Lolita An Unreliable Narrator Analysis

The use of a narrator in any text is important for both the story, and its readers. The narrator is the guide, the eyes through which we explore the events and the people. In this way, it cannot be overstated how much of an effect the narrator has. A reliable narrator allows the reader a true telling of the story, and allows them to make an accurate judgement of the novel as a whole. However, with an unreliable narrator, the unwitting reader may find their path runs much less smoothly than it may appear at first glance.

The term 'unreliable narrator' was first coined by the US literary critic Wayne C. Booth in 1961, in 'The Rhetoric of Fiction', who defined the term as being “when a narrator expresses values and perceptions that strikingly diverge from those of the

The manuscript follows the key events in his life, beginning with the death of his childhood sweetheart Annabel Leigh. The main bulk of the tale then focuses upon his relationship with his stepdaughter, before ending in Lolita's death in childbirth, and his own heart failure in prison.

Throughout 'Lolita', there are many clues that the narrator is being unreliable. This is touched upon through a variety of facets about Humbert's character, which the audience picks up on as the story progresses.

At the very beginning of the story, the reader can infer that Humpert has been placed in a desperate position. It is through his memoirs that he must try to sway the judgement of his readers- a fact that he is keenly aware of, and uses to the best of his ability as a writer. (“Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, exhibit number one is what the seraphs, the misinformed, simple, noble-winged seraphs, envied. Look at this tangle of thorns.”) From the get-go the character is shown to be a murderer and a criminal, and thus the motive for his unreliable narration is established very early