While reading
“Lolita” my biggest question throughout the entire novel is whether or
not Humbert Humbert actually loves Lolita. I question if Humbert loves Lolita for her personality or if he is only
obsessed with her as a nymphet. Obsession is an idea or thought that
continually preoccupies or intrudes on a person's mind. Many times
it seems he actually loves her, but often it seems as if he only
loves a false image he has created of Lolita. In this book it can be seen that Humbert’s love and
lust for Lolita is motivated by his adolescent relationship with
Annabel; consequently, this love forms and obsessive characteristic
about Humbert. One fatal flaw in Humbert Humbert is that he dwells on the
past. In the beginning of the story Humbert tells the reader about
his childhood love Annabel. Humbert uses Lolita to get over Annabel which I feel never makes their relationship true love. Despite the fact that Lolita never really loves Humbert, Humbert never loves Lolita. He may think he does but he actually just has an obsessive nature about himself. He does not like to be left and obsesses over everything. At the end of the story it may seem like Humbert actually loves Lolita but I do not believe him. I think Humbert is just stuck on the past and does not like the idea of anyone leaving him.
I agree with you that Humbert is obsessed with the past, and we have his book as testimony to prove it. Humbert is obsessed with the past tot he point that he feels compelled to write a book about his past. Also, his book is not vague at all, and it’s specificity shows his obsession with preserving his past as accurately as possible. I personally believe that this obsession with the past is only an attempt by Humbert to relive his past with Annabel. Humbert does not love Lolita, he is merely using her as a means of comforting himself after being traumatized by the loss of the only girl he loved, Annabel. He loves her image and not who she truly is.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Humbert is obsessed with the past. However, I believe that Humbert never gets over Annabel. Some evidence would be his continuous references to Lolita as his “Annabel.” The fact that he mentions her so frequently throughout the story shows that the entire time he just wanted to relive his experience with Annabel. I agree that he never loved Lolita. He loved the idea of Lolita. Lolita was an unhygienic and misbehaved child. However, she reminds Humbert of Annabel, and he is able to see past her clear flaws because of this resemblance. It shows how Humbert is obsessed with the brief time he spent with Annabel, and his has never been able to move beyond that brief period in his childhood.
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