Paradise Lost

LAST TIME ON LOLITA:

Charlotte Haze ran out into the street and got hit by a car, leaving the mischievous Humbert Humbert free to exercise his machinations on the young Delores Haze (our Lolita).

THIS TIME:

Let it never be said that H.H. wasn't a clever man. A gentleman less in control of his lusts might have run off at the first possibility to secure Lolita, and in the process revealing to the world his intentions. Humbert, feigned grief. He sat with friends and talked about his love for the late Charlotte Haze (whom he had married in case I had neglected to mention that last time). They sat around and talked about the appropriate way in which to tell young Delores that her only living relative was now dead. Humbert suggested that he take her on a trip for a while. In this way, she wouldn't be confronted with the realities of going to school and coming home to a house absent her mother. Only after selling, the deceased's friends on this plan of action did H.H. leave to pick up Lolita from the summer camp she had been staying at.

They drove long into the night, and finally stopped at a hotel. Delores took the knowledge of here mother's death rather difficultly. Although whether that's due to her predisposition to theatrics or sincerity I am unsure. While at the hotel, Humbert feeds Lolita some sleeping pills, with the intention of ravishing her in the night, however the pills aren't strong enough and it give's Lolita some insight into her new step-father's designs on her. She awakes the next morning and proceeds to instigate coitus (i have always wanted to use that word) siting a sexual experience that she had previously while at the summer camp.

In the ensuing months they moved around from state to state, in an attempt to simultaneously keep Lolita occupied and keep them from being discovered. Finally, they settle down, and Humbert enrolls Lolita in an all girls school.

When starting this blog, I believe I said something to the effect of I was desirous to understand the subtle distinction between what was classified as perverse and what fell under the purview of love.  

1 Corinthians 13:4 says, "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."

Taking such a description into account, we can easily say that H.H. is patient, and often kind. He doesn't envy or boast. He is hardly proud. Actually, most of these things on the surface appear to be things that Humbert would espouse. The problem is that Humbert is that each of these things Humbert does in an attempt to get something else. Which ultimately makes him the model of self seeking.

If I could add an addition to this description, it would be that love is something that is enjoyed in the light, while lusts are generally kept in the darkness. Unfortunately, I'm still unsure of whether that is generated by social conventions or not.