On the Morality of Lolita

Assignment from 8 Feb 2011

This assignment asks me to discuss the morality of Lolita. This is, in effect, two questions rolled into one:

1. What are my thoughts on the morality of the actions depicted in the novel
2. What are my thoughts on morality of authoring the novel

For my money, I would file Humbert Humbert under "Immoral". When I say immoral, I mean to say that his actions are reprehensible in their negative effects on others, not so much based on arbitrary rules imposed by some supernatural authority. Regardless of the actual flow of events when Humbert first attempts to engage Lolita in sexual congress, his intention was to molest her.

Sex and intimacy is not, in and of itself, immoral. Certainly, it's a wonderful byproduct of the biological rewards we have evolved to encourage reproduction. Through thousands of years of sexual evolution, humanity has developed numerous ways of pleasuring each other which have emerged through the fairly simple ruleset we were given at birth.

That said, pleasuring another is not inherently immoral. It's fun! Humbert's actions fall into the immoral territory when he attempts to impose himself upon Lolita against what he thought was her will. Further along in the novel, when he and Lolita travel the country, and later when they settle in New England, he takes upon himself to ensure she has little contact with others in the world. Her development as a human being has been so irrevocably damaged by his actions that she will forever be a changed person, rife with psychological blocks. That, to me, is immoral.

Nabokov, in authoring the work, however, was not acting immorally. In writing this book, he found a way to expose his reader to a world apart from their own. I can imagine that most people at the time he wrote the book were aware that what he depicted in the novel could happen in the real world, much less be aware of it happening. Many may level the argument against the author that his work encouraged a generation of pedophiles and child molesters. I would disagree, though, as with any work the manner in which a reader choose to react to a work is their own. Blaming Nabokov for their actions is no better than parents blaming the music industry for their child's actions.