So, I must ask you to forgive the incredible lull in between my previous post and this one. I am not very good with blogs. However, now is not the time to think on such things. Let us return to Monsieur Humbert's current story.
We left Humbert Humbert (hereafter referred to as H.H.) in the midst of a cycle that was close to driving him insane. Being in proximity to nymphets was provoking his lusts, while his inability to satiate said lusts caused him distress. To that end he would go on long expeditions to escape. Well following on of these expeditions a friend or relative invites him to stay for a while at the home of a friend of theirs. This home would be quaint and was located moments away from a lake that would provide a place for quiet introspection. H.H arrives to find a place much more unsavory than he was led to believe. He finds the domicile garish and the matron of the house (a Ms. Charlotte Haze, whom he refers to as the Haze woman) far to Hollywood in her sensibilities. He has all but decided to turn down the invitation to stay there and flee when he is taken into the garden and sees little Dolores Haze (referred to commonly as Lolita, Lo, or Dolores when she makes someone angry). To put it into terms that aren't sexually gratuitous, she knocked him off his feet. I'll not attempt to uncover whether or not his feelings amounted to love or were just lust, suffice it to say she caused him to stay.
The weeks that ensued caused saw him become a silent permanent fixture in the house. The Haze Woman almost immediately falls for his good looks and H.H. takes advantage of that to spend as much time near little Lo as his can. If Humbert is to be believed his every brush against her amounts to a sexual excitation that normal men couldn't fathom. I'd like to think, that this would have been enough for H.H. Living in the Garden of Eden and only ever looking at the Tree of Life. Unfortunately, Charlotte Haze seemed to resent her daughter, and the good favor her new paramour lavished on her. Seeking to separate them from Lolita, Charlotte sought to send Lolita to a boarding school. H.H. could have died. In his rage he cursed the Haze Woman, and extolled the virtues that Lolita had. Virtues that, he remarked, either had diminished in Charlotte or never existed to begin with. Of course, Charlotte finds the letter. For the briefest minute all is lost. Charlotte is distraught and beside herself with jealousy and anger. She screams that she'll take Lolita away, and he'll never see her again. Then runs out of the house to send some important letters. Humbert sits in a haze (no pun intended) and as providence would have it is saved by a stray dog in the street, which causes a car to jump the curb and kills Charlotte Haze instantly.
I must admit, with the lies and scheming to get in proximity with little Lo, I am becoming less convinced at the love H.H. claims to have on behalf of Lolita. What I did find interesting was that as I was reading about Humbert's exploits I found myself making the association with the Songs of Solomon.
This led me to think about another thing that I heard at church once when I was little. My pastor said something to the effect of sometimes in the Bible it seems as if sins of the father are exacerbated in their sons. The best example of this would be King David. For the sake of brevity, I will assume you are caught up on the story of David and Bathsheba, if not feel free to search for the story on Google. David's sexual immorality was compounded and ultimately multiplied in his sons. Ammon for instance lusted after and then raped his sister Tamar. Solomon on the other hand had the Kingdom stripped from his son due to his own sexual immorality, which resulted in decades of Kings that didn't acknowledge God. All that posit the question, could sexuality be something that is genetic? Might H.H. have been genetically predisposed to be infatuated with girls in the 12-14 year age range? If that is the case how much of his behavior should be attributed to him. Much in the way alcoholism is considered a disease that is capable of generational transmission, was Humbert in the same boat?
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