Humbert and Lolita embark on their grandiose trip across the United States beginning with this segment. As it progresses, Humbert becomes more and more possessive of Lolita and restrictive of her actions, for fear that she'll run away. At several points, he becomes so desperate for her love that he pays her for sexual favors. This obsession turns into power for one over the other, which swaps between the two several times in the midst of this segment.
Lolita senses Humbert's desperation fairly early on and attempts to reel in or swoon other men to tip the odds in her favor. It seems to me that Lolita is attempting to get as much out of this "relationship" as possible, while feigning love for Humbert and taking advantage of his wealth. She obessesses over his money so much so, that she can't stand to carry out sexual acts without demanding payment for it. It feels more like a prostitution than a "healthy relationship between a man and a girl" at this point.
Conversely, Humbert's attempts to reign control over Lolita are needlessly outrageous, but fairly effective. Refusing to let her confide in anyone else besides him keeps her from formulating plans to escape with the help of friends, and makes her efforts much more forced since she has to make do with only what she can do. His emotional possession over her matches Lolita's material possession over him, and the two use their obsessions to battle with each other all throughout their trip through America.
1. Does Humbert seem past the point of redemption, after reading this segment? If you knew nothing about his and Lolita's situation and you encountered them in the city, as if you were an extra in this book, would you trust him? Explain your reasoning.
2. What do you think about Humbert's actions for keeping Lolita in check, such as barring her from confiding in any of the friends she's made in Barksley? Are they justified, given her attitude towards him, or a result of being completely obsessive?
3. Do you think Nobokov intended for there to be more of a connection between the play at Lolita's school and the hotel she and Humbert first had sex at, other than the name? Why or why not?
I sincerely do not think H.H. has any hope for redemption. He is now using all of his resources at hand in order to continue his pursuit of obsession over her. Their relationship was toxic at the beginning, considering what it was. Now it has become even more impossibly poisonous. Would I trust him? Initially, perhaps. If I knew nothing about it him. Then again, it is hard not to trust someone who is apparently charming in the sense that Nobokov wrote him to be deceptively so.
ReplyDeleteIf I were an extra in this book (It probably would have depended on how close I would have gotten to these 2 characters) i probably would have picked up on H.H.’s nervous explanations, and Lolita’s odd personality around H.H. I don’t really understand the connection with the hotel and the play, so I am not sure if there is more connection between them
ReplyDelete. I think there would be more explanation if there were more importance to the connection. I don’t think that the obsessions are justified to anyone but Humbert. He is the one that feels fear and danger when other people start to get close because he knows he is doing something wrong and is guilty about it.