week 7/ Lolita

There is strong motif of cruelty that runs through Lolita. Not only does Nabokov himself use cruelty in regard to his characters, but also manages to make his characters do cruel things themselves. While this may seem the same thing, and sometimes is in Lolita, Nabokov manages to separate this fine line. His characters cruel actions seem only to echo their pathetic and meaningless lives, made all the more potent by Nabokov's exemplar prose.

My first example comes from the almost comic relief of Claire Quilty's presence in this novel. His entire life seems to be based on the comic opposition, or emphasis, of Humbert Humbert's sexual deviancy. Quilty is depicted as a pedophile of undaunted means and rather than struggling with his illicit tendencies as Humbert does, he revels in them. Even his death is comical and surreal. Quilty seems to be present in this novel only to juxtapose Humbert character.

Nabokov tends to play with his characters. Not only is Quilty seen as a supporting comic character, but Humbert's entire plight--which is the basis of the book--is used as a playground for Nabokov's imagination. In several interviews he has stated that his characters don't take on a life and personality of their own, they are simple playthings for him to manipulate.

Humbert as a character is cruel not only to Lolita, but also his first wife Valeria, and his second wife Charlotte. Though his cruelty isn't seen as just that because the novel is written from his point of view, the facts are that Humbert was not a nice person. He struggled with his pedophelia, yes. He had a moral code that he tried to stick to, yes. But as a person, Humbert Humbert was not a nice person. Nabokov simply enhances this aspect of his personalty to turn Humbert into a manic and obsessive lover, to the point that Humbert ends up killing Quilty for the same crime that he, himself, has performed on Lolita.

Life, and the meaning of death, are ridiculed to the point of being almost meaningless in this novel. Annabel dies before they can really even consumate their relationship, Valeria ends up dying in a lab mishap, Charlotte gets run over after she becomes useless, Quilty gets shot out of revenge and Humbert himself dies meaninglessly. The only real tragedy in this entire book is the shattered life of Lolita, and thoguh her life has been forever marred by Quilty and Humbert, she manages to forgive them both.

Not only did Nabokov play with the morals of his characters, but he also humiliated them. Their most improtant morals, customs, beleifs and even their lives are used to tell this tragic tale.