Focus on Style (Part Two, Chapters 1-15)
As Lolita continues, I find myself more and more enraptured by the events of the novel, and increasingly interested in the characters and story from a psychological perspective.
In this third quarter of the book, we see a summary of the first cross-country road trip taken by Humbert and Lolita, as well as the time they spent in Beardsley.
In this section, we see Lolita become more self-sufficient and clearly not enjoying the sexual relationship that she shares with Humbert. He tells her, cruelly, that if she reports any of what is going on to the police, she will end up alone in juvenile detention without him, as he is her only guardian. Once in Beardsley, she begins demanding money in return for giving him sexual favors (smart, given her circumstances), and forms true relationships at the school she attends in the town. She also outright acknowledges the sexual contact they have as rape, which seems to shake Humbert. He also becomes increasingly paranoid about allowing Lolita to have contact with anybody other than him, disliking the boys that he watches her interact with. She joins a play at her school, which makes Humbert jealous, as it is taking up a considerable amount of her time. At the end of this section, the two of them decide to take another road trip together, with the stipulation that Lolita will be the one to plan out the itinerary.
Although I've briefly touched on this in my previous posts, Lolita is gorgeously written. Nabakov, by presenting his prose as Humbert's own, creates a sense of dry intelligence in the main character, mostly developed through strong vernacular (with some French sprinkled in, because don't forget that Humbert is European and thus ~*sophisticated*~), regular allusions to literature and art (especially Poe, who is alluded to several times, which makes sense given the poet's own affection for his underage cousin), and a first-person narration that seems to obscure anything personal to anybody besides Humbert himself. This creates a sense of vagueness and confusion in the reader, because we don't understand the motivations of any character -- except Humbert.
Also important to note is the subject of Humbert's audience: that of a jury. He speaks of himself in a defensive way, often shifting from first person to third when describing a pedophilic or otherwise bad behavior of his. Humbert also frequently speaks directly to the jury, reminding his real-life audience of the context in which his story is being told. Nabakov utilizes this to its full ability, using Humbert’s stream of consciousness as an asset to his storytelling.
The style also serves as a stark contrast to the frankly disturbing content of the novel as a whole. It is easy to lose yourself in the gorgeous imagery and witty anecdotes, even while Humbert describes horrific sexual assault and the abuse of a young girl.
In this third quarter of the book, we see a summary of the first cross-country road trip taken by Humbert and Lolita, as well as the time they spent in Beardsley.
In this section, we see Lolita become more self-sufficient and clearly not enjoying the sexual relationship that she shares with Humbert. He tells her, cruelly, that if she reports any of what is going on to the police, she will end up alone in juvenile detention without him, as he is her only guardian. Once in Beardsley, she begins demanding money in return for giving him sexual favors (smart, given her circumstances), and forms true relationships at the school she attends in the town. She also outright acknowledges the sexual contact they have as rape, which seems to shake Humbert. He also becomes increasingly paranoid about allowing Lolita to have contact with anybody other than him, disliking the boys that he watches her interact with. She joins a play at her school, which makes Humbert jealous, as it is taking up a considerable amount of her time. At the end of this section, the two of them decide to take another road trip together, with the stipulation that Lolita will be the one to plan out the itinerary.
Although I've briefly touched on this in my previous posts, Lolita is gorgeously written. Nabakov, by presenting his prose as Humbert's own, creates a sense of dry intelligence in the main character, mostly developed through strong vernacular (with some French sprinkled in, because don't forget that Humbert is European and thus ~*sophisticated*~), regular allusions to literature and art (especially Poe, who is alluded to several times, which makes sense given the poet's own affection for his underage cousin), and a first-person narration that seems to obscure anything personal to anybody besides Humbert himself. This creates a sense of vagueness and confusion in the reader, because we don't understand the motivations of any character -- except Humbert.
Also important to note is the subject of Humbert's audience: that of a jury. He speaks of himself in a defensive way, often shifting from first person to third when describing a pedophilic or otherwise bad behavior of his. Humbert also frequently speaks directly to the jury, reminding his real-life audience of the context in which his story is being told. Nabakov utilizes this to its full ability, using Humbert’s stream of consciousness as an asset to his storytelling.
The style also serves as a stark contrast to the frankly disturbing content of the novel as a whole. It is easy to lose yourself in the gorgeous imagery and witty anecdotes, even while Humbert describes horrific sexual assault and the abuse of a young girl.
Hi Sophia,
ReplyDeleteGreat blog post! I really enjoyed your little side note about the "sophistication" of Humbert. I also liked your discussion of the audience of Humbert's narration and how his point of view affects the story. It makes sense that having it be a first-person point of view would make it hard to understand how others are feeling, given that Humbert doesn't know what everyone else is thinking. Do you ever wish that you could know what the other characters, like Lolita, are thinking? And do you think that if the novel was written from a different point of view the story would be vastly different?
Hi Lily,
DeleteAbsolutely! Lolita is in part an iconic piece of literature because it is so ambiguous. Every person has a different opinion on which parts of the book are accurate, which are lies, et cetera. I'd love to read a hypothetical sequel from Lolita's perspective, for sure.
Sophia, your discussion of the style of the book reflects your appreciation of Nabokov's writing. Are there any particular quotes that you like? It's hard for non-readers of the book to understand your discussion without specific examples.
ReplyDelete