"Humbert Humbert sweating in the fierce white light, and howled at, and trodden upon by sweating policemen, is now ready to make a further "statement" (quel mot!) as he turns his conscience inside out and rips off its innermost lining. I did not plan to marry poor Charlotte in order to eliminate her in some vulgar, gruesome and dangerous manner such as killing her by placing five bichloride-of-mercury tablets in her preprandial sherry or anything like that; but a delicately allied, pharmacopoeial thought did tinkle in my sonorous and clouded brain. Why limit myself to the modest masked caress I had tried already? Other visions of venery presented themselves to me swaying and smiling. I saw myself administering a powerful sleeping potion to both mother and daughter so as to fondle the latter through the night with perfect impunity." (71).
In this passage, Humbert Humbert is considering his options for the proposal from Charlotte Haze. He had just finished reading a letter from her admitting her love for him and giving him the option to stay and marry her or leave forever. This puts Humbert in a tough situation. If he leaves (because he obviously has no feelings whatsoever towards Charlotte), he will never again see his lovely Lolita. But if he stays and becomes Charlotte's husband, he can show affectionate love to Lolita every day. I think this passage shows the darkest side of Humbert's character. He's considering taking on a father-role, but yet planning on possibly slipping them both some sleeping medication so that he can molest an unconscious child. He doesn't even consider the damages that could be done in the long run to either one of them, especially Lolita because one day she could realize that how he had been treating her for years was perverse and out of character for a normal father figure. I find this passage to be extremely disturbing and I can only hope that men like Humbert Humbert take a step back and realize their how perverse their actions/thoughts really are.
Question- I believe Humbert's passion for Lolita is very conditional. It is so strong because of her sweet appearance and young age. In two years when Lolita is no longer a nymphet, would somebody with a character such as Humbert find himself regretful for agreeing to a marriage such as this one, or would they look back and be pleased with their decision?
Madelyn Moon
No comments:
Post a Comment