Blog Post #7: Responding and Reflecting - Rama S.P.

So far we have learned that Humbert Humbert has taken Lolita from camp and has told her that her mother has died. They have also started engaging in sexual activities and some people begin to notice this weird relationship. From the end of Part I, I believe that even thought Humbert was scared by his unstable childhood, he is still responsible for his atrocious actions. I still believe that he is a sick man who has "re-incarnated" his precious adolescent lover, Annabel, in Lolita. Humbert is free to do whatever he wants with Lolita but Lolita is trapped like a mouse.

In the beginning chapters of part two we are beginning to see the tension arise between Lolita and Humbert. As Humbert wants more and more of Lolita we see Lolita slowly drifting away. Humbert even goes as far as threatening Lolita that if she tells anyone about their "arrangement" she will be taken away and put into a state-run school. To me this threat is just another way Humbert can make sure Lolita will not run away from him and this is really unsettling. It's like Lolita is a dog on a leash and her every movement is being controlled by Humbert. We also see that Humbert hears Lolita weep at night but he just pretends to sleep. This shows Humbert's lack of parenting skills because he didn't have parents to care for him when he was young. He doesn't know how to deal with Lolita's emotions and he really isn't caring about them either.

Humbert decides to put Lolita into the Beardsley School for Girls and this is where Lolita and Humbert start to fight. We see Lolita starting to loose interest in Humbert and this doesn't agree with Humbert. He starts buying her more things and raising her allowance for any crumb of affection from Lolita. Every aspect of Lolita's life is controlled by Humbert. He always wants to know where she is at any time of the day and when Lolita lies about her whereabouts Humbert gets angry and violent. He even goes as far as stealing the money that Lolita is "earning" from their activities so that she doesn't have enough to run away from him. Even after they leave Beardsley, Humbert starts having suspicions about Lolita contacting others. For example he finds her dressed after he comes back from running an errand. Looking through the psychoanalytical lens we understand that Humbert doesn't want to loose another important person in his life but he is oblivious to Lolita's feelings. I feel that this is not fair to Lolita that she is being treated this way and that Humbert is using her to make him happy.  He even begs Lolita on his knees for affection when she is doing homework but she rejects him every time. Humbert is becoming very desperate and this is really counteracts his past personality of being in control. I feel that Lolita is taking matters into her own hands and she is really trying to get away from Humbert even thought he tries dragging her back in.

However, we also begin to see Lolita start acting out against Humbert. She walks away from him when he is at the post office, she erases the license plate number of the car following them, she starts to lie to Humbert about the people she is talking to such as the person at the tennis court, the pool, and the gas station. In this spot I can see that Humbert is paranoid. He feels the whole world is out to get him and he has to look over his shoulder every second. The reader has to sympathize with Humbert because he is not only loosing Lolita but also his mind.

Lolita is taken away from Humbert by a mysterious uncle and this makes Humbert go crazy. So crazy he turns on the hospital staff and "vows" to kill her kidnapper. We can see Humbert panicking as he is going from hotel to hotel tracing their mysterious follower. He sees her everywhere and he starts getting rid of anything that reminds him of her. He takes up drinking and dwells on memories of the good old days in hotels that he and Lolita spent time in. This frantic search and total loss takes a huge toll on Humbert and we have to feel sorry for him. He is completely lost without Lolita and he doesn't even know where to find her again. I initially thought that Humbert didn't care about Lolita but I slowly see him longing for her. I start seeing that he is actually in pain and this dispels my previous thoughts of Humbert.

Towards the ending Lolita does get in touch with Humbert for money, Humbert visits them and learns how Lolita was taken from him. and then he goes on a vengeance mission to kill Clare Quilty. When Humbert is in Lolita's house he begs her to come with him stating that there are only "25 paces" from her house to his car but Lolita laughs and flatly refuses. Even thought Lolita is soo close to Humbert, he cannot have her and this makes me feel bad. He has lost yet another thing he loves. Humbert kills Clare Quilty and he drives off bewildered and lost in his thought. He has lost Lolita and by losing her he loses himself.

The last few paragraphs of the book are about Humbert tying up the story. He is captured by the police and put into jail and this is where he writes this novel to not only serve him during his trial but also to keep Lolita fresh in his memory. The big aspect about the ending that bothers me is the way Humbert Humbert doesn't own up to his wrongdoings. He does hint that he has ruined Lolita's childhood and he wasn't such a great father figure like other normal children had. However, he never really owns up to his actions and for this reason I still think Humbert is a sick and vile man even thought he feels sorry for what happened to Lolita.