Lolita+-+April+21

Victoria Kruegel

4/21/10 __LOLITA__ NOTES - Day 1

Classmate - “I see this as a love story though it is disgusting and vulgar for our time period.”

This opening statement sparks discussion on the theory of a love story. Many students, as well as myself, cannot decide the proper genre, theme, or idea for __Lolita__. While reading __Lolita__, I find myself forgetting that Humbert Humbert is talking about a twelve year old girl! It is strange, but I enjoy his profession of love until I remember again just who he is talking about. Another classmate comments by saying, “Reading this bothers me. I thought of the author, Nabokov. In Russia pedophiles are murdered. It is a love story but he is re-living through Lolita instead of really being in love with her." Dr. Nicosia responds that "Nabokov is psychologically scared by the events of his youth" which included fleeing Russia for western Europe to live in exile with his family, dealing with the accidental assassination of his father, and fleeing Germany for America with his family from the Nazi Regime (www.booksfactory.com).

Humbert Humbert explains past information rather vaguely. Information about his mom, written in one line, describes her death as a family picnic and she died by lightning. What are the chances? Humbert Humbert discusses this so nonchalantly one would assume it does not matter to him. He uses broken English and does not elaborate into the death. He only provides the information needed to understand how she died. For example, verbatim "(picnic, lightning)" p.10.

An interesting point brought up through discussion is Humbert is in jail awaiting trial. Do we accept his word as truth? Do we believe his stories have any fact and are not exaggerated through his memoir? A classmate brings up the point that "Romeo and Juliet are 14! And this is the greatest love story?" Some people forget this truth while admiring Shakespeare's literature but although over looked, Romeo and Juliet were indeed fourteen. Humbert Humbert is using his knowledge to influence his reader. He creates a narrator and an assumed reader. He assumes one is reading this through a certain point of view. Dr. Nicosia says, "19-22 times he talks directly to his reader. He assumes he is writing to someone just like him." I completely agree and though it is normal to feel uncomfortable reading __Lolita__, I felt uncomfortable not just for the pedophilic discussions but the assumption Humbert makes about his reader empathizing with him through a mutual attraction to young girls or "nymphets".

An interesting addition to this theory is Charlotte's letter. A classmate discusses their feelings saying, “I’m angry that I didn’t read Charlotte's real letter. It is hard for me to read this." How can we believe that Humbert Humbert is actually telling the truth? He says on page 68, "What I present here is what I remember of the letter, and what I remember of the letter I remember verbatim (including that awful French)." The reader has already known enough about Humbert to be disgusted and not want to trust him. His digs a larger grave through the following sentence, "[The letter] was at least twice longer. I have left out a lyrical passage which I more or less skipped at the time.." He admits here that he has chosen to leave out parts of the letter. Who knows what was written there? One cannot truly and honestly judge a situation having only read parts of the evidence. I do not fully trust Humbert Humbert because he, like Nabokov has found a way to manipulate everything. Nabokov through the narrator and Humbert Humbert does through his everyday actions.

Dolores Haze (Lolita) talks about her time in the woods and it not being her first time. She might be corrupted because she mentions the act being “incest” and threatening to tell the police. She clearly knows what she is talking about and exactly how to manipulate Humbert Humbert right back. Though she is young and might not clearly understand the consequences, it is clear that she recognizes the trouble she is causing. When she gets in the car after he picks her up from camp, when they’re talking, Humbert Humbert says he stops caring for her. “Well you haven’t kissed me yet" Lolita says. A classmate supports this argument, "She ends up kissing him! She is egging him on!” Again I agree! Even though Humbert Humbert is setting up Dolores and manipulating her to fall right into his lap, literally, she does have a choice and it is proven here by her making the initial action. Dr. Nicosia says, "We have these assumptions because Humbert Humbert is such a good manipulator. This is exactly what he wants. We think she is a nymph but she is following Humbert Humbert’s path. He is effectively manipulating her." I could not agree more as this just fully supports the discussion in the above paragraph. Dolores is falling into place perfectly because of Humbert Humbert's manipulation and guidance though it must be noted that she is not doing so without her own consent. Humbert Humbert does not deny he has done anything wrong but through this narrative and for the courts he proves that Lolita starts some things that provoke him in a certain way. He would like to display to the jury that he was not entirely alone in this act. He wants to show that although he is a pedophile, his actions might have been restricted had Dolores Haze not acted along with seduction. Even though he may have a point her, it can be interpreted many ways. Can a twelve year old girl seduce a thirty seven year old man? Even if she did seduce this man, is solely his fault for acting on it? Or can the young child be held partly responsible? These are questions I must consider and those that the courts must deliberate even though it morally it should all be held upon the adult.

It should also be mentioned for those that did not read through the whole book already that one must use Detective Fiction again as we have many times throughout this semester and will always see in Modern American Fiction. Dolores Haze is "Lolita". Humbert Humbert gives this name to the nymphet that he currently is in "love" with. Love, of course, is in quotes because I cannot begin to comprehend his love for Lolita. I cannot see the difference between his fatal attraction and infatuation to be able to mentally approve of his "love" for her.

Another theme through Modern American Fiction is fate. It has been mentioned many times before in Gatsby, The Awakening, and Flannery O'Connor just to name a few. Here it is discussed because Humbert Humbert is in jail for this murder and he is showing the reader coincidences. He is manipulating us by not crossing out his mistakes. He wants the reader to see everything and judge from the information he has given. Dr. Nicosia says, "Nabokov is presenting such a clear path of perversion." She asks and we all wonder, "Can you imagine creating a character like this? He manipulates the doctors. He is a brilliant mathematician and chess player. Humbert Humbert has endless depth and you read his levels down to subconsciousness." Humbert Humbert has many levels like an onion. Each layer

"Who's heard of the name Humbert? Anyone?" says Dr. Nicosia.This is definitely not a common name nor one that can be attributed to anything but this character. A classmate comments on the irony of his name by saying that "we are laughing at his name and therefore we might not take him or his crimes seriously.”This is how people feel at the end of the book. Humbert Humbert is continuing to manipulate his audience just by writing this whole memoir. Anyone who reads this gets an inside look into the events of the affair through his eyes. He continues to persuade the reader and the jury by introducing doubt through the actions of Lolita. An in depth look into his name leads us to discover, through the help of Dr. Nicosia, the relation to “humbug” which means a sham or a lie and is commonly said by the character Ebenezer Scrooge.

Style of writing became part of the discussion because as exampled on page 63, Humbert Humbert is a poet and writing parts of his narrative in prose. There are doubles of letters and rhyming in these sentences.He starts of his paragraph on page 21, Section 6 with the language of elitism “A Propos". This paragraph brings up the theory **PAN-OPTICON**. This is the idea that you are constantly being watched. You are always being watched by examples of Big Brother, TJ Eckleberg, God, the eye of the peacock. ALWAYS ALWAYS WATCHING. This idea was stressed thoroughly and definitely gave me the creeps! I cannot imagine going into this in detail because it just gives my life a new perspective and I would need to reassess many different aspects. Though, I do enjoy reading about this idea for other characters because Humbert Humbert is a man that is always being watched but does not get caught, often. Pan-opticon spreads this message that one is a prisoner and doomed to this fate. A classmate commented by saying, "People are just so afraid of being caught they just don’t do anything because they are afraid of just LIFE. He is ALWAYS observing. It's like the creepy observing guy in a park that waits for children to come by his bench.” This was a disgusting analogy yet frightfully true. A discussion began about recognizing "creepers" in your neighborhood and how to handle it, if at all. This issue became a discussion of fear and confusion. What does one do if they see someone intently watching an age group they should not morally or socially be giving such attention to? In our time, one would probably call the calls, but unfortunately around the 1950's or presumably before, one would look the other way.

Another example of language is on page 32, or the very end of Section 8, where he is word playing. Humbert Humbert says, “Quine the Swine. Guilty of killing Quilty. Oh, my Lolita, I have only words to play with!” The first reaction for most of the class became "EWWWWW!" and then digressed to the recognition of poetry. He uses similar words and rhymes them purposely to create an entertaining art of language and writing so he may further intrigue his audience. The discussion of mirrors and reflections became a topic and how he references many different texts. On page 47 in the middle of Secton 11 he says, “.. my darling – my darling – my life and my bride.” This is directly quoted from ANNABEL LEE by Edgar Allen Poe. It shows a parallel structure, a familiar theme. Edgar Allen Poe married his young cousin Annabel Lee. Though it was recognized and they lived happily, it shows a parallel for the attraction to young girls.

It is to be considered whether or not Valeria was the cause of Humbert's pedophilia. She burned him and left him alone. Valeria had no interest in moving to America with her husband and instead admitted an affair and left him. Though he was not terribly devastated he admits to feeling "dazed" and admits hearing the words "'There is another man in my life'" are "ugly words for a husband to hear" (p. 27, Section 8). COINCIDENCES? Another theme in Modern American Fiction is the discussion of coincidence and fate. The same man his wife is cheating with just happens to be the taxi driver that is "creeping along the curb for some time"! Humbert Humbert cleverly names Valeria's lover "Mr. Taxovich" (p. 28) because of his suggestion to Humbert about Valeria's reading interests.

The final discussion of today's lesson included Humbert Humbert's definition of a "nymphet". At the beginning of Section 5, pages 16, 17, and 18 provide very detailed definitions of "nymphet". He says a nymphet must be "between the age limits of nine an fourteen." Humbert also begins to go on rationalizing the terms of "girl-child" "young person" and "wayward child". In this section he admits his interest in young girls and discusses his faked interest in women his own age. The definition that affected me the most was when Humbert said, "there must be a gap of several years, never less than ten ... generally thirty or forty and as many as ninety ... to enable the latter to come under a nymphet's spell." This again, is his justification for his actions. He is trying to rectify his interest in girls and his relationship with Dolores Haze. To me, this situation could never be excused because I have been conditioned to frown upon it and make deep gagging noises and the thought and discussion of it. In my community thirty seven year old men do not have sexual relationships with twelve year old children. I cannot fathom this idea and I cannot seem to wrap my head around it further. Perhaps another more in depth reading mixed with in depth discussions of __Lolita__ will allow me to possess the lens of reading this book as a romantic memoir instead of pedophilic jailbird's confessional memoir.