Figural Analysis of Humbert Humbert in Lolita
( Hebei University of T echnology School Foreign Language,EnglishC102 Tianjin )
Wangmin 108785em
Abstrac t: Lolita, the most nsational and influential work that Vladimir Nabokov has ever written, has stirred a lot of controversial comments since its first appearance in 1955. Lolita tells us an abnormal story in which Humbert, a middle-aged man falls in love with 12-years-old Lolita. The protagonist Humbert Humbert is always criticized for his nastiness and lust. This text will give a detail analysis about him-what made him be that kind of person and why.
Key words: Lolita; Humbert Humbert; love; personalty
1.Introduction to Lolita
Humbert Humbert, a middle-aged man. In his childhood, he had his first love with Annabel who died of typhus.when he moves to America, he fantasizes Lolita as his ideal “nymphet”becau Lolita reminds him of Annabel. In order to keep Lolita in his life, Humbert marries Haze, Lolita's mother when Lolita goes to the summer camp. Charlotte Haze discovers his diary, which records his affection to Lolita and
江天佑his inner crets, while telling him that she is leaving, she is immediately hit by a car. Then Humbert picks Lolita up at the camp and begins their trip across the USA. Lolita makes u of her sickness and takes the opportunity to escape with another man named Quilty. Humbert tries to find her for two years until he receives a letter from Lolita, now a married, pregnant woman, asking for money. At the very last, he begins to e Lolita as she is, worn out and hugely pregnant. After Lolita's refusal to go with him, he gives her the money and decides to take revenge on the kidnapper, Clare Quilty. After shooting Quilty numerous times to death, Humbert is jailed and dead at last.
2.Discussion
In Humbert’s lifetime, there are many women、prostitutes and girls having gone through his life, while the two most important are Annabel and Lolita. Annabel is his first love which becomes a main reason that leads him confining his love only to the girl who is over eight but under fourteen years named after “nymphet” .
脖子右边有痣2.1 The love for Lolita
The book begins with “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”.Althoug
h just with a few strokes but moving and beautiful words, readers could tell out Humbert’s deep love for Lolita. On the first sight of Lolita, he describes the image like this “It was the same child — the same frail, honey-hued shoulders, the same silky supple bare back, the same chestnut head of hair. A polka-dotted black kerchief tied around her chest hid from my aging ape eyes, but not from the gaze of young memory, the juvenile breasts I had fondled one immortal day”. Therefore we can gather some reasons why he falls in love with Lolita from the description especially the emphatic word- “same”. Another reason is his puppy love image, Annabel, continually emerging in his mind. As Annabel has died, now Lolita is a new target. While, gradually he realizes his feelings about Lolita is not completely same with his emotion about Annabel.
2.2 Humbert’ s dual personality
Many critics comment the protagonist’s nastiness, lust and child love. However, Humbert is also an individual with a n of humor. For example, the description about his life in bedlam-“by bribing a nur I won access to some files and discovered, with glee, cards calling me "potentially homoxual" and "totally impotent." The sport was so excellent, its results —in my ca —so ruddy that I stayed on for a whole month after I was quite well”. Another one is his cute and teasing words about his cond wife Charlotte which is “"The Haze woman, the big bitch, the old cat, the obnoxious 屏线
mamma, the —the old stupid Haze is no longer your dupe. She has —”.Except for his child love, he is absolute a normal person who enjoys his life and loves his teaching job.
On the other hand, Humbert has mental dias and twisty affections. Due to this kind of affection tabooed and criticized by the society, he express his strong feelings on his dairy even locks it in the drawer. He becomes the slavery of the old social conventions. There is a ntence said in this book after Humbert had xed with Lolita- “I am going to tell you something very strange: it was she who duced me.”The abnormal love between Lolita and Humbert should attribute to Lolita instead of poor Humbert in a large part. Although the whole situation is emed controlled by Humbert. Actually he is always led by the women or girl around him including shooting Quilty at last.
As a split person, Humbert is constantly struggling between his two lves,his fantasy and the reality. When finally he yields to his own fantasy, he brings disaster to others as well as himlf.
梵高向日葵图片
旁注3.Conclusion
Nowadays, both in China and abroad take place many rapist who abud children involving News anchor and teacher or headmaster. Child love has become a heat discusd topic today. While it just like the author had predicated that in the eighteen century, but what this text wants to emphasize is t
广东省简介oday’s child love is so much different with the one described in this novel. Humbert is not a totally bad person and he has mercy on most of people except for Quilty. The most important thing is there existing love in his deep heart, the problem is he afraid of the world 、the society and the people. Therefore when readers and critics evaluate this novel, they should pay more attention on the beauty of the language and symmetry rather than the moral concept.
References
李小均，流亡者永在旅途[D]，四川外语学院学报第六期，2001。
杨振宇，善良的上帝在细节中试论纳博科夫的小说《洛丽塔》[D]，浙江工业大学人文艺术学院。
徐艳辉《洛丽塔》中的命名游戏及其意义，(解放军外国语学院三系，河南洛阳471003)，2004. Wang Juan，Multiple-perspective Analysis on the Writing Style of Lolita[D],Overas English,2010.
关于秋天的诗
Li Ming,A Postmodern Interpretation of Nabokov's Mirror-Reality Complex in Lolita[D], Shandong University,2009.
