ONLINE REFLECTION 3

“LOLITA”, by Vladimir Nabokov

"Lolita" is a love novel based in the story of the obsession of Humbert Humbert, a middle-aged teacher, for a twelve-years-old girl. This extraordinary book is composed by two explosive components: the perverse attraction of the main character by young girls, or nymphets, and the incest. In this context, they start a journey through madness, sex and death, narrated, while rampant with self-irony and lyricism, by Humbert Humbert himself. Lolita is an acid and visionary portrait of the United States, and horrors of suburban culture plastic and motel.

Although I could reflect about different points of this novel, I have decided talk about the change of Lolita's personality and behavior along the book.

The story between the girl and Humbert starts when he is living in Lolita's house, with only one reason: to be close to Lolita. However, Lolita doesn't feel qualms for having a strange in her home. Even, she looks for any excuses for keeping a corporal contact with him.

I, as a lector, tried to justify this behavior in two reasons: Lolita has no father and Charlotte, her mother, ignores her.

But, with the time, the girl starts to call Humbert things like "boyfriend" or "lover". Actually, she kisses him when her mother sends her to a summer camp.

In this point, I can't understand Lolita's acts. How does she, with 12 years, have these kinds of thoughts? How does not she regret of desire them?

When Lolita's mom dies, Humbert becomes in her father (Charlotte and him got married only because he still wanted to be near to Lolita). In this point, I found one of the hardest and most surreal moments of the book: Lolita and her "new father" spend a night in a hotel, coming back to home from the summer camp, and she has sex with Humbert, justifying it in "camp games".

Again, I can't imagine what there is in Lolita's mind. How is she attracted by a man? How can she have sexual desires? How can she have sex with him for her own initiative?

In my opinion, I can explain this basing me in an anecdote which Lolita told his father. In the summer camp, the director's son taught her these "games", but she, with 12 years, can't understand the real meaning of these acts.

From now, and without Charlotte’s presence, Humbert and Lolita start a relationship (they live together, they discuss, they are possessives and jealous, they love them, they have sex...) but everything is hidden under a fake image of perfect relation between father-daughter.

However, she starts to realize she maintains this kind of relationship because he is the only person who can give her something resemblance a family. Despite of this, she "sells" her pettings and kisses to save money and thus to try to look for a different life. Finally, she runs away with other adult man (who for her is the only person of she has been fallen in love).

To my mind, both of them (Humbert and the second man) are clear pedophiles but, what does it happen with Lolita's behavior? Does she have a mental problem? I think that she is only looking for another father figure, but she doesn't understand with which price.

Finally, with 15 years, she gets married with one boy (one more according to her age) and with 17 she dies giving birth.

We can see that in 5 years, Lolita lives an intense, adult and horrible life. But, why? As I said before, I think that is a mix between the father’s lack, her negligent mother, Humbert's personality and her intelligence but wretched life.

What do you think?