Humbert Humbert the Victim

"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" (Nabokov 9). Vladimir Nabokov created two of the most enduring characters in the history of literature: Humbert Humbert and Lolita Haze. His narrator and main character, Humbert Humbert, tells the complex story of a man and his unhealthy obsession. What is unique about Lolita is that Nabokov gives Humbert one of the most socially unacceptable obsessions of all-- pedophilia, but still manages to subtly persuade the reader to sympathize with the sexual predator rather than the victim. Lolita is one of the most controversial pieces of literature that, because of Nabokov’s sparkling wit, forces the reader to consider Humbert a wild romantic who suffers in his pursuit of his unattainable perfect “nymphet” rather than a perverted middle-aged man. In Lolita, through his manipulating language, beautification of sexual desire, and his description of Lolita’s inconsiderate behavior, Vladimir Nabokov convinces the reader that Humbert’s experiences with Lolita are that of an actual tragic love story.
Humbert tactfully portrays himself to the reader as nothing but a kind, genuine soul rather than what he really is- a controlling, conniving pedophile. He uses manipulative, gentle language as a method to earn Lolita’s trust. During the period immediately following Charlotte’s death, Humbert keeps Lolita near him by manipulating her with persuasive language and gently lying to her about the horrible things the authorities will do to her if she tells anyone about their affair. Humbert convinces Lolita that “the normal girl is usually extremely anxious to please her father” (Nabokov 150). When their affair begins, he does not threaten her with violence like a stereotypical pedophile. Instead he tells her that she “will be analyzed and institutionalized” and “will dwell with thirty-nine other dopes in...