Obsessions

"...I would park at a strategic point, with my vagrant schoolgirl beside me in the car, to watch the children leave school-always a pretty sight...she would insult me and my desire to have her caress me while blue-eyed little brunettes in blue shorts, copperheads in green boleros, and blurred boyish blondes in faded slacks passed by in the sun." (I have the ebook so the page numbers are a bit off, but it can be found in chapter 2).

This particular excerpt effectively encapsulates Humbert's obsession with nymphets and feminine youth, not necessarily Lolita. Lolita is a victim in many respects, but what stands out in particular (to me, anyway) is the flagrant manner in which Humbert has projected onto her both Annabel's memory and his deeply grotesque fascination with pubescent girls. I find this scene particularly disturbing (aside from the fact that he wants Lolita to fondle him while he watches young girls exit a school bus) because it highlights her insignificance in a way. Despite Humbert's apparent obsession with Lolita, he remains attracted to other nymphets and, at times, compares Lolita to those who are more appealing to him, if even by a smidgen. She is enticing because she is more accessible than other nymphet's due to his title of convenience: stepfather. Also, Lolita is vulnerable because she has no one else to turn to, and Humbert preys on that, frightening her with the threat of being sent to a reformatory school should he be thrown into jail. In addition, Humbert goes out of his way to locate a beach so as to reenact the scene from his childhood, and, ironically, his sexual plans with Lolita are foiled, much as they were with Annabel. This is just one of many instances in which Lolita appears to play the role of the puppet, a stand-in of sorts.

Lolita's usefulness will perceivably expire when she breaches the realm of maturity, via age or the loss of innocence, the latter of which has already occurred. So why is Humbert still obsessed with this tainted nymphet? The target of Humbert's lust, like a pendulum, seems to sway back and forth between Lolita and youth in general. He appears to justify his attraction to her by labeling it "love", but is that accurate? Can Lolita conceivably become a component of Humbert's future sans nymphet-ness?