“I was, and still am, despite mes malheurs, an exceptionally handsome male; slow-moving, tall, with soft dark hair and a gloomy but all the more seductive cast of demeanor.” - Lolita
Humbert Humbert, the deceptive (and delusional) narrator of his memoir, was very aware of his physical and intellectual attributes; he could not help but write of himself constantly. His memoir, published after his, and Lolita’s death is perhaps an extension and legacy to the narcissism that characterized Humbert’s behaviors and thoughts.
If there was one word to describe Humbert, it would be Narcissist; not just a narcissist, but a narcissist with a capital N. In short, Humbert was full of himself, even to the point of laboriously convincing the reader that he is reliable. Humbert clearly saw himself as a striking figure, able to pick up any woman he so desired; for according to him, they would all come toppling unto his lap. Yet, Humbert, as a narcissist was clearly uninterested in others; they were all objects of varying worth. And like most narcissists, Humbert eventually began to cut others off, in an attempt to isolate himself with Lolita. It was all about his hedonistic journey, his trajectory towards his end goal. Such was the case with Valeria, and Charlotte. Valeria was nothing more than a means to an end - to rid himself of his deplorable addiction towards young prepubescent girls. And, despite Humbert’s dislike of Lolita’s mother, he marries her so that he can stay near Lolita.
Humbert had an aura of egotistical preoccupation, constantly considering his personal preferences, aspirations, and needs above everything else and everyone else. He was very picky and critical of others, often noting qualities he found irritating or amusing; his very writing clearly shows the extent of his observation of others and his feelings about them. His object of obsession was what he regarded as “nymphets”, young girls between the ages of nine and fourteen who emanated specific elusive qualities. Whatever these elusive qualities were, they were only visible and beguiling to Humbert’s discriminatory sexual attractions. And in attempt to resurrect the past prepubescent experiences with the girl Annabel, Humbert ravenously sought for that perfect nymphet to devour. Summarily, it all becomes about satisfying his detestable lusts; even his professed love for Lolita is no love for her, or to her, but a love to his unholy desires.
As Humbert’s world begins to tumble, and Lolita experiments sexually with others her age, Humbert becomes frantic; as he loses more control of that which consumes him, he enforces more and more restrictions on Lolita. In an attempt to preserve his object of obsession, he does whatever necessary to keep Lolita; he cannot lose his object of adoration, who satisfies his very lewd impulses. All the while, Humbert claims that it was Lolita who has seduced him; he endeavors to portray himself as the victim, bewitched by the temptations of Lolita. Just like a narcissist, the blame is shifted upon another; Humbert is the saint, but Lolita is the temptress.
Stupefied by his paranoia, Humbert tries to stop the inevitable - that Lolita is trying to leave him. But as Lolita is taken away by her "uncle", Humbert cannot help but express his utmost rage that his very carnal treasure has been taken from him. Humbert was not flustered because he particularly cared for Lolita, or loved her, but because she was to him, the very object that satisfied every corner of his depraved and sacrilegious lechery.
Without end, Humbert was obsessed and consumed with himself; in his self-centered world, people were objects, a means to an end, to eventually fulfill his nefarious desires with a nymphet. Is Lolita a love story? Yes, Lolita is a love story about a narcissist who unknowingly fell in love with his devilish passions leading to the point of rape, incest, pedophilia and murder. In the end, it was not Lolita who Humbert worshiped, but his compulsive desires and the hedonistic fulfillment he gained from them.
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