Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita
When Vladimir Nabokov finished writing the novel Lolita he knew the explosive subject matter that he was now holding in his hands. After being turned down by publishing houses on numerous occasions to unleash his controversial story to the public, it was finally published by the French in 1955. Many critics were shocked and called it pornography while others praised his work. How could a pure thinking author conjugate ideas on issues so dark and depraved? What were his intentions of doing so, and in the end how did it become hailed as one of the greatest novels of all time.
It’s easy to think you can judge a man by the novels he writes. Is not the creation, at least in some part, the creator? Surely only a twisted mind, a depraved heart could conjure up such an explicit narrator, capable of violating young girls, though remaining very humanistic. Vladimir Nabokov’s inspiration for writing Lolita, came from hearing about a ape who was taught to draw after being locked up in a cage, while given treats to encourage certain behavior. After many months of confinement, the ape finally drew a picture of the bars of his cell. Consequently this is what Nabokov’s narrating character Humbert practiced on Lolita. Humbert constantly used the reward system to bribe Lolita for sexual favors. In other words, like the scientists had trained the ape’s actions to
Pomposelli 2
respond to enslavement every time the substance of positivism was given, Humbert did the same to Lolita, forcing her out of her nature from a child to a women. Nabokov and Humbert did have something in common, which was a direct passion. Humbert’s passion was the worship and possession of Lolita, but in the pursuit of these passions he also manages to study, capture, and abuse her. This destroys Lolita’s innocence. Nabokov, an avid butterfly collector adored these creatures which he found beautiful, rare, and frail. He then killed, preserved cataloged and literally, pinned them down. Memories and dreams also play a large part in many of Nabokov’s writings. Nabokov succeeded with Lolita by taking human experiences and passions and turning them to create an inhuman character. This concluding that the creation was depraved, but not the creator.
The story of Lolita, traces a middle aged professor obsessive sinful involvement with his twelve year old stepdaughter Lolita. The book...
... middle of paper ...
...aunting task then expected. What were Nabakov’s reasons for writing this story? Many found it hard to believe an author could come up with such a subject matter without some backround into the topic, but that could never be proven. So we as readers are left with this beautifully written novel, one of Nabakov’s best about a taboo subject with no moral message only our own boundaries to explore. The evidence proves Nabakov took a huge gamble in writing Lolita but it paid off when critics now looked upon his work with new respect. In the end, Nabakov found himself in a fight for privacy, once saying “ Lolita is famous, not I.”
Pomposelli 6
Works Cited
Appel, Alfred, Jr. “The Annotated Lolita” New York: McGraw Hill publishing, 1970.
Field, Andrew, “Biographies of Nabokov.” New York: Viking Press, 1977.
Nabakov, Vladimir Lolita. Published by Alfred A. Knoff inc. First Published 1955.
Nabakob, Vladmir, “Memoirs by Nabakov.” New York: Harper publishing, 1951.
Parker, Steven, Vladmir Nabakov . Published by University of South Carolina Press,
1987.
Proffer, Ellendaa. Vladmir Nabakov, A Pictorial Biography, Compiled and edited by
Ellendaa Proffer, (Ardist Publishers 1991).
Victor’s obsession with the genesis of life prevents him from thinking clearly. Initially, Victor has a strong interest in science. However, during his time at Ingolstadt, when he becomes interested in the cause of the generation of life, he decides to create and animate a human being. He completely neglects his family and friends because his sole focus is on his creation. Victor prioritizes the creation of his creature over his own health and happiness. Since he works in complete secrecy, there is nobody to help him stop his obsession. In addition, there is nobody who can monitor the aesthetic quality of his creation. He is so fixed on completing his project that he fails to notice how ugly it is. As soon as the creature comes to life, Victor is so horrified and disgusted with it that he runs away. He feels like “the beauty of [his] dream [va...
Unlike the Romantic who revered and honored nature, Victor wants to use it for his own gain. He expects “happy” and “excellent natures” to obey him, and he doesn’t dwell upon the consequences of his actions. His outlook changes after the creature comes to life. As Victor stares into the watery, lifeless eyes of his creature, he finally realizes his mistake in trying to disrupt the natural order of the world. Scared by the outcome of his actions, Victor attempts to run away and find comfort in nature.
The short story, “Ivan Fyodorovich Shponka and His Aunt”, explicates the life of a man named Ivan Fyodorovich Shponka. We see him briefly in his young years, followed by his life in the army, and his return to the farm where his strong characterized aunt resides. We can see immediately that this man lives in constant cleanliness and dutiful paranoia; these are some of his desires that he wishes to exhibit to others. We can also see his fears, which reside in the confiscation of his masculinity and independence. This short story has many elements that resemble others in the Nikolai Gogol collection.
He could not fathom how slavery was still accepted and practiced in a place that was built on the grounds of freedom and equality. Frederick Douglass respected and praised the signers of the Declaration of Independence and believed it to contain great value “The principles contained in that instrument are saving principles. Stand by those principles, be true to them on all occasions, in all places, against all foes, and at whatever cost.” (Douglass 3). Although the principles of the Declaration of Independence covered great importance, America was still untrue to their founding principles. Frederick Douglass encouraged his audience to continue the work of those great activists whom brought forward freedom and democracy to this land. With this idea he then progresses his main argument and asks the audience a rhetorical question: “ Are the great principles of political freedom and natural justice, embodied in the Declaration of Independence, extended to us?” (Douglass 4). The question was said not for the sake to get an answer but to acknowledge that freedom did not pertain to
Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment begins with Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov living in poverty and isolation in St. Petersburg. The reader soon learns that he was, until somewhat recently, a successful student at the local university. His character at that point was not uncommon. However, the environment of the grim and individualistic city eventually encourages Raskolnikov’s undeveloped detachment and sense of superiority to its current state of desperation. This state is worsening when Raskolnikov visits an old pawnbroker to sell a watch. During the visit, the reader slowly realizes that Raskolnikov plans to murder the woman with his superiority as a justification. After the Raskolnikov commits the murder, the novel deeply explores his psychology, yet it also touches on countless other topics including nihilism, the idea of a “superman,” and the value of human life. In this way, the greatness of Crime and Punishment comes not just from its examination of the main topic of the psychology of isolation and murder, but the variety topics which naturally arise in the discussion.
In “Hills Like White Elephants” and “The Story of an Hour”, the woman in each story imprisons in the domestic sphere. In “Hills Like White Elephants”, the woman in this story conflicts between keeping the baby or getting abortion although the relationship with her boyfriend would not improve as he said. In “The Story of an Hour”, even though Louise Mallard, an intelligent, independent woman understands that she should grieve for Brently, her husband and worry for her future, she cannot help herself from rejoice at her newfound freedom. The author of this story, Kate Chopin suggests that even with a happy marriage, the loss of freedom and the restraint are the results that cannot be avoid.
In Aldous Huxley’s novel, “Brave New World,” published in 1932, two idiosyncratic, female characters, Lenina and Linda, are revealed. Both personalities, presented in a Freudian relationship (Linda being John’s mother and Lenina being his soon to be lover), depict one another in different stages of life and divulge ‘a character foil’. Lenina and Linda are both ‘Betas,’ who hold a strong relationship with the men in their lives, especially John. It can be stated that John may partially feel attracted towards Lenina, because she is a miniature version of Linda, in her youth. They both support the term of ‘conditioning,’ yet also question it in their own circumstances. Nonetheless, they both are still sexually overactive and criticized for such immoral decisions. Linda espouses it from her heart, while Lenina supports the process partially due to peer pressure and society’s expectations. Both female characters visit the Reservation with Alpha – Plus males, and both find a common feeling of revulsion towards it. Linda and Lenina are similar in many ways, yet they hold their diverse views on the different aspects of life.
A disconnect between genders was exhibited in early Russian culture. The objectification of women was a common problem in the Soviet society. In Mikhail Sholokhov’s And Quiet Flows The Don, there is an abundant amount of examples detailing men’s attitudes toward women. Early on in the novel there is a disturbing depiction of rape between Aksinia Astakhov and her father. It is difficult to comprehend the motives behind an act of rape, especially when coupled with incest, but that is not occurrence of rape within the novel. Further on there is a particularly vivid account of a gang rape scene between multiple Cossack soldiers and a young woman. Although particularly difficult to read, this moment further illustrates the female objectification present in this time-period by clarifying the commonality of the abhorrent treatment of women. Furthermore, it is revealed that the men are more than willing to resort to violence if it is necessary to keep the rape a secret, “Breath a word… and, by Christ, we’ll kill you!” (186). In a different aspect of everyday life, at times it seems that women are not...
Vladimir Nabokov suffered a neurological disorder called Synthesia. In this disorder, some senses appear the form of other senses. For his specific case, it allowed him to see letters in color. The literary form of this disorder is writing when one sense describes another. Nabokov’s synthesia allowed for him to compose its’ literary form in a superior manner. Additionally, in its literary implication, synthesia generates juxtapositions of the senses. With and in juxtaposition, he uses the comparison of senses to describe one sense through another sense. Nabokov uses his Synthesia to enhance juxtapositions in order to capture essence of life through words. In his short story First Love, he illustrates importance of using the senses in descriptions
The Oblonsky family of Moscow is under a large amount of stress due to adultery. Dolly Oblonskaya has found out her husband, Stiva, is having an affair with their children’s former governess, and seriously considers divorcing him. Stiva is slightly regretful, but is none the less trying to maintain his composure. Stiva’s sister Anna Karenina arrives at the Oblonsky estate to act as a mediator.
In his novel Crime and Punishment Fyodor Dostoevsky uses Raskolnikov as a vessel for several different philosophies that were particularly prominent at the time in order to obliquely express his opinions concerning those schools of thought. Raskolnikov begins his journey in Crime and Punishment with a nihilistic worldview and eventually transitions to a more optimistic one strongly resembling Christian existentialism, the philosophy Dostoevsky preferred, although it could be argued that it is not a complete conversion. Nonetheless, by the end of his journey Raskolnikov has undergone a fundamental shift in character. This transformation is due in large part to the influence other characters have on him, particularly Sonia. Raskolnikov’s relationship with Sonia plays a significant role in furthering his character development and shaping the philosophical themes of the novel.
Clarice Lispector, a Brazilian female writer of Jewish descent, tied her writing with her very life, for her writing reflects her viewpoint on many aspects of her life. She was well-known for her existentialist writing involving themes revolving around women’s roles. Through the characters and their interactions in her works, Lispector explores the societal status of women. The male subjugation of women influences many of the themes found in her works and a better understanding of women’s social status ultimately leads to a better understanding of the relationship between the characters in her works and actions by those characters. Thus, the evaluation of women in the society contemporary to the era Lispector lived in influences the overall existentialist ideas and the motif of women’s roles in her work.
Literary critic and the novel’s annotator Alfred Appel Jr. claims “what is extraordinary about Lolita is the way in which Nabokov enlists us, against our will, on Humbert’s side… Humbert has figuratively made the reader his accomplice in both statutory rape and murder” (Durantaye, Style Is Matter: the Moral Art of Vladimir Nabokov 8). Nabokov employs various literary devices such as direct second reader address, metaphor, and allusions through Humbert Humbert as a means to conjure up feelings of empathy. The reader comes to find that . It is clear that Humbert Humbert uses second person address as a way to control how the reader perceives him. Through the use of this narrative mode, he aims to convince the reader that his sexual violence is artistically justifiable and that the art he creates is a remedy for mortality. I will argue is that art is not a remedy for mortality because in Humbert Humbert’s creation of Lolita, t...
In Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita, the overruling drive of the narrator, Humbert Humbert, is his want to attest himself master of all, whether man or woman, his prime cravings, all-powerful destiny, or even something as broad as language. Through the novel the reader begins to see Humbert’s most extreme engagements and feelings, from his marriage to his imprisonment, not as a consequence of his sensual, raw desires but rather his mental want to triumph, to own, and to control. To Humbert, human interaction becomes, or is, very unassuming for him: his reality is that females are to be possessed, and men ought to contest for the ownership of them. They, the women, become the very definition of superiority and dominance. But it isn’t so barbaric of Humbert, for he designates