“We had been everywhere. We had really seen nothing. And I catch myself thinking today that our long journey had only defiled with a sinuous trail of slime the lovely, trustful, dreamy, enormous country that by then, in retrospect, was no more to us than a collection of dog-eared maps, ruined tour books, old tires, and her sobs in the night - every night, every night – the moment I feigned sleep.” (175-176)
The reason Humbert takes Dolores all over the country from one motel to the next was to escape the view of society. He had simultaneously wanted to travel the country with Dolores and visit all the sites his tour books had to offer, but during each destination, Humbert felt the sharp pain of guilt. The whole trip, all he wanted to do was build a closer relationship with Dolores, but his plan had failed as Dolores grew apart from him and wanted to meet other boys. Her crying during the night led the audience to believe that Dolores felt somewhat enslaved by Humbert. She knows she’s in a horrible situation with Humbert, but without him, she understands, she would be alone at a girls’ orphanage.
I think Humbert felt so guilty that he had felt bad about what he had been doing all throughout the trip. Humbert knew what he was doing was wrong. He knew it was illegal and immoral. What helped influence his guilt to an even greater level was Dolores’ crying at night while he faked sleep. The reader can’t know directly from the text, but they can assume Humbert was not trying to fall asleep during the sobbing. I believe that moment revealed to the audience that Humbert just now found out he was hurting his Lolita emotionally. Humbert’s inability to empathize with Dolores’ situation shows his lack of morality.
Q: Why does Dolores choose to stay with Humbert? Does she really consider living in an orphanage worse than being, on some level, kidnapped and raped?
- Paul Weber
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