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?!
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