Is Love Always Love?
Hi again fellow students!
So I just finished reading Lolita... Is it bad to say I'm happy it's over? I'll get into that for my last blog post, but for now, I am going to focus on what I think the meaning of the work as a whole is! Yay!
The Power of Language.
I wanted to mention the power of language in this post because it is definitely important to the novel but also mention it as an important stylistic aspect to the novel. Now, as AP Literature students, we already know that words and how you use them can be extremely powerful. This idea is extremely prevalent in Lolita, because Humbert Humbert uses language to seduce his reader, similarly to how he seduces Lolita herself. Even his choice to nickname her Lolita, since Lolita means "a sexually precocious young girl", shows that he is careful in his choice of language. The language in Lolita shades the underlying disturbing topics of rape, murder and incest. Humbert employs many allusions and repetitive language to undetectably "seduce" his reader into seeing his story as a simple love story, rather than a tragic tale. I say that the power of language is a part of the meaning of the book because it is the book, in it's entirety.
"Who is your hero, Dolores Haze?
Still one of those blue-caped star-men?
Oh the balmy days and palmy bays,
And the cars, and the bars, my Carmen!
Happy, happy, is gnarled McFate
Touring the States with his child wife,
Plowing his Molly in every State
Among the protected wild life.
Dying, dying, Lolita Haze,
Of hate and remorse, I'm dying.
And again my hairy fist I raise,
And again I hear you crying."
(256)
These are stanzas from a poem that Humbert writes while in a psych ward, and once Lolita has escaped him. This poem was especially striking to me because this is one of the brief moments we see Humbert letting go of the "fog", or lyrical language, that he covers his story with, while still maintaining a sense of wonderment in his rhymes, as we learn the truth of his desires. This is Humbert in his truest form, as his words show us how he is nothing without Dolores. The second stanza shows how brutal and unforgiving Humbert can be at times, while in the third stanza, he is practically begging for forgiveness. The way he writes makes us want to forgive him, want us as readers to understand his demented and twisted, but undying devotion to Lolita.
Love is Love... Perhaps.
My initial reaction to, "what is the meaning of the work as a whole", and "what did you take away", would have to be the idea that love comes in many shapes and sizes, and with it came my question of, "is this really love"? Of course, I discredit this novel being a true love story, for many reasons. For one, Lolita was raped and had to endure incest from her own stepfather. However, love and adore her stepfather when he becomes the tenant in her house. However, it is easy to see that the love Humbert had for Lolita was incredibly one sided. He was absolutely obsessed with her, and yet, what is more correct to say was he was in love with the idea of her. He tried reincarnating his initial love for Annabel Leigh into Lolita, but over time I think it morphed into a love for Lolita alone. "I looked and looked at her, and knew clearly I know I am to die, that I loved her more than anything I had imagined on earth, or hoped for anywhere else." (277) From this, though, and through events in my own life, love can be a beautiful and tragic thing. What I really took away from Lolita was how love can be viewed in many different ways by different people. Societally, someone's love isn't acceptable, but to them it is just love.
The meaning of love is especially prevalent today, as seen through many recent tragic events. Oddly, the most tragic of events, such as school shootings for example, can bring the people affected closer together, showing each other loveland comfort when faced with a tragedy. Could this be applied to Lolita as well? The love Humbert has for Lolita is in its own way a tragic and hopeless event, and although no one dies between them, the loss of Lolita when she runs away causes Humbert great pain. This physical separation doesn't deplete his love for her, however, it brings him closer to her, especially since he is constantly searching for her and writing poetry about her. For many, when they loose a loved one, the constant memory of them can often make that person feel great love for the one they've lose as they mourn.
We've seen the idea of love and how it affects major characters, especially in Song of Solomon; Pilate's last words about love, Guitar killing out of love, Milkman's quest to love his family heritage, and Hagar's dying devotion and unwavering love to Milkman. In a way, Hagar's obsessive love to Milkman can be translated to Humbert's love for Lolita, in that they are both fully obsessed with the other. As with both as well, Hagar would kill out of love, and so would Humbert, as we see with the killing of Clare Quilty. What Lolita introduces, however, is the pressure for a relationship to fit the mold of societies standards. Sure, Hagar was a few years older than Milkman, but no one discouraged them because of their age difference. However, the years between Lolita and Humbert are what make the novel so controversial. Lolita pushes the boundaries of love, what is acceptable, what is consent, what is considered okay in modern America. In a way, Nabokov took Milkman and Hagar's relationship, and multiplied it by a hundred and fifty percent in intensity.
In the end, I can't determine whether I could definitively say the relationship Humbert had with Lolita is true love. Perhaps, depending on how you look at it, yes, it is love. His devotion and care for her came out of a place of longing and love, but there are too many variables and horrible circumstances Humbert put Lolita through for me to consider their relationship true love.
I hope you enjoyed reading my blog post! Like I mentioned, the language piece is more about the stylistic aspect of the novel, but I thought it was too prevalent throughout the whole book to make it a part of the style blog post. Anyways, thanks for stopping by! Au revoir!
So I just finished reading Lolita... Is it bad to say I'm happy it's over? I'll get into that for my last blog post, but for now, I am going to focus on what I think the meaning of the work as a whole is! Yay!
The Power of Language.
I wanted to mention the power of language in this post because it is definitely important to the novel but also mention it as an important stylistic aspect to the novel. Now, as AP Literature students, we already know that words and how you use them can be extremely powerful. This idea is extremely prevalent in Lolita, because Humbert Humbert uses language to seduce his reader, similarly to how he seduces Lolita herself. Even his choice to nickname her Lolita, since Lolita means "a sexually precocious young girl", shows that he is careful in his choice of language. The language in Lolita shades the underlying disturbing topics of rape, murder and incest. Humbert employs many allusions and repetitive language to undetectably "seduce" his reader into seeing his story as a simple love story, rather than a tragic tale. I say that the power of language is a part of the meaning of the book because it is the book, in it's entirety.
"Who is your hero, Dolores Haze?
Still one of those blue-caped star-men?
Oh the balmy days and palmy bays,
And the cars, and the bars, my Carmen!
Happy, happy, is gnarled McFate
Touring the States with his child wife,
Plowing his Molly in every State
Among the protected wild life.
Dying, dying, Lolita Haze,
Of hate and remorse, I'm dying.
And again my hairy fist I raise,
And again I hear you crying."
(256)
These are stanzas from a poem that Humbert writes while in a psych ward, and once Lolita has escaped him. This poem was especially striking to me because this is one of the brief moments we see Humbert letting go of the "fog", or lyrical language, that he covers his story with, while still maintaining a sense of wonderment in his rhymes, as we learn the truth of his desires. This is Humbert in his truest form, as his words show us how he is nothing without Dolores. The second stanza shows how brutal and unforgiving Humbert can be at times, while in the third stanza, he is practically begging for forgiveness. The way he writes makes us want to forgive him, want us as readers to understand his demented and twisted, but undying devotion to Lolita.
Love is Love... Perhaps.
My initial reaction to, "what is the meaning of the work as a whole", and "what did you take away", would have to be the idea that love comes in many shapes and sizes, and with it came my question of, "is this really love"? Of course, I discredit this novel being a true love story, for many reasons. For one, Lolita was raped and had to endure incest from her own stepfather. However, love and adore her stepfather when he becomes the tenant in her house. However, it is easy to see that the love Humbert had for Lolita was incredibly one sided. He was absolutely obsessed with her, and yet, what is more correct to say was he was in love with the idea of her. He tried reincarnating his initial love for Annabel Leigh into Lolita, but over time I think it morphed into a love for Lolita alone. "I looked and looked at her, and knew clearly I know I am to die, that I loved her more than anything I had imagined on earth, or hoped for anywhere else." (277) From this, though, and through events in my own life, love can be a beautiful and tragic thing. What I really took away from Lolita was how love can be viewed in many different ways by different people. Societally, someone's love isn't acceptable, but to them it is just love.
The meaning of love is especially prevalent today, as seen through many recent tragic events. Oddly, the most tragic of events, such as school shootings for example, can bring the people affected closer together, showing each other loveland comfort when faced with a tragedy. Could this be applied to Lolita as well? The love Humbert has for Lolita is in its own way a tragic and hopeless event, and although no one dies between them, the loss of Lolita when she runs away causes Humbert great pain. This physical separation doesn't deplete his love for her, however, it brings him closer to her, especially since he is constantly searching for her and writing poetry about her. For many, when they loose a loved one, the constant memory of them can often make that person feel great love for the one they've lose as they mourn.
We've seen the idea of love and how it affects major characters, especially in Song of Solomon; Pilate's last words about love, Guitar killing out of love, Milkman's quest to love his family heritage, and Hagar's dying devotion and unwavering love to Milkman. In a way, Hagar's obsessive love to Milkman can be translated to Humbert's love for Lolita, in that they are both fully obsessed with the other. As with both as well, Hagar would kill out of love, and so would Humbert, as we see with the killing of Clare Quilty. What Lolita introduces, however, is the pressure for a relationship to fit the mold of societies standards. Sure, Hagar was a few years older than Milkman, but no one discouraged them because of their age difference. However, the years between Lolita and Humbert are what make the novel so controversial. Lolita pushes the boundaries of love, what is acceptable, what is consent, what is considered okay in modern America. In a way, Nabokov took Milkman and Hagar's relationship, and multiplied it by a hundred and fifty percent in intensity.
In the end, I can't determine whether I could definitively say the relationship Humbert had with Lolita is true love. Perhaps, depending on how you look at it, yes, it is love. His devotion and care for her came out of a place of longing and love, but there are too many variables and horrible circumstances Humbert put Lolita through for me to consider their relationship true love.
I hope you enjoyed reading my blog post! Like I mentioned, the language piece is more about the stylistic aspect of the novel, but I thought it was too prevalent throughout the whole book to make it a part of the style blog post. Anyways, thanks for stopping by! Au revoir!
Hi Amanda, I like your use of various covers of the novel. I always find the different interpretations presented in the covers of books interesting.
ReplyDeleteI also appreciate the comparison you drew to Song of Solomon, though there's one connection you didn't make: the family relationship between Hagar and Milkman that leads many to view their relationship as unnatural, much like Humbert's and Lolita's.
Finally, the name "Lolita" means what it does because of Nabakov's book, which shows the lasting impact of the novel and his writing.
Hi Mrs.LaClair,
DeleteI didn't even think to make that connection between Milkman and Hagar. However, now that you mention it, it makes total sense that even their relationship was out of the norm, not just because of their age.
Also, because "lolita" means what Humbert made it to be, does that mean he basically came up with the word? That may be a silly question, but did it have any other definition before he coined the phrase?
Hello Amanda, this is my favorite blog regarding Lolita so far! It is also the first one I've read. The user friendly design and visuals in your blog made it very appealing to me. However, what really grabbed my attention was the section of your blog, regarding love. I agree with you, that love truly comes in many forms and intimate affection for another person can be shown is different ways. Love affects us as humans deeper than we can sometimes anticipate. The ever-repeating theme of the "lost loved one" is a theme we as humans can understand, and it is apparently in your book, Lolita. Do you think that it is important for novels to have some form of love in it?
ReplyDeleteI really liked your reference to Song of Solomon and the story of Hagar and Milkman. Hagar's loving obsession of Milkman drove her to insanity, like Humbert's love for Delores. Do you think Milkman, or Dolores handled their lover's situation better? And why?
Hi Carter!
DeleteTo answer your question about if all novels should have some aspect of love in them, I think it is yes! My mind immediately jumped to music, and how a lot of modern day pop music and even rap has to do with love. Whether that be about a break up or falling in love, most songs you hear have to do about loving something or someone.
With that being said, I do think it is important for novels to have some form of love in them, because love comes in so many different forms. Love can easily be judged by others, and if others don't approve of that love, how is it impactful? I think by writing about and talking about many forms of love between different types of people, it opens up a whole new conversation that needs to happen. The more you love, the more acceptance you have. I think that idea is extremely important in our society and as humans in general, and we need to be more open minded when it comes to different types of love. We are getting there, though, as we've seen with the legalization of gay marriage in the past recent years. However, there is still a lot of work to be done. The more ways we express love, such as in novels or music, we are opening up an important conversation!
Hi Amanda. This is my first time ever reading your blog, and I must say I'm very impressed. I find your ability to take Humbert's complex writing style (in which he seems to subtly "seduce the reader", as you say) and break it down into bite size chunks rather imposing. Without having read any past blog posts or the book itself, I'm able to feel like I take away a big chunk of the novel.
ReplyDeleteSimilar to Mrs. LaClair, I also really appreciated the reference to Song of Solomon. I wouldn't have even made the connection myself, so kudos to you for being able to make that connection there.
I'll be sure to drop in to read your last blog post, as I am now enticed with your full take on the novel and it's greater meaning.