Breaking Morals And Ethics, An Analysis Of Lolita By V. Nabokov The novel beings with the protagonist Humbert writing his story in prison, where he is about to be incarcerated for the murder Clare Quilty. Although he is on trial for the murder, his story is about his obsession with his stepdaughter Dolores Haze, or better known as in Humbert’s mind, Lolita. We soon learn through Humbert that he has had an obsession with young girls since he was young. Humbert’s love for Lolita can be stated in the following quote, "light of my life, fire of my loins." (Nabokov, 1951, p.7) His first passion was his childhood love, Annabel with whom he fell in love with as a young boy. Humbert was never fully satisfied with Annabel sexually, which left him with a desire for young girls; his desires are only to be fulfilled when he falls for Lolita. In the following quote we learn that it was Annabel who began Humbert’s love for younger girls, “I am convinced, however, that in certain magic and fateful way Lolita began with Annabel.” (Nabokov, 1951, p.14) The following three paragraphs will first detail a summary of the theme and plot. Second, an in depth analysis on the characters, and lastly, the importance of the legal aspect in the novel. Humbert was a fictional character created by the author, however there must be certain truths within this fictional story that relate to the author. Firstly, the theme and plot of Lolita. Lolita is set in the 1950s when sexuality was frowned upon, let alone sexual relations with a minor. The novel beings with Humbert coming to America from France, he then decides to listen to his friend that suggest he move in with Charlotte Haze, the mother of Lolita. He immediately becomes in love with Lolita upon his arrival. In the following quote Humbert describes the love he had felt when he first met Lolita. “I could do nothing with the anguish of knowing Lolita to be so tantalizing, so miserably unattainable and beloved on the very eve of a new era, when my alembics told me she should stop being a nymphet, stop torturing me.” (Nabokov, 1951, p.28) However while Humbert is living with Charlotte, she falls in love with him. Humbert reluctantly agrees and they get married. One day while Lolita was away at summer camp Charlotte finds Humbert’s diary and reads it. She finds out about Humbert’s love for Lolita and goes hysterical. She runs to the mailbox to mail Lolita a letter about Humbert’s love for her but gets hit by a car fatally on the way. Humbert then decides to pick up Lolita from camp, when he arrives he tells Lolita that her mother is in the hospital. Humbert decides to go on a countrywide vacation and they visit forty-eight states in America before returning home. However after living at home causes some tension between Humbert and Lolita. Humbert does not want any men going out with Lolita, which causes fights between the two. Humbert comes to the conclusion that they need another road trip. They both agree and venture on. While driving Humbert notices that a man is following closely behind. He thinks it’s the FBI, however we learn that it is a child pornography producer and he wants Lolita. One day while staying overnight in a hotel Lolita runs away, leaving Humbert behind. Humbert shocked and amazed spends a year looking for her; he goes to the places they have been before to look for her. Humbert finally decides to call it quits and goes home. Year’s later Humbert receives a letter from Lolita stating that she is pregnant and needs money. Leaving a return address Humbert decides to pay her a visit. When Humbert gets there he asked Lolita where she went. She tells him that he went with Clare Quilty, the man who asked Humbert if he would let him take nude pictures of Lolita. Humbert leaves four thousand dollars for Lolita and makes his final good-byes. Humbert decides to go to Quilty’s mansion and murder him. Once Humbert gets in he sneaks around the house only to find Quilty high on something. Humbert explains to Quilty why he should die and kills him. On the way back Humbert seems delusional and breaks every traffic law imaginable, which causes the police to arrest him and Humbert is sent to prison and awaits his trial. This novel posses certain themes such as, lust, violence and beauty. Lolita can be viewed as a novel about sex and murder, but better as a novel about desire. Certain characters show certain themes in the novel, which will be more explained in the next paragraph. Secondly, the characters, and how they show the themes of the novel. First we will start with the protagonist, Humbert. Humbert shows us the unstable mind or a middle aged writer. He has occational breakdowns which lead into anger, we can see this in the following quote, “I looked and looked at her, and I knew, as clearly as I know that I will die, that I loved her more than anything I had ever seen or imagined on earth. She was only the dead-leaf echo of the nymphet from long ago - but I loved her, this Lolita, pale and polluted and big with another man's child. She could fade and wither - I didn't care. I would still go mad with tenderness at the mere sight of her face.” (Nabokov, 1951, p.87) He also believes that his love for younger girls is due to the genes in his body. The next character is Delores Haze or known as more commonly, Lolita, the daughter of Charlotte Haze and the step-daughter and lover of Humbert. She is described as a sexual fiend who holds an amazing sexual power over Humbert, essentially making him her slave. She eventually deserts him for Clare Quilty. She dies in childbirth at age 18. Next is Charlotte Haze, the mother of Lolita. She is a very religious and lonley woman, she eventaully ends up marrying Humbert due to her loneliness. Once she finds Humbert’s diary she learns that Humbert truly hates her, and truly lusts for her daughter. In response to all of this she writes a letter to send to Lolita. On the way to the mailbox Charlotte is struck by a car and is instanly killed. The last important character is Clare Quilty, he is the man who bribes Lolita to follow him. He is a well-known writer who also produces child pornography. He bribes Lolita to leave Humbert and come and work for him. Humbert murders him at the end of the novel, even though Quilty is clearly on drugs. The death of Charlottle and the murder of Quilty lead to the next paragraph of the novel which is the legal aspect. Lastly, the legal aspects of the novel held within the story hold a crucial role. In the novel many legal implications occur, first is the obvious, sex with a minor. Humbert is a middle aged, struggling writer meanwhile his lover is only a fourteen year old girl. In the United States of America it is illegal to have sexual relations with a minor, therefore Humbert has already broken the law. He also raped Lolita in a hotel room when she was not being submissive. Second is the murder of Clare Quilty. Quilty was the man who had kidnapped Lolita. Before Humbert murders Quilty he explains why Quilty should die. In the eye’s of Humbert Quilty must die because of changing and ruining Lolita’s life. Before he shoots Quilty Humbert explains that he wants to fix what he can not fix in the following quote, “I am trying to describe these things not to relieve them in my present boundless misery, but to sort out the portion of hell and the portion of heaven in that strange, awful, maddening world- nymphet love. The beastly and beautiful merged together at one point, and it is that borderline I would like to fix, and I feel I fail to do so utterly.” (Nabokov, 1951, p.135) Humbert is merciless when he murders Quilty. After Humbert murders Quilty he decided that since he has broken all laws known to humanity, why not break some traffic laws. He then proceeds to drive on the other side of the lane, run red lights, and drive through a field. This all eventually leads to his arrest. In the court Humbert tells the jury that is was Lolita who had seduced him, and not vices versa. This can be seen in the following quote. “Frigid gentlewomen of the jury! I had thought that months, perhaps years, would elapse before I dared to reveal myself to Dolores Haze; but by six she was wide awake, and by six fifteen we were technically lovers. I am going to tell you something strange: it was she who seduced me.” (Nabokov, 1951, p.132) However was Lolita truly to be blamed by the mess created by Humbert? The next paragraph will detail the conclusion of the essay. One might come to the conclusion that this novel is all about lust, bloody violence, death and morals. However it is much deeper than that, it is about hidden desires and how ones feelings can control your actions. We see that Humbert had no control over his feelings in the following quote. “Let us, however, forget Dolores Haze, so-called legal terminology, terminology that accepts as rational the term ‘lewd and lascivious cohabitation.’ 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. I am your daddum, Lo.” (Nabokov, 1951, p.132) Also, this book is about the hidden horror masked behind beauty, such as Lolita. Therefore in conclusion I believe that the moral of this story is that everything is based on luck and fate. The car swerving around the dog, only to hit charlotte, Humbert’s mother being struck by lighting, Humbert’s first love dying of cancer are all examples of fate. Also one might also conclude that the author Vladimir Nabokov related himself while writing this story. The sudden deaths that occur in this novel might be because that Nabokov’s mother died suddenly while at work. Throughout the novel we see characters killed off without any warning. At the end of the novel Humbert is not at all remorseful for his crimes against morals and humanities, we learn this through this quote, which shows he is not regretful. “Reader must understand that in the possession and thralldom of a nymphet the enchanted traveler stands, as it were, beyond happiness. For there is no other bliss on earth comparable to that of fondling a nymphet. It is hors concours, that bliss, it belongs to another class, another plane sensitivity.” (Nabokov, 1951, p.252)
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