Monday, May 9, 2011

Lolita -pg 309

Reading blogs are almost done! We only have 2 or 3 weeks left before we don't ever have to blog another book ever again. I do like reading, but the blogging is a bother for me. Although it does help keep me accountable. For the final couple weeks, Mr. Hill decided we could post just 2 posts a week instead of 3 (although still 100 pages of reading). So here is the remaining 60 or so pages left for my week.
So Humbert is literally paranoid about EVERYTHING. Everything Lolita does or says is suspicious. He freaks out when she is alone with other people or when she is out of his sight. While I think Humbert is going a little insane, I also think that some of the things he is thinking are not just in his imagination. For example, he writes down a license plate number of a person following them, but Lolita (the sneaky little girl) erases it. Why doesn't she want him to have it? Another thing that happened was Lolita was seen playing doubles tennis with a strange man and she wouldn't tell Humbert anything about it.
Now, the real drama starts when Lolita is sick in the hospital and she is checked out by someone other than Humbert. He thinks that Lolita has been in contact with this man all along, but he cannot seem to find them (even after retracing all the hotels they stayed at). He has a 2 year relationship with a woman named Rita, I think it was just to get over Lolita. He still "loves" her, or whatever you would call it.
Eventually, he gets a letter from Lolita, saying that she has married and is pregnant. Humbert tracks her down and finds her married to a man other than the one who abducted her. He gives her money and asks her to come away with him, but she gently yet firmly refuses. I kind of feel bad for Humbert at this point... It has to be hard to leave the one you are in love with, even if she is your daughter.
After this, he seems to realize what exactly he's done, and how sick it is. He goes to see a priest and he claims he will never forget how he deprived Lo of her childhood. He even calls himself a maniac, as he addresses Lolita directly. I actually do feel for Humbert at this point because he seems to really understand what he did. Of course, that doesn't make it any more acceptable.
Humbert finds the man who abducted Lolita and actually kills him, after a violent struggle. Although no one else seemed to notice the man being shot.. so part of me wonders if this was in Humbert's imagination. What if this entire story was in Humbert's imagination? It just seems so unreal.

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