Blog Post #4: Responding and Reflecting - Rama S.P.

Reading Lolita through the psychoanalytical lens allows the reader to understand the thoughts, actions, and story behind the characters in the book. Before I picked up the book Lolita, I heard the book was about a man who is love with little girls and how this man kidnaps and manipulates a twelve year old girl to do what he wants. So I initially thought this man, Humbert, was a very sick and creepy man who should have been put in jail or sentenced to death because of what he had done. I really didn't understand where Humbert was coming from and why he acted like this. However as I began to read the book my opinions changed. 

I have read all of Part I so far and everything I have learned about Humbert till now has shown me that he is a manipulative person who has been hurt many times. In the first few chapters, Humbert has lost so many people such as his mother, he has an absent father, and the love of his adolescent life, Annabel, who dies too. Reading all these people who Humbert has lost, I began to sympathize with him because he did not have a stable life in his younger or adolescent years. Then we begin to read that Humbert starts going after younger girls called "Nymphets." This idea to me was very disturbing There where many examples of Humbert's nymphet addiction from him sitting in the park "pretending to read a newspaper" but actually watching little girls play to marrying Valerie, for her nymphet-like qualities. Humbert Humbert starts to become the man I first thought he was: a sick and creepy man.

Then he moves into the Charlotte Haze's house and this is where my negative view's of Humbert Humbert become stronger. The only reason Humbert Humbert agrees to stay in the Haze House is because of Lolita. Before seeing Lolita he not only sees the house as unappealing but also Mrs. Haze, who is portrayed as unimpressive. Then when Mrs. Haze sends Lolita to camp and gives Humbert the ultimatum to marry her or leave, we begin to see Humbert's manipulative side. He decides to marry Charlotte Haze to get to Lolita. This careful plotting just gave me another reason to think Humbert is a sick person. When Charlotte wants to send Lolita to boarding school, Humbert starts planning a "accident" for Charlotte Haze that would leave Lolita all for himself. When Charlotte is killed, Humbert is relieved that he now has no obstacles to get to Lolita. We see here that Humbert got what he wanted and that is a clear path to Lolita. 


Then from this chapter to the end of Part one Humbert starts taking advantage of Lolita. He sometimes thinks about being a food father but quickly dispels these thoughts. He lies to Lolita that her mother is in the hospital, he takes her to a hotel and dreams of caressing her, and he leads her on. As we are learning about Humbert we also see what Lolita is like. Lolita is attracted to Humbert in the beginning when she meets him and she starts engaging in sexual activities with Humbert. I can understand that Lolita is young and curious and so she wants to experience some things. Even others are noticing the weird relationship between these two such as the unknown person who questions Humbert in the Enchanted Hunters Hotel. At least Humbert tells Lolita that her mother is dead and he buys her things and comforts her. I understand that looking through the psychoanalytical lens that Humbert's past life was unstable and that is why he is acting like this. The unsettling point is that Lolita is trapped and she has no where to go and this to me is just like a mouse cornered by a cat. They both can't escape even if they want too and this gives the reader a disturbing and miserable feeling.