Lolita Part 2

After the initial shock of the first reading in Lolita, I felt I could read this section of the novel more deeply without being disturbed or surprised by the content. I still found it very interesting to be inside Humbert's mind, reading his every emotion. For example, I found it interesting that he was proud of himself after pleasuring himself by wrestling with Lolita in his lap. He says, "I felt proud of myself. I had stolen the money of a spasm without impairing the morals of a minor" (page 62). I think it's pretty significant that Humbert does not wish to harm the child. Humbert later says that he "intended, with the most fervent force and foresight, to protect the purity of that twelve-year-old child" (page 63). Nabokov is once again trying to humanize Humbert, making him more as a sympathetic human being who really doesn't wish any harm on the girl.

Humbert even describes himself as having "fallen in love with Lolita forever" (page 65). By saying this, Humbert is trying to persuade the audience that Lolita is not some lustful desire, but something much more than that. He does, however, contradict his argument by saying that in a couple years she will no longer be Lolita, but instead a young woman. In Humbert's eyes, this seems perfectly rational, but the jury of the audience will have a hard time justifying that thought.

Humbert continues his amoral quest for Lolita by marrying Charlotte, Lolita's mother. Humbert cannot do much to defend himself for this action, besides the fact that he has become obsessed with Lolita.

As the reader delves more and more into Humbert's mind, it's easy to tell both how much he loves Lolita, and how crazed he is to have her for himself. He premeditates that "the natural solution was to destroy Mrs. Humbert" (page 84). He even has the entire murder planned out while Charlotte is swimming, but Humbert cannot bring himself to do it. Humbert does seem a tad bit more human when he confesses that he couldn't kill her because he would morally be haunted by the murder.

I thought Humbert makes a pressing cry for help on page 88 when he says, "We are not sex fiends! We do not rape as good soldiers do. We are unhappy, mild, dog-eyed gentlemen, sufficiently well integrated to control our urge in the presence of adults" (page 88). Humbert lets the reader know that he is in a rational state of mind, although he has attended a mental hospital in the past. His thoughts do make rational sense; he wants something, and will do what is necessary to get what he wants. On a moral level, though, Humbert seems in the wrong.

Finally, with Charlotte now out of the picture with a fateful accident, Humbert now seems free to pursue Lolita as he wishes. With the conflict of the mother now out of the way, I'm looking for the relationship between Humbert and Lolita to become more central and to become more complicated.