"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).
Throughout the novel prior to this passage, the story of obsession has reminded me of the Greek myth about Persephone and Hades. Hades, God of the Underworld, is usually depicted as an older man. Persephone, daughter of Demeter and goddess of spring bloom, is always seen as a young girl. Hades (Humbert) became obsessed with Persephone and plotted to kidnap her. He placed a single lily in her field to lure her into his rhelm. As she picked the lily, the ground split where she stood and Hades kidnapped her and made her his queen. It may be by coincedence, that in the novel, Lolita is introduced to Humbert alongside a garden of lilies. Demeter, distraught after the loss of her child, was forced to compromise with Hades that for 6 months (winter) she would reside in the underworld as his queen. However, the following 6 months (summer), Persephone belonged to Demeter. The selected passage shows that Humbert possessed Lolita as a creation in his twisted mind. The creation aquired no life of her own, resembling Persephone's time as the queen of the underworld. However, Humbert lost his queen when Lolita goes to summer camp on her mother's request. The passage shows how truely contorted Humbert's reasonings to his obsession is because through his thoughts and actions, he believes Lolita is far from harms way.
sorry for the super nerd response. Im an ancient civilizations major, its just what came to my mind.
Regardless of a moral standpoint, if a touch is simply a touch to a child but that same touch is a "possession" to the adult, is harm done?
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