Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Character in Conflict

In the novel Lolita, a middle-aged man by the name of Humbert Humbert has an odd fascination for young girls, preferably pre-teenagers. He often fantasizes about them whenever he sees one around and desires to have one. Humbert is sexually frustrated because he knows that it is morally wrong and socially unacceptable to be intimate with a young girl who is twenty-plus years younger than he is. Thus, Humbert finds himself in conflict between satisfying his strong desires and keeping with acceptable social standards.

            Humbert was always unhappy because he often fantasized about being intimate with young girls. He tried to cover up this strong desire by going to whore houses and having intimate relationships with women his age. He found pleasure in watching little girls (whom called nymphets) and engaged in sexual wishful thinking.

            One day, he took rent in a woman’s house and she had a nymphet daughter, Dolores Haze. From the moment Humbert saw her, he was attracted to her and tried as hard as he could to be with her. He called her his Lolita and eventually came to find that she was attracted to him too. This was a turning point for him because he finally had a chance to turn his fantasies into reality.

            Of course, Humbert had to carefully plan every day of his life with Lolita to make sure their relationship was kept a secret. Humbert had married Lolita’s mom just to have a reason to be near her. When Lolita’s mom died, they went road tripping across the country as “father and daughter.” But at the hotels they stayed at, they would engage in sexual activities.

            For a time, Humbert was confident that he wouldn’t get caught. He made sure that she was never out of his sight and that she didn’t talk with other men or boys. He was elated that he finally got to fulfill his desires with a nymphet. That is, until Lolita started acting suspicious with him and taking advantage of him, only doing intimate things with him if he paid her or if she felt like it. Humbert was aware that she was acting obnoxious and began to feel insecure because she would often flirt with other guys or disappear on her own.

            Eventually Humbert found himself at a bad fate because Lolita disappeared and ran off with another older man. He later found her pregnant with yet a different guy’s baby and she tried to take advantage of him by asking him for money. Corrupted and heartbroken. Humbert turned himself into jail, where he wrote his entire account in a journal.


26 minutes.