That’s what I’ve been doing this entire weekend. I’ve moved away from the blogging a bit in order to focus more on the actual project itself. I’m finding it to be both a very time consuming and enjoyable process. In addition to printing over fifteen dollars worth of criticism at the OU library (and yes I read it all), I have completed an annotaion. I have to admit it is satisfying to say that- granted it will need editing- but nonetheless I enjoy being ahead of schedule. I found that as I read the criticisms I grew more and more fond of Lolita. I truely can say that I enjoyed Lolita, and am enjoying this project (for now anyway).
As far as other reading goes I have finsihed Song of Solomon. I found it to be considerably less enjoyable than Lolita, and less exciting than Dorain Gray, but it turned out much better than I expected. The first half of the novel was dull, it lacked a sense of plot for me. The second half was strong, and at times rather exhilarating too. I read a bit of criticism on Song of Solomon while I was at OU. I believe I have found the article I would like to annotate for this assignment, however I have not yet found a passage to annotate.
If anyone is interested (or very bored) in reading it my annotaion follows. I understand that nobody else has likely read Lolita, but comments and critiques are welcome!
Natalie Cook
Annotation part one
On first observation, this passage of Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita is the foundation of the plot and the driving force for the remainder of the novel; upon closer inspection it also subtly introduces the reoccurring themes making art out of life and blurring reality with appearance. It is also the first implication of Humbert’s susceptibility to Lolita and the source of debate about the morality and seduction between the two characters.
The reader can easily discern the plot that is developed within this passage- the idea of the nymphet. A nymphet, or a girl “between the age limits of nine and fourteen…who to certain bewitched travelers, twice or many times older than they, reveal their true nature which is not human, but nymphic” (Nabokov 16), is the object driving the plot, and in a novel such as Lolita, it is the actual physical pursuit of the characters which allows the novel to progress. Nabokov introduces the concept of nymphet with such beauty that it softens the controversial subject. Nabokov uses metaphors and imagery to evade a literal definition. He writes “It will be marked that I substitute time terms for spatial ones. In fact, I would have the reader see “nine” and “fourteen” as the boundaries- the mirrory beaches and rosy rocks- of an enchanted island haunted by those nymphets of mine and surrounded by a vast, misty sea.” (Nabokov 16) The image of a beach with rosy rocks contrasts sharply with the seriousness of the subject being described. This technique is common throughout Lolita, and allows Nabokov to subtly suggest controversial and often vulgar ideas without using offensive terms. Lolita in fact, lacks any obscene terms and all morbid detail; Nabokov instead uses allusions, implications and metaphors to suggest eroticism throughout the novel. The beauty of Nabokov’s metaphors balances the heinous motives that drive the plot.
More importantly, but less readily observed, than the plot of the passage is the development of central themes and motifs. It has already been mentioned that the protagonist, Humbert Humbert, avoids reality. From the beginning of the novel Humbert avoids confronting the biggest truth in his life, the consequence of his devastating pedophiliac passion. Developed first within this passage, the blending of reality and false appearances continues throughout the novel. In addition to this characterization of Humbert, Nabokov implores this theme through his choice of narrator and his narrator’s choice of narration. When Nabokov chooses Humbert to narrate the story in a dairy-like fashion he ensures a skewed view of the truth by presenting a story that is depicted entirely from Humbert’s perspective. Humbert sees only Lolita’s appearance, he cannot see her reality, and thus it is only the physical Lolita that he can depict to the reader. She is the girl with the “slightly feline outline of a cheekbone, the slenderness of a downy limb” (17) the “frail, honey-hued shoulders, the silky supple bare back, the chestnut head of hair.” (39) As a result of Nabokov’s choice of narration Lolita’s feelings are rarely noted, presenting the reader with a single-sided story. It is not just Humbert’s vision that is obscured then, it is the reader’s too. Nabokov’s insights to the reader of the true situation are so rare, “At the hotel we had separate rooms, but in the middle of the night she came sobbing into mine, and we made up very gently. You see, she had absolutely nowhere else to go” (142) and “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.” (176), that both Humbert and the reader experience the lack of distinction between reality and appearance throughout Lolita.
Another important theme introduced by the characterization of Humbert is life as art. As Nabokov characterizes Humbert he gives him some of the same characteristics that he possesses himself- that is producing art for art’s sake and the concentrating on the pleasure of the artist opposed to the reader. Nabokov portrays Humbert as a man who views himself as a character in a work of fiction, treating the people around him as characters. In this passage Humbert casts Lolita into the role of nymphet, he picks her out from a group of girls much like an audition. In this passage Humbert actually refers to himself as an artist when he picks Lolita out of the bunch, at times he even refers to her as his own creation, as “my Lolita”. Nabokov reinforces this through the characterization of Lolita too. He writes Lolita as a flat character, referring to her as “a common, uninteresting little girl.” Lolita is material for Humbert; his art converts her into a thing of beauty and interest. Nabokov allows Humbert to live like an artist as he molds Lolita, giving her “the elusive, shifty, soul-shattering, insidious charm that separates the nymphet from such coevals of hers”. (17) Although ultimately Nabokov condones living life as art he foreshadows consequences; as Humbert creates his perfect Lolita he fails to recognize Lolita as anything more than a character, as an actual human being. Nabokov’s individual writing style advances the idea as well. Both within the passage and within the work as a whole, Nabokov exhibits personal displays of cleverness, tricks and games. These parts of Lolita do not serve to further any plot, rather they align with the idea of producing art for the artist’s joy opposed to the viewer’s.
Nabokov further uses characterization to develop a feeling of cognitive dissonance within the reader, who is forced to both sympathize with and despise Humbert. Nabokov depicts Humbert in a way that demands the reader’s pity, understanding, and heart by conveying him as a weak and defenseless character. In this passage Nabokov writes Humbert was “an artist and a madman, a creature of infinite melancholy”. (17) He is ashamed, Nabokov writes in the passage “Oh, how you have to cringe and hide…Shame and tears of tenderness forbid me to tabulate” (17), and continues with, “O reader! Laugh not, as you imagine me, on the very rack of joy noisily emitting dimes and quarters, and great big silver dollars like some sonorous, jingly and wholly demented machine vomiting riches”. (184) As Humbert demeans himself he- albeit temporarily- wins over the reader’s heart. Nabokov casts Humbert the role of the “bewitched traveler”; he is not simply a pedophile, he is insane, mad, haunted and in fact, at times Nabokov depicts Humbert as being at the mercy of his “victim” Lolita.
It is Nabokov’s characterization of Humbert and his use of a partial perspective that allow the reader to accept Humbert. The techniques used in this passage, and continued throughout the novel also elicit the question asked by so many critics. Is Lolita the story of the corruption of an innocent child by an immoral adult or the exploitation of a weak adult by a cunning child?
