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Ophelia 
Embodiment of Reason
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 Posted: Fri Oct 24, 2008 9:45 am Post subject: Lolita's point of view in Lolita.
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Lolita's point of view in Lolita.
Well, no revelations from me, I'm nearing the end of the book and never getting a second point of view is getting more and more frustrating.
Why did she leave him for Quilty, had she planned it all, how about those years after she had left Quilty-- did she meet her husband immediately?
How did she view Humbert?
It's infuriating, we'll never know, and it's also infuriating to think that perhaps there is nothing to know. She seems to be such a shallow and immature character that maybe her diary or a confession would shed very little light on the matter.
To put things in a positive perspective, the author's choice of point of view achieves two things:
- it creates tension throughout the novel.
- it creates mystery. The real Lolita might have been a disappointment if we'd known her, but we'll never know her side of the story, so the gaps in the information (Humbert's partial presentation of even what he knows) make us want to know, and long after we've finished the book, we'll still be wondering.
Also, there are no attempts on Humbert's part to present (his view of) her point of view-- which underlies his self-centeredness (not surprising if you play the part of the pedophile of the story).
She is only described in regard with what affects him: for example he needs to keep her happy with trips and visits so that he can have sex with her. When he says that she cries at night, there is no attempt on his part to explain or find out. One might say it's obvious, but then she isn't your average thirteen-year-old, and when I read this it struck me as a good example of Humbert's clouding the issue as regards Lolita. |
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realiz
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| Posted: Tue Nov 11, 2008 6:15 pm Post subject:
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Why did she leave him for Quilty, had she planned it all, how about those years after she had left Quilty-- did she meet her husband immediately?
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I thought that she left Quilty after a short time because of his lifestyle with another girl. I think that I read that she did not meet her husband until later. Perhaps her husband was her desire to leave her sordid past and live a somewhat respectable life. She did not want him to know the truth about Humbert, just that he was her father. She even made the comment that she supposed he was a good father in his own way. This may have been in reference to the ways in which he tried to make her happy so that he would not lose her. She still saw herself as being partially or equally responsible.
I think leaving Humbert was something she thought about often. I think the way her character is just revealed in small slivers of Humbert's thoughts, almost by accident reveals more than it hides. He did not really want to admit that she was unhappy, than she never got any pleasure from sex, that she was a prisoner, that he took away her life.
Lolita did have a rebelious nature, and her mother's view of her as being a 'bad' child probably fed into her view of herself. She had a survivalist's instinct and she learned to manipulate Humbert. There are several comments about her thinking he murdered her mother. She really never knew exactly what happened to her mother and she really had no one else to turn to except Humbert. |
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