Margaret Atwood’s novel, Survival: a thematic guide to Canadian literature, discusses common themes throughout Canadian literature. Primarily, she discusses how victimhood and survival are an integral part of Canadian writings. Her ideas can also be applied to writings outside of Canada, such as my ISU novel, Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. In Atwood's book , she brings forward the concept of four basic victim positions. The portrayal of the protagonist in Lolita, Humbert Humbert, fits Atwood’s 2nd basic victim position. He is portrayed as a victim of circumstance, who is aware of it but does nothing to change it. This portrayal fits Atwood’s second basic victim position. Humbert’s victimization comes from the fact that he was unable to sexually mature after the death of his first lover at a young age. …show more content…
His actions and attempts at justification are a perfect example of Atwood’s description of the second victim position, wherein she states “it is the fault of a larger being or power you cannot be blamed for your position nor be expected to do anything about it”. In the novel, Humbert acts as though his attraction is natural, and should be normalized by society. He defends his actions when he speaks about his actions towards Lolita, and says “I have but followed nature. I am nature’s faithful hound.” (135) He claims that a higher power, the forces of nature, created him to be attracted to young girls. He is simply “[following] nature” by acting upon his attraction to Lolita. He implies that by following what nature wants him to do, he should not be held accountable by society’s morals or by the law. He also calls himself “nature’s faithful hound”. The term hound implies that he is animalistic and following his instinct, which, in this case, is being attracted to
The short stories, “The Girl with the Hungry Eyes” by Fritz Lieber, “Bits and Pieces,” by Lisa Tuttle, “While She Was Out” by Edward Bryant, “Cold Turkey” by Carole Nelson Douglas, and “Lightning Rod” by Melanie Tem Historically, in literature, women are stereotypically placed in one of two roles, the doting wife and beloved mother, or the more outwardly psychotic, witch-like, temptress. As the feminist approach to the criticism of literature has blossomed over time, the need for empowered female characters has surfaced. To rectify the absence of this character, “wild women literature” has made many advances in the defiance of gender role stereotypes and gender norms. The women in the collection of wild women short stories are difficult to define because of society’s pre-conceived notions of how women should and do behave. The term “wild women” conveys a slightly negative and sometimes misinterpreted connotation of a woman’s behavior; however, in this collection of stories, the female characters are generally vindicated because of the motivation behind their actions. The motivation can be linked to the popular cultural phenomenon of women taking charge of their lives, making decisions for themselves, being independent, rising above their oppressors (most commonly the close men in their lives), and becoming empowered. Vigilante actions by the wild women in these stories are not entirely representative of madness, but also re...
This book explores an avenue of advocacy against social injustices. The most observable plight Joe suffers is figuring out how to deal with the injustice acted against his mother, which has caused strife within his entire family and within himself. The book opens with, “small trees had attacked my parents' house at the foundation” (Erdrich 4) The initial conflict in this story is that Joe’s mother, Geraldine, is raped.
Throughout history, society has been used as a means of inspiration for writers of all genres. More often then not, writers do not shine a light on the positive aspects of society, they chose to focus on the decline of the modern world. For a writer to truly capture this societal decline, they must be brave enough to accept it. For one writer in particular, her passion and style are what fuel her to create masterpieces of literature centered on that very topic. With her ability to focus on modern American society with topics such as rape, child abuse and murder, Joyce Carol Oates’s novels have been able to capture the sometimes cruel reality of American life in an unorthodox way.
...y, Dimmesdale suffered constantly from corporal afflictions as well as the internal conflict of coping with his actions. After the initial sin, Mr. Dimmesdale lived a life of endless struggle and underwent the most suffering throughout The Scarlet Letter. Dimmesdale allowed his life to become consumed with guilt and the quest to complete a suitable penance, which brought him sorrow, self-hatred, and the demise of his body and spirit. The outward influence of society played a key role in Arthur’s unvarying anguish by providing him with a constant reminder of his sin and hypocrisy and adding to the growing guilt and shame he kept bottled within him. Combinations of his mental, physical, and emotional struggles ultimately lead Mr. Dimmesdale to his untimely death. In the end, the suffering became too great to bear and Mr. Dimmesdale’s was forced him to succumb to it.
...s of Lolita and Humbert to show the isolation and loneliness they feel, and to show just how different and immoral the situation is. By stressing the dissonance between one persona to the next, he portrays a view of his characters that is sad and shocking, for the public seen is also the reader; the unaware, innocent, “moral” group. By letting us into the different faces of Lolita and Humbert, Nabokov reveals the tragedy in the novel, and allows the reader to vividly feel what is morally right and wrong with Humbert, Lolita, and ourselves.
Renowned and engaging speakers have the ability to connect their values and ideas to greater causes and principles, leaving an enduring impact on the audience. You may be questioning what makes a great speaker? And what qualities and features contribute to the formation of a powerful speech? It is understood that a great speaker has the ability to communicate to larger truths and carve those truths on the audience’s hearts and minds as they surpass the context, place and time of the deliverance of the speech, and focus on conveying their ideas and values.
There are many female writers, some known better than other. Female writes most of the time focused their stories in experiences or personal point of view on what is going on around them. Other women write fiction of unusual worlds and character that people can relate to with the struggle or experiences. Margaret Atwood the “Canadian nationalist poetess is a prominebt figure concerned with the need for a new language to explore relations between subjects and society“ (Omid, Pyeaam 1). Atwood wrote her first novel called, “The Edible Woman”; this first novel categorized her as feminist, based on the main character of a strong woman. In an interview with Emma Brockes, Atwood affirms, "First of all, what is feminism? Second, which branch of it? Am I against women having rights? Actually, no. Am I really a puppet of the women's movement? No, I'm too old for that. I've been writing since 1956 and there was no women's movement in sight at the time”. Atwood does stands for women’s right but she never thought of being feminist while writing her stories. Atwood writes about strong women because just like any other female they are tired of reading about weak and submissive woman in books. Is clear that Atwood began writing before the woman movement started and that means she was ahead of her time. Atwood’s works is not just feminist her works represents her art and the way she feel about the world. Margaret Atwood is a poet, critic, novelist, and activist. Atwood’s stands for issues that trouble her and that she sees that are obstacles for her community. Through her entire writing career peoples can see that culture, science, feminism, and environment is reflected in her words and her expression to tell a story the only way she can. Her sho...
His first redeeming attribute is his real and true love for Lolita. Humbert infact confesses that, “I loved her. It was love at first sight, at last sight and ever sight”(270). If the reader thinks back to the beginning of the novel Humbert refers to Lolita as someone who only brought him lust. Humbert also makes it a point to tell the audience that he only like girls who fall into his nymphetic criteria and anyone who is too old does not appeal to him. When Humbert sees Lolita though after three years of being apart he says that “I insist the world know how much I loved my Lolita, this Lolita, pale and polluted, and big with another’s child, but still gray-eyed, still sooty-lashed, still auburn and almond, still Carmencita, still mine”(278). No matter how she has age and move past her nymphetic stage of life Humbert still loves her. Humbert even goes on to say that, “No matter, even if those eyes of hers world fade to myopic fish, and her nipples swell and crack, and her lovely young velvety delicate delta be tainted and torn-even then I world go mad with tenderness at the mere sight of your dear wan face, at the mere sound of your raucous young voice, my Lolita”(278). This is true love that he is feeling. No matter what happens to her he will still love her. Humbert has
With the use of a fictitious literary outlet, Atwood is able to connect with the reader and make them reconsider the unjust treatment of rape victims that still occurs today.
Elias, R. (1993) Victims Still: The Political Manipulation of Victims. Newbery Park: Sage [Chapter 2]
"Women as Victims." Women in American Society. Melissa J. Doak. 2012 ed. Detroit: Gale, 2012. Information Plus Reference Series. Student Resources in Context. Web. 20 Apr. 2014.
With his 1955 novel Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov invents a narrator by the name of Humbert Humbert who is both an exquisite wordsmith and an obsessive pedophile. The novel serves as the canvas upon which Humbert Humbert will paint a story of love, lust, and death for the reader. His confession is beautiful and worthy of artistic appreciation, so the fact that it centers on the subject of pedophilia leaves the reader conflicted by the close of the novel. Humbert Humbert frequently identifies himself as an artist and with his confession he hopes “to fix once for all the perilous magic of nymphets” (Nabokov, Lolita 134). Immortalizing the fleeting beauty and enchanting qualities of these preteen girls is Humbert Humbert’s artistic mission
...ever anything more satisfying? Furthermore, why does he remain chasing women when he sees his emotional state and sensual desires being fragmented by increasingly more damaging relationships? The answer is domination. He has to control what he desires, and he has to be superior in everything: including the defeat other sexually competence males. He must conquest the heart of any female whether he desires her or not. He even has to persuade, with literary aptitude, the opinionated dispositions of the jury. But all of these, in essence, are only additions to Humbert’s unattainable yearning to win over his own destiny, which he does so by murdering Quilty. He sees his world full of plight, of distraught, and discontent, and he battles frantically to dominate that world, and if he is capable of doing so, then he becomes the superior man over all, but especially himself.
In one of the most elaborately vivid scenes in the novel, Humbert excites himself to a sexual climax while Lolita sits, unaware, on his lap. Rejoicing in the unexpected and unnoticed fulfillment, he asserts that, "Lolita ha[s] been safely solipsized" (60)...
Treichler, Paula A. "Escaping the Sentence." The Captive Imagination.Ed. Cathrine Golden. New York: The Feminist Press, 1992. 191-210