Lolita Language

"Like a child with his favorite toy"

Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita is the celebrated and controversially infamous 1955 novel of a middle-aged man's unusual sexual passion or rather obsession of a precocious, seductive nymphet. Through this novel, Nabokov introduced two of the most famous literary characters of all time, Humbert Humbert (H.H) and Lolita (Dolores Haze). Humbert Humbert explains a story of obsession, and not just any obsession. Nabokov gives his narrator the most awful of them all, pedophilia.

Within the first ten pages of the book we already know Humbert Humbert and his characteristics very well. He establishes himself as an Intellectual right from the start, mocking American culture. He is extremely arrogant, which we can tell from the way he writes about himself and his use of words in general. He talks very highly of himself and his looks, but he is from the start, aware that he is a monster, and how much he hurt Lolita.

Lolita is not a suspenseful book. We know right from the start what is going to happen. It is the language and Nabokov's incredible dance and interaction with it that prompted him to write the book. In the first few chapters it becomes evident that H.H. uses language to seduce the readers of his memoir. He writes about awful things, his inappropriate thoughts about you girls etc. in such a romantic and often humorous way that he achieves the role of somewhat of a sympathetic pedophile. His constant wordplay and verbal games force us to concentrate on language rather than on him and his actions.

H.H's obsession is limited to girls between the ages of nine and fourteen. Nymphets he calls them, giving his objects of his twisted desire a romantic name. A name he took from the nymphs of Greek mythology, nymphs were beautiful, wild, sexually active creatures who were chased and seduced by goose and men alike. He suggests that his obsession with nymphets traces back to the tragic death of a childhood sweetheart, Annabel Leigh. Nabokov purposely chose this name for this particular character, as it is a connotation to Edgar Allan Poe's poem "Annabel Lee". This poem is about a girl that is struck by illness and dies young. The poem focuses on an ideal love which is incredibly strong. The poem shows that the narrator not only loves her, he worships her. Like this love is H.H. love for Lolita, eternal.

In Lolita, words are Nabokov's greatest weapon and he uses it like a child with his favorite toy. While H.H constantly confesses to unforgivably bad behavior, his poetic descriptions distract the reader from what is actually being said. Nabokov makes a story about pedophilia, rape and murder "beautiful" as he enchants the reader into having sympathy for H.H.