Lolita Chapters 11-24

"I knew I had fallen in love with Lolita forever; but I also knew she would not be forever Lolita...in two years she would cease being a nymphet and would turn into a "young girl," and then, into a "college girl"--that horror of horrors. The word forever referred only to my own passion, to the eternal Lolita as reflected in my blood. The Lolita whose iliac crests had not yet flared, the Lolita that I could touch and smell and hear and see, the Lolita of the strident voice and rich brown hair..." (65)

This passage reinforces about Humbert's attraction to Lolita what we already know--that he is drawn to her merely for her physical appearance, and his enchantment has nothing to do with her innermost character or feelings. Although he describes his attraction to her as a kind of love, at this point it seems to be purely lust, as he constantly describes her nymphetic qualities and objectifies her. He does not venture to say anything that shows he is at all fond of her character, even quoting in the passage, "in two years she would cease being a nymphet and turn into a young girl...that horror of horrors." If Humbert truly loved Lolita for her personality this should not matter, but here we are reassured that he is only drawn to her because of her tender age and connection to Annabel; in two years time when she grows out of her nymphet stage Humbert can move on to someone else. Humbert is drawn not to Lolita herself but to the idea of a "Lolita," although this idea consumes and overcomes him so much that he is willing to marry her mother even though he knows that this attraction to her daughter is only temporary. This excerpt and the chapters that follow really give us an idea into just how far Humbert is willing to go in order to satisfy his perverted needs.

Q: If Humbert had happened to be staying somewhere else with a 12 year old girl, that in the slightest resembled Annabel, would he have been nearly as obsessed with her as he is Lolita?