makes the readers believe that Annabel and Dolores are directly connected to one another. He shows the audience that they are similar in appearance (however they may only look similar to Humbert Humbert because he wants them to). Despite similarities in appearance, the audience can see other similarities between the two nymphets. For example, Annabel had experimented with sex. She and Humbert Humbert had felt as though it was something exciting, new, curious. Dolores approaches sex in the same way, and Humbert Humbert realizes this during the first time he and Dolores has sex together. Dolores' attitude toward sex is even revealed in her accounts at camp, and how she became curious on the matter, “At first, Lo had refused to try what it was like, but curiosity and camaraderie prevailed.” (137)
Despite Humbert Humbert's thought of Dolores being Annabel reincarnated, he does acknowledge that they are quite different, “I should have understood that Lolita had already proved to be something quite different from innocent Annabel...” (124) Though he sees that they are different, he still cannot help but think of Dolores as Annabel. He is trapped in his childhood memories and is determined to return to that last day with Annabel. At one point he even tries to relive his experience with Annabel on the beach, this time with his Lolita in the beginning of Chapter 3, Part II. However, he fails, just like he did with Annabel so long ago. He refers to Dolores Haze as Annabel Haze, but he still cannot bring Annabel back.
Also, there might be an interesting point to be made here. As Humbert Humbert's and Dolores' relationship continue, Humbert Humbert notices that Dolores is becoming less and less like a nymphet. However, he realizes that he still loves her deeply. Perhaps this is because when he was in love with Annabel, he did not consider her a nymphet, “Annabel was no nymphet to me; I was her equal...” (17) When he sees her after a few years, she has lost all of her nymphetic characteristics. She is even pregnant with another man's child. However, he still loves her and does not doubt it, “You see, I loved her. It was love at first sight, at last sight, at ever and ever sight.” (270)
(844)
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Humbert Humbert: A Tragic Hero?
Since the beginning of the novel it has been quite clear that Humbert Humbert lacks the ability to distinguish between love and possession. He believes that to love someone is to possess them. He sees to feel that both love and possession cannot be separate forces. This logic is what drives Humbert Humbert to love Dolores Haze, and essentially possess her as his own. As his love for her grows, he becomes more possessive and obsessive of her. From the moment he sets eyes on her, he calls her my Lolita. (40)
This can be seen as Humbert Humbert's tragic flaw. A tragic hero is an individual who has great potential but eventually a tragic flaw leads to his or her downfall. The idea of Humbert Humbert being a tragic hero sounds ridiculous from the start. However, his scenarios is ironically altogether fitting. Because Humbert Humbert loves Lolita, he strives to possess her. As he does this, he becomes more controlling and understand Dolores less and less. As their relationship continues, it gets more strained. The more he tries to possess Lolita, the more he drives her away. In the end, he fails to possess her and, blinded by love, he kills Quilty. He loses Lolita forever and ends up in prison, alone.
Humbert Humbert's ties between love and possession originated in his childhood. His first love was Annabel, and in this relationship, he begins to show signs of this confusion, “All at once we were madly, clumsily, shamelessly, agonizingly in love with each other; hopelessly, I should add, because that frenzy of mutual possession might have been assuaged only by our actually imbibing and assimilating every particle of each other's soul and flesh.” (12) From this point forth, Humbert Humbert would only love through possession.
When Humbert Humbert first encounters Dolores Haze, he immediately falls for her. He becomes obsessed with her from the onset. He has names of affection for her, watches her every move, and writes about her in his is diary. He refers to her as “L., my darling, my sweetheart, Lo, my life, my bride.” (42, 47) Humbert Humbert clearly believes that Dolores is his, and his only. He has not professed his love to her, yet he considers her his bride. He obsesses over every part of her, from her skin to the way she moves.
After Charlotte dies, Humbert Humbert begins to move in on his Lolita. Now with Charlotte out of the way, he had Lo all to himself. In one of his schemes to possess her, Humbert Humbert rented a hotel where he drugged her so that he may fondle her. The strange thing in this act is that he never actually has sex with her while she is under this drug. He only dreams of examining her body. Is this because he genuinely loves her and wishes to keep her purity unharmed? However, this love is bound to turn into possession, for that is how, Humbert Humbert believes, loving someone is supposed to be.
As Humbert Humbert and Lolita's sexual relationship continues, Lolita becomes unsure of what to do. Due to her age, she does not understand what is taking place and even refers to it as incest (119) and rape (141). In his desire to possess her, Humbert Humbert becomes less and less understanding of Dolores and her incapacity to understand the emotions between them. He refers to her changing behavior as moods, “Somewhere at the bottom of that dark turmoil I felt the writhing of desire again, so monstrous was my appetite for that miserable nymphet... her mood might prevent me from making love to her again as soon as I found a nice country road where to park in peace.” (140) He does not realize or acknowledge that it might be hard for Dolores to comprehend this relationship with an adult who is supposed to be her stepfather. He overlooks the fact that she is mourning her mother's death, also.
Humbert Humbert and Lolita continue to travel, and as they do so, Humbert Humbert realizes that he must keep Lolita under his control, “I was clever enough to realize that I must secure her complete co-operation in keeping our relations secret...” (149) He only allows her to play with a few girls her own age, but forbids her to to interact with any boys. In order to ensure that Dolores does not accuse him of rape, Humbert Humbert constantly tells Dolores that she has nobody else besides him. He slyly threatens her by telling her that she will be placed in a correctional school, the reformatory, or the juvenile detention center, if she tells people about their relationship. (149-151) He knows exactly what he is doing “By rubbing all this in, I succeeded in terrorizing Lo...” (151)
As their relationship continues, Dolores gets more sullen. In his attempt to have her as his own, Humbert Humbert puts his own desires before hers. She cries every night and he pretends to sleep. Later, he only gives her allowance if she performs sexual favors for him. He then steals the money back because he fears that she might use her cash to run away from him, “What I feared most was not that she might ruin me, but that she might accumulate sufficient cash to run away.” (185)
These actions are what eventually lead to the demise of Dolores' and Humbert Humbert's relationship. He loses Dolores in his attempt to fully control her and have her has his own. It was the only way he knew how to love his Lolita.
(934)
This can be seen as Humbert Humbert's tragic flaw. A tragic hero is an individual who has great potential but eventually a tragic flaw leads to his or her downfall. The idea of Humbert Humbert being a tragic hero sounds ridiculous from the start. However, his scenarios is ironically altogether fitting. Because Humbert Humbert loves Lolita, he strives to possess her. As he does this, he becomes more controlling and understand Dolores less and less. As their relationship continues, it gets more strained. The more he tries to possess Lolita, the more he drives her away. In the end, he fails to possess her and, blinded by love, he kills Quilty. He loses Lolita forever and ends up in prison, alone.
Humbert Humbert's ties between love and possession originated in his childhood. His first love was Annabel, and in this relationship, he begins to show signs of this confusion, “All at once we were madly, clumsily, shamelessly, agonizingly in love with each other; hopelessly, I should add, because that frenzy of mutual possession might have been assuaged only by our actually imbibing and assimilating every particle of each other's soul and flesh.” (12) From this point forth, Humbert Humbert would only love through possession.
When Humbert Humbert first encounters Dolores Haze, he immediately falls for her. He becomes obsessed with her from the onset. He has names of affection for her, watches her every move, and writes about her in his is diary. He refers to her as “L., my darling, my sweetheart, Lo, my life, my bride.” (42, 47) Humbert Humbert clearly believes that Dolores is his, and his only. He has not professed his love to her, yet he considers her his bride. He obsesses over every part of her, from her skin to the way she moves.
After Charlotte dies, Humbert Humbert begins to move in on his Lolita. Now with Charlotte out of the way, he had Lo all to himself. In one of his schemes to possess her, Humbert Humbert rented a hotel where he drugged her so that he may fondle her. The strange thing in this act is that he never actually has sex with her while she is under this drug. He only dreams of examining her body. Is this because he genuinely loves her and wishes to keep her purity unharmed? However, this love is bound to turn into possession, for that is how, Humbert Humbert believes, loving someone is supposed to be.
As Humbert Humbert and Lolita's sexual relationship continues, Lolita becomes unsure of what to do. Due to her age, she does not understand what is taking place and even refers to it as incest (119) and rape (141). In his desire to possess her, Humbert Humbert becomes less and less understanding of Dolores and her incapacity to understand the emotions between them. He refers to her changing behavior as moods, “Somewhere at the bottom of that dark turmoil I felt the writhing of desire again, so monstrous was my appetite for that miserable nymphet... her mood might prevent me from making love to her again as soon as I found a nice country road where to park in peace.” (140) He does not realize or acknowledge that it might be hard for Dolores to comprehend this relationship with an adult who is supposed to be her stepfather. He overlooks the fact that she is mourning her mother's death, also.
Humbert Humbert and Lolita continue to travel, and as they do so, Humbert Humbert realizes that he must keep Lolita under his control, “I was clever enough to realize that I must secure her complete co-operation in keeping our relations secret...” (149) He only allows her to play with a few girls her own age, but forbids her to to interact with any boys. In order to ensure that Dolores does not accuse him of rape, Humbert Humbert constantly tells Dolores that she has nobody else besides him. He slyly threatens her by telling her that she will be placed in a correctional school, the reformatory, or the juvenile detention center, if she tells people about their relationship. (149-151) He knows exactly what he is doing “By rubbing all this in, I succeeded in terrorizing Lo...” (151)
As their relationship continues, Dolores gets more sullen. In his attempt to have her as his own, Humbert Humbert puts his own desires before hers. She cries every night and he pretends to sleep. Later, he only gives her allowance if she performs sexual favors for him. He then steals the money back because he fears that she might use her cash to run away from him, “What I feared most was not that she might ruin me, but that she might accumulate sufficient cash to run away.” (185)
These actions are what eventually lead to the demise of Dolores' and Humbert Humbert's relationship. He loses Dolores in his attempt to fully control her and have her has his own. It was the only way he knew how to love his Lolita.
(934)
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Humbert Humbert
From the outset, Humbert Humbert is anything but a simple character. The novel opens with him speaking, as he is both the narrator and main character of the novel. As we continue to read, we are exposed to Humbert Humbert's ideas and thoughts. He openly tells the audience that he is a pedophile, but he is ready to defend his case, "Ladies and gentelmen of the jury.... look at this tangle of thorns." (9) He is proud of what he is, but also hates who he is.
Early in the story, we see that Humbert cannot distinguish the difference between love and possession. It is clear that he believes that, in order to love someone, you must possess them. He expresses this idea early on in his life, around the age of thirteen, when he falls in love with Annabel. His relationship with Annabel is particularly significant, mainly because it was the only relationship in which Humbert Humbert and his partner were the same age. In this relationship, Annabel and Humbert Humbert try to make love on many occasions, each one unsuccessful. Perhaps, this is the root of Humbert Humbert's pedophilia, for maybe he wishes to return to that time in his life to possess that girl he once “madly, clumsily, shamelessly, agonizingly loved.” (11)
Humbert Humbert's eloquent and enticing language entrances the reader. We do not see him for what he is-- a pedophile who fantasizes about little girls. He is able to cradle the reader with his words, which are both beautiful and extraordinary. This is often difficult for the reader to digest. How can we accept, perhaps even like, a pedophile? In our society, criminal justice stalks after men just like Humbert Humbert. However, we cannot help but be intrigued, almost seduced, by this compelling character. He may be describing the most heinous of his actions, such as his first sexual encounter with Lolita (66), however his choice of words and tone bait the reader. Readers also find Humbert Humbert enjoyable because of his humor and self-criticizing sarcasm. He sees his lust for Lolita as pathetic (63) and sees his love life as “humiliating, sordid, and taciturn” (23). Another reason that readers may be drawn to Humbert Humbert is his valuable honesty. He does not lie about what he is and openly states what he feels and thinks. He lets the readers into his most precious and private place-- his mind.
Humbert Humbert sees himself as an intellect. He rationalizes his behavior, and even criticizes the society in which he lives, “... and soon I found myself maturing amid a civilization which allows a man of twenty-five to court a girl of sixteen but not a girl of twelve. He longs to return to a time when courting a child was acceptable” (18). He sees his pedophilia not as something disgusting and wrong, but as an art that not many have adept skill in, “You have to be an artist and a madman, a creature of infinite melancholy, with a bubble of hot poison in your loins and a super-voluptuous flame permanently aglow in your subtle spine” (17). He creates a whole science to his thinking, to his practice of weeding out the true nymphets among him. To Humbert Humbert, not all little girls are nymphets, but only special ones. This is seen in his encounter with a young prostitute girl, who he sees as “monstrously plump, sallow, and repulsively plain” (24).
Though readers may begin to like Humbert Humbert, many times he reminds readers of what he truly is. Sometimes he is not only offensive, but downright appalling. For example, after he touches Lolita for his own sexual pleasure, he blatantly states how proud he is of his action. He felt he had done nothing wrong to corrupt the child while he was still able to please himself, “I felt proud of myself. I had stolen the honey of a spasm without impairing the morals of a minor.” (62) He goes on to say that Lolita had known nothing and he had done nothing to her. Not only that, but he longs for another encounter with this twelve-year-old girl.
Furthermore, Humbert Humbert reveals what a monster his is when he tells the reader how he wishes to kill Valeria and Charlotte. When he was unhappy with Charlotte, he would fantasize about killing her in order to keep calm! Lastly, readers cannot allow themselves to trust Humbert Humbert fully because on many occasions, he lies in order to have things go his way, such as when he publishes a fake Arctic report or when he lies to the doctors about his symptoms.
One of the ironic things about Humbert Humbert is his mental history. He is checked in and out of mental facilities, but he does not seem to be psychologically unstable as he speaks. His words are both deliberate and meaningful. Everything Humbert Humbert does, he has an explanation for. He rationalizes and justifies his behavior. He plans his every move. Though he is deemed mentally unstable, he is put in charge of the psychoanalysis of those who accompany him on his trip to the Arctic. How can a man who is mentally unstable himself possibly evaluate the sanity of others?!
(879)
Early in the story, we see that Humbert cannot distinguish the difference between love and possession. It is clear that he believes that, in order to love someone, you must possess them. He expresses this idea early on in his life, around the age of thirteen, when he falls in love with Annabel. His relationship with Annabel is particularly significant, mainly because it was the only relationship in which Humbert Humbert and his partner were the same age. In this relationship, Annabel and Humbert Humbert try to make love on many occasions, each one unsuccessful. Perhaps, this is the root of Humbert Humbert's pedophilia, for maybe he wishes to return to that time in his life to possess that girl he once “madly, clumsily, shamelessly, agonizingly loved.” (11)
Humbert Humbert's eloquent and enticing language entrances the reader. We do not see him for what he is-- a pedophile who fantasizes about little girls. He is able to cradle the reader with his words, which are both beautiful and extraordinary. This is often difficult for the reader to digest. How can we accept, perhaps even like, a pedophile? In our society, criminal justice stalks after men just like Humbert Humbert. However, we cannot help but be intrigued, almost seduced, by this compelling character. He may be describing the most heinous of his actions, such as his first sexual encounter with Lolita (66), however his choice of words and tone bait the reader. Readers also find Humbert Humbert enjoyable because of his humor and self-criticizing sarcasm. He sees his lust for Lolita as pathetic (63) and sees his love life as “humiliating, sordid, and taciturn” (23). Another reason that readers may be drawn to Humbert Humbert is his valuable honesty. He does not lie about what he is and openly states what he feels and thinks. He lets the readers into his most precious and private place-- his mind.
Humbert Humbert sees himself as an intellect. He rationalizes his behavior, and even criticizes the society in which he lives, “... and soon I found myself maturing amid a civilization which allows a man of twenty-five to court a girl of sixteen but not a girl of twelve. He longs to return to a time when courting a child was acceptable” (18). He sees his pedophilia not as something disgusting and wrong, but as an art that not many have adept skill in, “You have to be an artist and a madman, a creature of infinite melancholy, with a bubble of hot poison in your loins and a super-voluptuous flame permanently aglow in your subtle spine” (17). He creates a whole science to his thinking, to his practice of weeding out the true nymphets among him. To Humbert Humbert, not all little girls are nymphets, but only special ones. This is seen in his encounter with a young prostitute girl, who he sees as “monstrously plump, sallow, and repulsively plain” (24).
Though readers may begin to like Humbert Humbert, many times he reminds readers of what he truly is. Sometimes he is not only offensive, but downright appalling. For example, after he touches Lolita for his own sexual pleasure, he blatantly states how proud he is of his action. He felt he had done nothing wrong to corrupt the child while he was still able to please himself, “I felt proud of myself. I had stolen the honey of a spasm without impairing the morals of a minor.” (62) He goes on to say that Lolita had known nothing and he had done nothing to her. Not only that, but he longs for another encounter with this twelve-year-old girl.
Furthermore, Humbert Humbert reveals what a monster his is when he tells the reader how he wishes to kill Valeria and Charlotte. When he was unhappy with Charlotte, he would fantasize about killing her in order to keep calm! Lastly, readers cannot allow themselves to trust Humbert Humbert fully because on many occasions, he lies in order to have things go his way, such as when he publishes a fake Arctic report or when he lies to the doctors about his symptoms.
One of the ironic things about Humbert Humbert is his mental history. He is checked in and out of mental facilities, but he does not seem to be psychologically unstable as he speaks. His words are both deliberate and meaningful. Everything Humbert Humbert does, he has an explanation for. He rationalizes and justifies his behavior. He plans his every move. Though he is deemed mentally unstable, he is put in charge of the psychoanalysis of those who accompany him on his trip to the Arctic. How can a man who is mentally unstable himself possibly evaluate the sanity of others?!
(879)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)