Characters that carry out evil or immoral actions often make a literary work appealing, while adding to the ambiguity of the character’s disposition. The hazy temperament of many characters in notable pieces of literature often makes the reader question the motives of such characters, or on the other hand, sympathize with certain characters. In Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita, Humbert Humbert spins a poetic web of lies, manipulating the reader into finding him nothing short of charming, while his actions exhibit nothing of the sort.
Humbert Humbert’s extensive range of dealings that, by society’s standards, can be argued as immoral and even evil, varying from sleeping with underage prostitutes, kidnapping and raping his stepdaughter, to even committing murder. The reader, on the other hand would never define Humbert Humbert as evil, merely misunderstood in his charismatic and even pleasant foreign manner. His way of seducing the reader with words commences from the first paragraph as he describes Lolita, a girl of fourteen, in such a way that communicates his genuine longing and heartache, fooling the reader to believe that she is the love of his life.
Lolita, light of my life, fire in 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. She was Lo, plain Lo, in the morning, standing four feet ten in one sock. She was Lola in slacks. She was Dolly at school. She was Dolores on the dotted line. But in my arms she was always Lolita.
The seduction of Humbert Humbert’s words makes the reader fall for him, which is exactly what he intends to happen. The fact that he kidnapped his beloved Lolita after indirectly causing the death of her mother, robbing her of her innocence and convincing the reader that she was the one to seduce him no longer matters, only that he is with her, as the reader empathizes with his yearning for her. Conversely, Humbert Humbert believes that Lolita is the victim and he has wronged her, he makes the reader believe that he wants what is best for her while throughout her adolescence, he committed the worst upon her, as he openly admits. He constantly gives her gifts which can either signify his deep affection or that he is really bribing her with expensive presents to keep their affair a secret, in reality it could be both but Humbert Humbert plays with the reader in such a way that the reader cannot distinguish between Humbert Humbert’s elaborate story and reality. His morality is also questioned when he murders Quilty, but strictly for what he has done to Lolita, as he says which can also be interpreted as what Quilty has done to Humbert Humbert by taking Lolita away from him. At a glance, Humbert Humbert’s motives seem genuine and faithful but at a second look they are more than questionable.
Humbert Humbert spins his story in the way that the reader can trust him and believe him; Nabokov is able to alter the morality of Humbert Humbert which is in question by the end of his memoir. Instead of being seen as a monster, he is still charming and his actions seem to be for the sake of love. Humbert Humbert’s complexity and moral ambiguity make him a notable character and allow for Nabokov to put on a puppet show with the reader’s mind being as alterable as the marionette, to Nabokov’s discretion. This makes Lolita an unforgettable piece that questions the norms of societal morality, as Nabokov makes Humbert Humbert an exception to every moral rule, as his motives are for the sake of love and love alone.
