Lolita Research Paper

Lolita, a novel written by Vladimir Nabokov is part of the extensive and well-known list

of challenged or banned books. This novel was banned from schools and many colleges, the

main reasons are due to its use ofsexual content and inappropriate use of language throughout

the narration. In the present day, Lolita is viewed as Vladimir Nabokov's most well-known and

disputable novel that suggests themes such as the innocence, damage of love, and manipulation

with the usage of words. The purpose of the authors’ novel was to make the reader question

themselves about morality and in some cases identify with the character Humbert and his way of

morality. The justification of this research paper is to analyze how the themes are related to the

questioning of morality by the author.

The Russian born Vladimir Nabokov was one of the most ingenious authors of the 20th
century, known for his originality and accomplishment as a writer (Vladimir Nabokov). Vladimir
Vladimirovich Nabokov, the author of the well-known novel Lolita, was born in St. Petersburg,
Russia, on April 22, 1899. He belonged to a wealthy and well-recognized Russian family who
was forced to flee to the west in 1997 after the Bolshevik Revolution. Their family was also
trilingual; Aside from Russian, they also spoke French and English which in the future it
influenced his narration forms. Nabokov studied Slavic and Romance languages in Trinity
College, Cambridge (Vladimir Nabokov). While he was in Cambridge his new experiences
influenced in the writing of his also well-recognized novel, Glory. When Nabokov’s finished his

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studies at Cambridge in 1922 he moved to Berlin with the rest of his family, where he lived for
14 years. A year later, he married Véra Evseyevna Slonim, a Jewish Russian woman who bore
him their son Dmitri in 1934 (Vladimir Nabokov). He became a United States citizen in 1945,
during these years he worked as resident lecturer for Wellesley College and Cornell University.
Also, he began to write Lolita among other novels, his wife was very supportive and would help
him with writing, editing, proofreading, translating and driving (Vladimir Nabokov). It was not
until the publication of Lolita in Paris that his reputation as a writer began to grow. The novel
caused a big impact as a very well-known sensation in Europe, later this year he was proposed to
publish it in the United States where he received the same reaction from the readers, and wasn’t
well accepted in some libraries. It is not surprising then that the typescript of ''Lolita'' was
rejected by four major New York publishers (Viking, Simon & Schuster, New Directions and
Farrar, Straus & Giroux) (Summer Reading). Later on Lolita gave Nabokov immense fame and
money which he used to make a return to Europe and settle as a full time writer (Vladimir
Nabokov). In 1961, the author decided to move to Montreux, Switzerland, where he spent the
rest of his life. He died from a bronchial congestion in July 2, 1977 and was buried in Clarens
cemetery in Montreux.
Lolita is a well-recognized novel filled with tragedies, love, obsession, and sexual content
that was based on the author point of view of the American life. "He would do things like travel
on the buses around Ithaca and record phrases, in a little notebook, from young girls that he
heard coming back from school," says Nabokov biographer Brian Boyd (NPR). The main themes
as I mentioned before where innocence, damage of love, and manipulation with the usage of
words from the point of view of the character “Humbert Humbert”. The damage of love is
mainly narrated in the novel pedophilia since the character Humbert Humbert “falls in love” with

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Dolores a pre-teen who is the daughter of her recently wife. “Nabokov himself described
Humbert as “a vain and cruel fetch” and “a hateful person” (quoted in Levine, 1967)”
(Dangerous Pages). Obsession is a major part of the innocence throughout the book because even
during the novel the character does a lot of things just to be with Dolores and somehow be the
only man in her life.
Nabokov’s novel was a novel challenged and edited throughout the years. The novel was
first challenged by British Customs in 1955 calling the work “indecent” (Dangerous Pages). The
themes made a big contribution to the banning of the book were the character Humbert takes
control of his 12-year-old step-daughter and completely tries to take over her life. This novel can
be compared to the trilogy of 50 Shades of Grey where is also considered an erotic novel, but
more focused on sexual action that has also received a lot of critics considered pornographic. The
readers that go through the novel without actually analyzing the language used by the author
would consider it as “pornographic”, but the readers that do follow the language he uses see the
novel as romantic.
Through the novel, the narrator mentions the events that him and Dolores go through
without exactly excluding information from his past, sexual acts, and mental or physical
condition, as his prison being a cell. For example, at the beginning of the book he starts with the
lines: “Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins (Nabokov, Lolita, 1).” This line shows the burning
or obsessive feelings towards Dolores which can be seen as monstrous not only for the infant or
“nymphet” but also for him as these obsessive feelings can lead him to acts that can have serious
consequences. “I loved you. I was a pentapod monster, but I loved you. I was despicable and
brutal, and turbid, and everything, mais je t’aimais, je t’aimais! And there were times when I
knew how you felt, and it was hell to know it, my little one. Lolita girl, brave Dolly Schiller

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(Nabokov, Lolita, 312).” In this line the character basically that he didn’t really only saw Dolores
Haze for just sexual enjoyment, but he actually loved her in his own twisted way when he saw
her after 17 years and pregnant with another mans’ baby (Banned Books Week).
Both characters where affected by this situation. First of all, Humbert’s obsession with
pre-teen girls who he called them “nymphets” and well Dolores had to live with the horrible
memories that Humbert Humbert caused her by raping her instead of protecting her. He took
advantage of her innocence, but the author made it look like he was trying protect her while
practically kidnapping her after her mothers’ death. Dolores didn’t previously have a father-
daughter relationship until Humbert Humbert came since her relationship with her mother was
difficult since she always considered her as “rude”. “She begins to charge for certain services
and manipulate Humbert’s obsession to obtain her own ends (Banned Books Week)”.

And as

the narrator tells Humbert had always a hard time in relationships because of the fact of his

obsession young girls which lead to cheating and rumors of his sexual preferences. He even lets

the reader now about his experiences with psychiatrics because of his unbalanced conditions that

he often referred this visits as “breaks”. After his visit from Dolores house, he makes a short stop

so he can kill the Claire Quilty who helped her escape and kicked her out of his house after she

refused to be part of a pornographic movie. Humbert is arrested for a traffic violation and put in

prison once the authorities connect him to the murder (Banned Books Week). The story ends

with the death of Dolores during labor on Christmas Day with a child from another man.

Many readers will see the novel as “indecent”, since the language of the authors plays

with us the “readers”. “Nabokov's prose alone can seduce readers into seeing the man's otherwise

outrageous and criminal point of view (NPR)”. Even though the author is trying to seduce the

reader it can’t be taken as an excuse that the novel isn’t indecent and this is why the novel

was

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banned in many different institutions after it was published. The major plot takes part in the
twisted relationship between Dolores Haze and Humbert Humbert was basically the
“pornographic references” by many publishers that refused to publish it. The abuse of innocence
that many readers claim isn’t actually a reason that causes the novel to be banned, when someone
understands how the author plays with the language the novel can be turned to romantic where it
shows how an obsession with someone can lead you to make crazy acts. Most high school
students should be allowed to read this novel, at this levels of education they are most likely to
understand these mature, the book is basically real-life issues.

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