"The Squirl and his Squirrel, the Rabs and their Rabbits
Have certain obscure and peculiar habits.
Male hummingbirds make the most exquisite rockets.
The snake when he walks holds his hands in his pockets..."
--Humbert Humbert, "nonsense" poem for Lolita
Hello readers! For your use and pleasure, an overview of Lolita. In this post I have included a mini summary of the book (including characters present and quick analysis), reader review(I also have a review on goodreads that you can read), a quick movie mention, themes you might find, overall (what's the point?), an introduction to the next posts vocabulary (a taste, if you will), and resources. Let's jump in, shall we?
Summary
Humbert Humbert, an attractive pedophile, takes up residence with a widowed mother and her adolescent daughter. This book is an intimate narrative, directly to the readers, of the inner workings of a man in love with a precocious and naughty child. More about Humbert than about Lolita, this book follows Humbert from his first love as a teenager and into adulthood, to Lolita, then finally to the tragic end of the novel.
Characters and themes after the jump:
Characters and themes after the jump:
Characters
*Note: There are so many small characters, I didn't include them all. I only included the ones that stood out to me.
*Note: There are so many small characters, I didn't include them all. I only included the ones that stood out to me.
Major Characters
Humbert Humbert- is the slightly crazy narrator of this story. He is European, intelligent, somewhat pretentious, and kind of mean in his descriptions of people. He is a man who is caged--bound by his off-kilter moral compass versus society, bound by manners and forced politeness, and bound by his emotions. He is the murderer of Clare Quilty, Lolita's rapist, and manipulator of Charlotte and the system. He has spent time in the insane asylum, and spends a good portion of his adulthood looking for Lolita, controlling Lolita, and tormenting Lolita.
His skills of language are seductive--as the reader easily forgets from time to time what a monster he truly is. His inner struggle is also a redeeming quality. He is not evil--he is just sick. He knows that his feelings and affections for adolescent females (referred to as nymphs by Humbert) are inappropriate and victimizing.
An important note: Humbert as a narrator is unreliable to the reader as the book is told solely from his perspective. He recognizes he is mentally ill (and probably a bit of a narcissist), and his illness is apparent at times when he goes off on tangents. Humbert is an unreliable narrator.
His skills of language are seductive--as the reader easily forgets from time to time what a monster he truly is. His inner struggle is also a redeeming quality. He is not evil--he is just sick. He knows that his feelings and affections for adolescent females (referred to as nymphs by Humbert) are inappropriate and victimizing.
An important note: Humbert as a narrator is unreliable to the reader as the book is told solely from his perspective. He recognizes he is mentally ill (and probably a bit of a narcissist), and his illness is apparent at times when he goes off on tangents. Humbert is an unreliable narrator.
Dolores (Lolita) Haze- Lolita is the overly-sexed, precocious daughter of Charlotte Haze. Some might argue that Humbert did not ruin Lolita--she was already damaged. She sleeps around with a boy at Camp Q (Charlie Holmes), she sells blow-jobs at school. She strongly comes on to the weak Humbert Humbert, mercilessly cheats on him, then ditches him. She and her mother have a horribly volatile relationship, as both seem to vie for the attention of Humbert Humbert. Humbert is too controlling and she leaves him for Quilty. Eventually, discarded, she marries Dick Schiller. Lolita is the epitome of what ifs. What if she had a loving mother who was understanding and patient? What if instead of raping her, Humbert showed her that her promiscuity was not a positive thing? What if?
Clare Quilty- is Humbert's rival. He notices Lolita early on in the book (when the reader has no idea who he is. Actually--his complete importance is hidden until the very end of the novel), and stalks her. He eventually is able to take a willing Lolita away. He is horrible. He throws Lolita away for reusing to participate in an orgy with other. He is killed by Humbert.
Charlotte Haze- Lolita's mother and Humbert's second wife. Used by Humbert as a means to get close to Lolita, Charlotte Haze is blind to Humbert's deceptions, manipulations, and attractions towards Lolita, and ignorant as to the severity and danger of Lolita's crush on Humbert. She is over dramatic and not in the least delicate. Humbert refers to her as "fat bitch Haze." She is later killed by a car. (It is also notable that mr. Haze as an absent character who is mentioned frequently. He is her deceased husband)
Minor Characters
Valeria- is Humbert's first wife. She is not so attractive. He marries her to distract him from his lustful thoughts of "nymphs." He is mean to her. Does not respect, love, or even like her. It is noteable that he feels betrayed and angry when Valeria leaves him for a taxi driver. Both Valeria and the husband die with in the course of the book.(Husband- Humbert forgot his name. Calls him Mr. Taxovich. Mr. Taxovich calls Valeria "Valechka" from time to time. Humbert sometimes adopts this nickname when referring to his late wife later in the book. A Russian Taxi driver. He is "a stocky White Russian ex-colonel with a bushy mustache and a crew cut."
Annabel Leigh- is Humbert's childhood love. He attributes her and their love to his love of nymphs
Rita- Crazy divorcee who joins Humbert's in his search for Lolita. She is irresponsible and a drunk. He takes care of her, but is a little embarrassed by her.
Monique- is an of-age french prositute who has retained some of her nymphette qualities. She occupies Humbert until she no longer is a nymphette
Charlie Holmes- Lolita's Camp Q hookup.
Frederick Beale, Jr.- "the fellow who eliminated [Humbert's] wife"
Themes/ Interesting Facets
*The type of narrator Humbert is. The reader is given unreliable information of a mad man
*Book rich with deception (even from the narrator to the reader)
*Humbert frequently speaks in french. Sometimes he'll speak in German. There are some mild comparisons to European culture (learning to play tennis) versus the pop American culture (the magazines)
*Humbert frequently speaks in french. Sometimes he'll speak in German. There are some mild comparisons to European culture (learning to play tennis) versus the pop American culture (the magazines)
*Sexuality
*Right versus wrong
*Loss and coping
*Mindless pursuits and how they don't always turn out desirable once reached
*Law versus Justice
*Innocence and the responsibility of maintaining that.
Review of the Book (as seen on Goodreads)
Lolita was a tough one for me. It was wonderfully written, complex, and interesting, but at the end of the day, it's about a pedophile.
Humbert Humbert for the most part is neither likable or unlikable. He is sorely flawed, recognizes his flaws, and to a certain extent loathes himself for it, but that does not excuse him for his crimes against Lolita. He ruined her. But it does form a small feeling of empathy towards him. He truly and violently loves her. He violates her, holds her while he repents and feels extreme guilt, then is unable to control himself any further. He is aware of his illness. Multiple stays at institutions say so.
The fact that Lolita is no angel makes it easier to sympathize with Humbert. The narrative of the story makes the reader often times forget that she is but a little girl. Humbert will describe things in adult terms (ex: "I loved too loudly") to make the reader forget she's a child, but will again rein the reader in by reminding them of her "small hands" and "child-like" script. He is often cruel and possessive of her. She is often cruel and selfish, but I felt bad for this particular ill-behaved child. She never had a chance.
I am grateful that Nabakov never went into detail with Humbert's intimate acts with Lolita--though, he was descriptive in his vile thoughts about her body and the things he wanted to do to her, but those were just thoughts. My only real major complaint is that Clare Quilty did not have a more prominent role in the novel. I enjoyed his personality and exchange. It is implied that Quilty is a vile person, but it is never really shown to the effect that Humbert's sins are shown. Quilty's outcome had low impact in comparison to the rest of the novel, as a result.
Worth the read. Heavy subject. Uncomfortable, Wonderfully (and I mean wonderfully) written!
Lolita the Movie!
I didn't watch it. I didn't like the subject matter enough to subject myself to any more than I had to.
Vocabulary: A Sneak Peek :)
Here is a list of all the delicious words I found (page numbers included). On the next post, I will pick only 15 to define and use in sentences. Found a word that's not on this list and want it defined and used in the next post? e-mail me!
27 ignominious, 30 platitudinous, 30 diaphanous, 31 inveigled, 32 pugilist, 32 coruscating, 34 desultory, 37 conflagration, 40 deprecatory, 41 puerile, 41 crenelated, 44 meretricious, 44 palsied, 44 favonian, 44 phocine, 45 nacreous, 46 nictating, 46 madrigal, 49 concomitant, 51 voluble, 63 solipsized,74 transom, 75 verisimilitude, 178 crepitated, 181 servilely, 185 vitiating, 192 ambulated, 194 priggish, 201 perspicacious, 241 immolated, 265 recondite,
267 recapitulation, 267 cerebration, 269 vivisection, 288 inimical, 294 insouciance, 303 atavistic
Resources:
Shmoop is a pretty decent and low-key character analysis. It even includes some quotes.
Sparknotes is a classic. They also have this study guide on ebook on their site!
Grade Saver provides a chapter by chapter analysis with some interesting perspectives.
Next Time: Which 15 of these will be defined? Next!
*Mindless pursuits and how they don't always turn out desirable once reached
*Law versus Justice
*Innocence and the responsibility of maintaining that.
Review of the Book (as seen on Goodreads)
Lolita was a tough one for me. It was wonderfully written, complex, and interesting, but at the end of the day, it's about a pedophile.
Humbert Humbert for the most part is neither likable or unlikable. He is sorely flawed, recognizes his flaws, and to a certain extent loathes himself for it, but that does not excuse him for his crimes against Lolita. He ruined her. But it does form a small feeling of empathy towards him. He truly and violently loves her. He violates her, holds her while he repents and feels extreme guilt, then is unable to control himself any further. He is aware of his illness. Multiple stays at institutions say so.
The fact that Lolita is no angel makes it easier to sympathize with Humbert. The narrative of the story makes the reader often times forget that she is but a little girl. Humbert will describe things in adult terms (ex: "I loved too loudly") to make the reader forget she's a child, but will again rein the reader in by reminding them of her "small hands" and "child-like" script. He is often cruel and possessive of her. She is often cruel and selfish, but I felt bad for this particular ill-behaved child. She never had a chance.
I am grateful that Nabakov never went into detail with Humbert's intimate acts with Lolita--though, he was descriptive in his vile thoughts about her body and the things he wanted to do to her, but those were just thoughts. My only real major complaint is that Clare Quilty did not have a more prominent role in the novel. I enjoyed his personality and exchange. It is implied that Quilty is a vile person, but it is never really shown to the effect that Humbert's sins are shown. Quilty's outcome had low impact in comparison to the rest of the novel, as a result.
Worth the read. Heavy subject. Uncomfortable, Wonderfully (and I mean wonderfully) written!
Lolita the Movie!
I didn't watch it. I didn't like the subject matter enough to subject myself to any more than I had to.
Vocabulary: A Sneak Peek :)
Here is a list of all the delicious words I found (page numbers included). On the next post, I will pick only 15 to define and use in sentences. Found a word that's not on this list and want it defined and used in the next post? e-mail me!
27 ignominious, 30 platitudinous, 30 diaphanous, 31 inveigled, 32 pugilist, 32 coruscating, 34 desultory, 37 conflagration, 40 deprecatory, 41 puerile, 41 crenelated, 44 meretricious, 44 palsied, 44 favonian, 44 phocine, 45 nacreous, 46 nictating, 46 madrigal, 49 concomitant, 51 voluble, 63 solipsized,74 transom, 75 verisimilitude, 178 crepitated, 181 servilely, 185 vitiating, 192 ambulated, 194 priggish, 201 perspicacious, 241 immolated, 265 recondite,
267 recapitulation, 267 cerebration, 269 vivisection, 288 inimical, 294 insouciance, 303 atavistic
Resources:
Shmoop is a pretty decent and low-key character analysis. It even includes some quotes.
Sparknotes is a classic. They also have this study guide on ebook on their site!
Grade Saver provides a chapter by chapter analysis with some interesting perspectives.
Next Time: Which 15 of these will be defined? Next!
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