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An appreciation of Lolita
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Recommended: An appreciation of Lolita
Lolita: An Analysis of Obsession Through the Decades
"Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta."
In 1958, Vladimir Nabokov created two of the most unrelenting characters in the history of literature: Humbert Humbert and Lolita Haze. His narrator's voice and main character, Humbert Humbert, explains the complex story of a man and his obsession. To set this book off from other books about obsession, Nabokov gives Humbert possibly the most socially unacceptable obsession of all: pedophilia. This obsession leads Humbert on a cross country journey to find his precious Lolita upon the discovery that she has run away and decided to marry. It is this Lolita that causes much of the controversy in the book. Is she an innocent child who is caught up by a wave of "Humbertism" that seems to control her life? Or is she simply an adult in a child's body who plays off of Humbert's obsession to gain things for herself? The answer is one that involves not only an analysis of the text, but also an analysis of the context in which the text is read. It is this analysis of context that will supply a new appreciation for not only the basic plot of Lolita, but also the underlying satire that riddles the book.
As with all literature, many of the ideas and plot twists that supply the excitement to this particular book are seen under a guise of the particular generation that reads it. Not only do these ideas no longer play an important part to the interpretation as it is transferred from generation to generation, but many times the way in which a book is written can affect the reader. The most prominent case of this happening is in the works of Shakespeare. The ideas and plots he present in his books are most often lost in our contemporary society as we find not only his word usage, but also his themes to be archaic, and unbarring on modern life. Such is the case of Nabokov's Lolita.
There is one slight difference, however, between the writing of Shakespeare, and the writing of Nabokov (and in particular Lolita).
The world of English Literature captures the minds of millions of people worldwide. The stories that are read are new and old and continue to capture the attention of people even to this day. Each piece of literature can go in-depth into settings, themes, characterizations, have great styles and the thing most people enjoy... conflict. Most people don't understand or see the messages these pieces may have in them. Hidden sometimes within complex statements or meanings that the everyday person might not recollect. These "treasures" are waiting to be found and are gold waiting to be found.
The modern novel, the serious novel, does tend toward either two extremes: either it is a tight metaphysical object, which wishes it were a poem, and which attempts to convey, often in mythical form, some central truth about the human condition or else it is a loose journalistic epic, documentary or possibly even didactic in inspiration, offering a commentary on current institutions or on some matter out of history (264).
“Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins, my sin, my soul” (Nabokov 9). Quoted from Vladimir Nabokov’s novel Lolita, Humbert Humbert briefly describes his sensibilities towards his love Lolita. I’ve italicized love for the reason that this book is perceived often as not a true American love story but as a pedophile’s lust. The reasoning for the italicization is because I wanted to emphasis on the point that this book offers more than that of a pedophile’s love. Nabokov’s novel does a very good job of creating an interesting yet unorthodoxed plot. What Nabokov might find acceptable in today’s society, some people might find very offensive and disrupting. He does this to grab the reader’s attention; therefore, building their interests by having them see the other side of things. Why many readers may find this book to be associated with pornography or just another literary piece surrounded around pedophilia, Nabokov hits you with textual evidence, which may sway reader’s minds. As a reader of this novel, I am compelled to show you how this book is a true American “Love Story.”
Sports are entertaining to watch and play. The athletes are having the time of their lives playing the sport they enjoy. However, playing sports come with a disadvantage. Concussions are apart of the list of disadvantages. Concussions are a result of a traumatic brain injury. Symptoms of concussions can be headache, dizziness, and even lack of consciousness. Some collisions can cause permanent damage, sometimes even death. Unfortunately, there are many sports where concussions are very common. High school athletes are more susceptable to concussions, although they occur at any age and in any sport. Agencies should enforce rules to prevent the amount of concussions occuring as a result of high contact sports and provide adequate funds for adequate safety equipment.
Imbedded in the title itself, the whole book revolves around the Scarlet Letter, a universally-known product of the nature of human sin; Hawthorne demonstrates many sins through the use of characters and their many faults, which include vengefulness, corruptness, and the most obvious example of sin: adultery. Not only through the narrator’s eyes, but also through those of the characters, the myriad examples of the pure nature of sin are found in the dialogue, events, and narration of Chillingworth, Hibbins, and Hester. Even with the knowledge of the character’s beliefs and motives, the somewhat innocent cast of people in The Scarlet Letter are still defined by their worst mistakes; which still leaves the reader pondering the question: what’s in a name? Specifically, the name of sin?
A concussion is a brain injury caused by a blow,or heavy jolt to the head or a blow from the body that causes the head to move rapidly back and forth. They can range from mild to severe and can disrupt the way the brain normally functions. When being actively involved in sports an athlete runs a high risk of a possible chance of obtaining a concussion. Due to the physical toll participating in sports brings on your body, a concussion can occur. There are a number of ways from contact with another person, falling on the playing surface or being struck with an object such as a bat, racket or ball associated
The majority of teens who had encounter a concussion are due to sports. A concussion is a pathophysiological process that impacts the brain, typically caused by a trauma to the brain. Concussions are mainly caused by bumps, falls which makes the head move rapidly back and forth, or by a jolt. The brain is a 3 pound organ floating inside the skull. It’s surrounded by a cerebrospinal fluid, which shocks when its impacted. When the brains starts to move rapidly inside the skull, a concussion has taken place. One common cause is a direct hit to the head. The force makes the brain hit the inside of the skull. When the brain starts to slow down, it hits the other side of the inner skull. The other common scenario is a rotational concussion. This happens when the brain rotates from one side to another. As a result, the brain tissues are strained and sheared. In both cases, fragile neural pathways can be damaged, creating neurological disruption. Scientists suggest if an athlete has already experienced a concussion before, they’re 1-2 times more likely to have a second; 2-4 to have a third; and 3-9 to have a fourth. Surprisingly, research has shown females are more likely to have a concussion, and experience more symptoms compared to males. In addition, women take longer to recover than men. Concussions have shortterm and longterm consequences, or in some cases death.
Concussions can cause very serious injuries in many sports today. Many Pro-athletes have suffered at least one concussion. A Concussion is a very common injury in many sports. Many people try to prevent these because they can affect their lives a lot. Before you can come back to playing that you play, there are many stages you must pass after getting a concussion. Going through a concussion is very difficult.
“A concussion is a bruise to the brain caused by sudden a sudden blow to the head,” (Powell). Symptoms within a few minutes of a concussion are fuzzy images, seeing two of everything, seeing a bright light, memory distortion, and there can be a huge amount of throbbing pain. After the throbbing pain “…an awakening…You asked what happened and someone explain the injury with a cute euphemism. You had you bell rung… reassured you return to action,” (Powell). Once reentering the game the chances of a repeat episode have just multiplied. The chances of long term brain damage have also multiplied. Concussions can also cause changes to brain structure and in the density of the brain’s white matter. MRI’s can detect changes in white matter of the brain but it is very limited. If you’re seeing changes to the brain that an MRI can see that’s if very worrisome (Healy). Players in contact sports also had the worst performances on test of verbal learning and memory than any other non contact sport. There are also other major symptoms that are major diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and CTE.
“Minnesota's high school athletes suffered about 3,000 sports-related concussions in the past school year, with nearly half of them involving football players and one in 20 resulting in severe symptoms that lingered for more than two weeks” (Olson). Concussions play a big role in contact sports at all levels even in high school. If you do not take concussions seriously at a young age it could cause serious problems when you get older. Serious stories of concussions or mass amounts of athletes who have suffered from concussions try to change the rules for sports to make them safer.
Lolita is unique. There is absolutely no book I’ve ever read in my life so far that can compare to such gorgeous, complex diction. Throughout Lolita, Vladimir lists rhymes, allusions, metaphors, anything and everything to mask the actions that his readers might find obscene and repulsive in order to not be completely blunt and straightforward. While in the process of reading the book, I felt like a juror, like it was my decision whether to let this man go free, be pressed with charges of rape, or convict him of murder and rape. Although I began to feel sympathetic for Humbert at times, I always remembered how manipulative he was towards certain characters from start to finish and wondered if he were doing the same to me.
Nabokov’s adept ability to manipulate the audience into making the reader offer consolation with even the most flagrant crime of Humbert Humbert evoked a sympathy which virtually connived his transgression. In a sense, we have accepted his wrongdoings towards Lolita even though unsubtly, Humbert Humbert’s monstrosity is prevalent throughout the novel. In order to approach Dolores, he toyed with Charlotte’s feelings and after Charlotte died, he claimed it to be “the miracle I hankered for” (117). At the point where Humbert Humbert brought Lolita to the “Enchanted Hunters” hotel following her mother’s death, it is evident that Humbert Humbert is a delirious rapist and one who doesn’t deserve even the slightest of compassion. The audience will sympathize Dolores Haze, “who has been deprived of her childhood by a maniac” (283). However, we also learn that Lolita was not as innocent as she is portrayed...
The interpretation of Lolita still consisted on the ideas of sex and the book as well as the character became a scandal. Nabokov has rebuffed sex themes since the beginning of the book’s publishing. In his famous interview with Playboy, Nabokov rejects the interviewer bringing up America’s sexual mores with “Sex as an institution, sex as a general notion, sex as a problem, sex as a platitude—all this is something I find too tedious for words. Let us skip sex.” (Toffler). His refusal to even talk sex proved how little his tolerance was when it came to humoring the audience about sex themes and sex related questions. In an interview with CBC during the early 1960s, Nabokov is quoted agreeing with an interviewer that believes “sex has become such a cliche, so that people can’t recognize anything else.” (...) which further shows how 1960’s mentalities could see nothing else outside of the realm of sex. In the same CBC interview, Nabokov disputes sex themes more openly and admits that his writing of the book has more to do with Humbert’s artistic nature and how that alienates him and creates unattainable love (...). While Nabokov wrongly uses a young girl’s abuse as a tool of illustrating a man’s “misfortunes” of being an artist, the novel is more than what the 1960’s audience perceived it to be. Nabokov did not intend to write a book about a fetish, nor did he, according to Playboy, wish to satirize American culture. The text included more substinance than what people perceived it to be and as did the character Lolita herself, who was more than a teen temptress. His writing of the book has nothing to do about sex, although his initial theme is flawed and an important example of men’s inability to write books featuring authentic female characters, unless they are being used as tools or over sexualized. And much like Humbert Humbert, no matter how hard Nabokov tried to manipulate the text, feelings of empathy still is evoked
In his essay, "On a Novel Entitled Lolita," Vladimir Nabokov tries to answer the age-old question, "What is the objective of the novel?" He quickly replies, "...I happen to be the kind of author who in starting to work on a book has no other purpose than to get rid of that book..." (311). There is more to his response than this, however. He goes on to say that his book was not written to celebrate pornography or pedophilia, nor was it written to promote Anti-Americanism (313 - 315). What's the purpose of his novel then? Well, Nabokov writes, "For me a work of fiction exists only insofar as it affords me what I shall bluntly call aesthetic bliss, that is a sense of being somehow, somewhere, connected with other states of being where art (curiosity, tenderness, kindness, ecstasy) is the norm" (314 - 315). He sees his novel in simple terms: art. Whether it be the novel Lolita or the name Lolita, a sexual meaning has been given to the word Lolita, and this is largely due to the strong sexual overtones used by the novel's main character Humbert to describe his character of obsession Lolita; thus resulting in different and confusing interpretations of the novel and the author's intentions.
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...