The Silver-tongued Rapist in Vladimir Nabokovs Lolita Essay -- Naboko

The Silver-tongued Rapist in Lolita You can always matter on a murderer for a fancy prose style. So says Humbert Humbert at the start of Lolita in his account to the Ladies and gentlemen of the jury (9). He refers to himself as a murderer (he is, after all, guilty of killing Quilty), not as a rapist, the far more serious offense Lolita levels at him. That I, and everyone else who reads the book, call Dolores overcast by the name Lolita demonstrates the efficacy of Humberts fancy prose style - under the darn of his aesthetic mastery, we, the jury, must bend to his subjective vision through memory, and and so we checker the twelve-year-old nymphet as Lolita, as she is in Humberts arms. It is difficult to castigate Humbert when we see the world through his European eyes. Humberts main strength is his sense of humor. Nabokov is real to throw Humberts way all the American kitsch he can overcompensate - mostly in the form of Charlotte Haze. His sly insults sail over he r head, nevertheless Humbert wins our approval by making sure we understand them. Similarly, we admire him be...