Lolita Ch. 11-24

I felt proud of myself. I had stolen the honey of a spasm without impairing the morals of a minor. Absolutely no harm done. The conjurer had poured milk, molasses, foaming champagne into a young lady's new white purse; and lo, the purse was intact. Thus had I delicately constructed my ignoble, ardent, sinful dream; and still Lolita was safe -- and I was safe. What I had madly possessed was not she, but my own creation, another, fanciful Lolita -- perhaps, more real than Lolita; overlapping, encasing her; floating between me and her, and having no will, no consciousness -- indeed, no life of her own. (62)

In this passage, Humbert Humbert justifies his abuse of Lolita by twisting both morality and language to suit his needs. Humbert is clearly an unreliable narrator – his masterful manipulation of words threatens to earn the sympathy of the audience and force them to question what is morally ‘right.’ Flowery language distracts the jury from the vulgarity of the matter at hand; Humbert uses euphemisms such as “the honey of a spasm” to describe his release and refers to himself as a “conjurer” who has skillfully preserved the “white purse” of Lolita’s innocence. The juxtaposition of a disgusting act with poetic language makes the reader uncomfortable - how can a description of something so immoral seem beautiful? Humbert is not only free of guilt after his encounter, but also proud of himself for taking advantage of Lolita’s innocence without her knowledge. He defends his violation of a young girl by separating this “creation” of his fantasy from Lolita herself. Since the imaginary girl whom he “madly possessed” had “no consciousness” and “no life,” Humbert reasons, his actions were harmless. His ‘what she doesn’t know won’t hurt her’ philosophy is flawed, however; this “fanciful Lolita” becomes real to Humbert, and the child herself becomes a mere blank slate upon which he paints his desires and ideals. As he sucks away her childhood and vigor. Humbert reincarnates his dead childhood love within Lolita’s empty shell. It is this contrived nypmhet with whom he falls so madly in love, not Lolita herself.

Q: Did you find yourself feeling sympathy rather than repulsion for Humbert at any point during the reading? If so, did this make you uncomfortable?