“—I would have to get rid somehow of a difficult adolescent whose magic nymphage had evaporated-to the thought that with patience and luck I might have her produce eventually a nymphet with my blood in her exquisite veins, a Lolita the Second, who would be eight or nine around 1960, when I would still be dans la force de l'age; indeed, the telescopy of my mind, or un-mind, was strong enough to distinguish in the remoteness of time a vieillard encore vert-or was it green rot?-bizarre, tender, salivating Dr. Humbert, practicing on supremely lovely Lolita the Third the art of being a granddad” (174).
In this passage, Humbert laments that he made “a great mistake” when he did not flee for Mexico and set into motion this incest driven fantasy. An interesting contrast exists here in Humbert’s blurring of the loving roles of husband, father, and “granddad” with his pedophilia. Humbert’s willingness to combine these roles provides an example of his fractured sense of self and time. He seems only to be capable of thinking about time in terms of his “dans la force de l'age” and a “nymphet’s” peak years. Everything else, such as, consequences, is a remote impossibility for Humbert who claims through the “telescopy of my mind, or un-mind” to be able to imagine each generation he will prey upon. Ultimately, he fails to fill in the spaces between the periods of molesting his progeny and perceive how his actions are incompatible with the roles he imagines assuming. As a result, Humbert seems like a determined and fragmented monster that is similar to a mid-evil vice character in his inability to be moral. Therefore, this passage may serve to remind readers that Humbert’s solipsism, which is rooted in rhetoric and control of language, sometimes fails to persuade due to his inability to define or express love in a way most would understand.
In this passage, Humbert laments that he made “a great mistake” when he did not flee for Mexico and set into motion this incest driven fantasy. An interesting contrast exists here in Humbert’s blurring of the loving roles of husband, father, and “granddad” with his pedophilia. Humbert’s willingness to combine these roles provides an example of his fractured sense of self and time. He seems only to be capable of thinking about time in terms of his “dans la force de l'age” and a “nymphet’s” peak years. Everything else, such as, consequences, is a remote impossibility for Humbert who claims through the “telescopy of my mind, or un-mind” to be able to imagine each generation he will prey upon. Ultimately, he fails to fill in the spaces between the periods of molesting his progeny and perceive how his actions are incompatible with the roles he imagines assuming. As a result, Humbert seems like a determined and fragmented monster that is similar to a mid-evil vice character in his inability to be moral. Therefore, this passage may serve to remind readers that Humbert’s solipsism, which is rooted in rhetoric and control of language, sometimes fails to persuade due to his inability to define or express love in a way most would understand.
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