1 Courtney Schur English 271 Literary Analysis November 24, 2008

Deconstruction of Lolita The controversial Russian author Vladimir Nabokov once said, You can always count on a murderer for a fancy prose style (9). This phrase never rang more true than in his most notorious novel to date, Lolita. When reading this novel, the reader is left in awe over the racy and yet at times vulgar content, but alas it has the poetic style of a heartbreaking romance. Lolita tells the story of a middle-aged man named Humbert Humbert who comes to fall into a deep obsession with a 12 year-old girl named Delores Haze, or as he likes to call her, Lolita. Humbert gives his account of his life with Lolita until she escapes from him and his controlling ways. At the end of the novel Lolita eventually dies in childbirth as a poor and unhappy young woman, while Humbert dies in prison after the murder of Claire Quilty, the man whom Lolita runs away to. Although Nabokov did not intend for this to be a story of an obsessive child molester turned whimsical love story, he did, however, intend for it to be a statement. This story at times can seem a confession of sorts for Humbert. He begins the novel by addressing the readers as, Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury (Nabokov 9). This may confuse the reader at times because one doesnt quite know if they should be sympathizing with Humbert or scorning him for inevitably being a child-molester. This novel is full of twist and turns which unless fully analyzed and explained, may not be

Schur 2 fully understood. In the following pages, this story will almost deconstruct itself by using different and sometimes confusing binaries that permeate throughout. There are a great many binaries that can be found in Lolita. The three major ones that stand out the most are: Lolita being a nymphet vs. a 12 year-old girl, Humbert being a dirty old man vs. a love sick adult, and the novel itself being a love story vs. a tragedy. One of the main questions surrounding Lolita is that of Lolita herself. Humbert refers to Lolita as being a, Nymphet with a mixture of dreamy childishness and a kind of eerie vulgarity (44). Upon reading this, the reader cannot help but forget that this is in actuality a child and not some sex crazed female. He then goes on to include her elementary school class roster which snaps the reader back into reality that yes she is in fact just a child. Another binary that Humbert tries so eloquently to hide is that of him being a dirty old man vs. a love struck adult. He tries to deflect the issue by stating: I have all the characteristics which, according to writers on the sex interests of children, start the responses stirring in a little girl: clean-cut jaw, muscular hand, deep sonorous voice, broad shoulders. Moreover, I am said to resemble some crooner or actor chap on whom Lo has a crush (43). This is his way of making is seem okay that he is attracted to her because she, as a young child, should by statistics be attracted to him. Although his argument is nothing more than romanticized fluff he does express some elements of actual sanity, or so it

Schur 3 seems. That is until he starts to fantasize about the young nymphet and goes into an almost euphoric state: For there was, I swear, a yellowish violet bruise on her lovely nymphet thigh which my huge hairy hand massaged and slowly enveloped and because of her very perfunctory under things, there seemed to be nothing to prevent my muscular thumb form reaching the hot hollow of her groin just as you might tickle and caress a giggling child (60-61). There is no doubt that this is the point in the story that sets the tone for what his intentions are with Lolita. This leads into the question as to Is the novel a love story or a tragedy? On the back cover of the 50th anniversary edition of the novel the magazine outlet Vanity Fair concludes that this novel is, The only convincing love story of our century. If a person was to read this blurb before reading the novel they would be very surprised to learn that essentially this novel is about a middle-aged man who rapes a 12 year-old girl and keeps her against her will while controlling her every move, hardly romantic in any way. Humbert makes sure his hold is firm on Lolita by marrying her mother which eventually leads the elder Haze to run in front of a car. This sparks a chain of events that finally drive Lolita to run away into the arms of yet another pedophile, Claire Quilty. Years later Humbert finds Lolita a broken young woman who has lost her innocence and youthfulness and he realizes that this is the price for his mad obsession. She tells him about Quilty which leads him to go on an almost lunatic chase where he shoots and kills

Schur 4 Quilty. As was said before, Lolita and Humbert die in the end two very broken and unhappy people. After looking at these binaries, it is fairly easy to see which ones are most favored by the text. When looking at the nymphet vs. 12 year-old girl, the text most certainly favors that Lolita is simply a nymphet who seduced Humbert. This is evident in the account of the first few days he knows Lolita, And what is most singular is that she, this Lolita, my Lolita, has individualized the writers ancient lust, so that above and over everything there is, Lolita (45). He describes her in an almost siren like way that leads the reader to believe her intentions are to stir up passion and sexual feelings in Humbert. This follows right into the binary that Humbert is just merely a love-sick man who cannot help but to fall in love with a sexually arousing young child. The poetic nature of this novel disguises the almost perverted undertones of the story. Humbert starts the novel by reciting an almost symphonic ode to his child-love, Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta. (9). Nabokov uses this sort of poetic prose to lure the reader in and bring the character of Humbert to life by using this sort of melodic persuasion to entice and win over the audience. The pattern of the novel is to make the reader believe that it is in fact Lolita who lures Humbert into this dangerous obsession and one cannot help but be swayed by it. When it comes to the binary of this being either a love story or a tragedy, it is hard to decipher for certain which it is. In the beginning of the novel, the stage is set for

Schur 5 what seems to be a capricious romance between a love struck man and a lively young girl. One cannot help but be swayed with Humbert spewing lines such as: A poem, a poem, forsooth! So strange and sweet was it to discover this Haze, Dolores (she!) in its special bower of names, with its bodyguard of roses, a fairy princess between her two maids of honor. I am trying to analyze the spine-thrill of delight it gives me, this name among all those others (52). Yet at the end of the novel, when Humbert is reviewing is case, he recounts an almost confession about his time with Lolita: Alas, I was unable to transcend the simple human fact that whatever spiritual solace I might find, whatever eternities might be provided for me, nothing could make my Lolita forget the foul lust I had inflicted upon her (282-283). This provides a close admission to the verity that this was not in fact a romance but a forced act of one mans insatiable lust for an innocent adolescent. In todays society, a novel like this would not be a very shocking or controversial issue. As opposed to when this was published in 1955, the culture we live in today is frightfully used to this sort of instance. An older man being intensely infatuated with a mere child is common place. The society would just pass it off as some creepy pervert pedophile that needs to be locked up. Back in the 50s, this was just horrendously unheard of. If one looks at this novel more philosophically conclusions could be drawn that love knows no boundaries or age is just a number. Nonetheless, Nabokov intended for this novel to be shocking and maybe even perverse. The statement can be made that the core

Schur 6 of this story, whether it be a love story or a tragic crime, is that it transcends time in a way that only gives it more notoriety without making it clich or vulgar.

Work Cited

Nabokov, Vladimir. Lolita. 50th Anniversary Edition. New York City: Vintage International, 1997.