Lolita: Nabokov’s Humbert As The Modern Profile Of Pedophile
Is it a possibility, as historical authors created specific typologies for a fictional character who’s only purpose serves as the story’s villainous character or monster, foreshadows the typology of one of society’s modern monsters? Although Lolita, a fictional genre in historical literature written by Vladimir Nabokov, contain a main character known as Humbert Humbert, whose character’s typology, can be compared as an almost exact replica of the typology modern day law enforcement uses for pedophiles. Historically, the formal introduction of Pedophiles was not until the late 19th Century and later the implementation of the detailed profile in the mid 21st Century, used for behavior analysis to defining Pedophiles, author Nabokov’s fictional character Humbert. Humbert in the novel Lolita, and the novel’s context based 1940, and publication date of 1958, striking foreshadows some of the exact key behaviors used by law enforcement for detection for conviction of Pedophiles.
A brief summary of the novel Lolita is important to provide in order to understand its importance of comparison, as the main character and writer, Humbert. Humbert follows his lust and sexually fueled desires to obtain his preferred “nymphets”, he finds the perfect target in Dolores Haze. A twelve year old girl who he calls Lolita. This manipulative pedophile narrates his journey and ultimately leads to the rape after kidnapping Lolita. In legal conviction he reflects in his writings and expresses himself as bearing he responsibility for Lolita’s revealed unfortunately early death from childbirth. As narrating to readers in his manipulative and obviously delusional perspective of himself of superior intellect, he provides justification to his actions and referring to the readers as “the jury”, as if present in a courtroom in attempts to escape his unavoidable fate of incarceration and later dies, from heart failure. For the purpose of this comparison, the definition and typology of a pedophile will be of law enforcement’s perspective. Although, law enforcement may argue their job is only to arrest individuals who violate the law and that whether or not that offender is a pedophile is not important. This perspective and particular use of its distinctions for determining what makes an offender a pedophile, are evident through the novel. Pedophiles, defined by law enforcement also contains elaborate distinctions between other forms of the act but, to summarize what is essential to Humbert’s role in this comparisomn, to refer to someone as a Pedophile is to say that individual has a sexual preference for children. Using this definition says little to nothing about the other aspects of his character and personality. It is important to note highlight the use of the word ‘preference,' while Pedophiles prefer to have sex with children, they can and do have sex with adults although, it is more difficult. By using this form of the definition and the importance of the word ‘preference', clear evidence of this is found in chapter 18-19, as Humbert marries Charlotte yet, she alone does not provide him with sexual please and in order to do so, he must secretively image she is Lolita’s age.
In order to provide appropriate categorization of pedophiles, different categories exist and when implicating the use of each category’s distinctions, Humbert Humbert falls under The Preferential Child Molester (Pedophile) based on four major characteristic indicators are represented in the novel. These four major characteristic indicators are:
- His long term and persistent pattern of behavior represented through out the novel which is particularly evident in his behavior after arrested.
- Children are his preferred sex objects this is represented as he refers to his sexual exploited victim Lolita as, nymphettes.
- Well developed techniques used to obtain victims as represented as Humbert formulates an elaborate plan that he executes in kidnapping Lolita after he careful develops and maneuvers a plan to kidnapping Lolita from boarding school chapters 22-23.
- Sexual fantasizes focused on children, although a specific characteristic this is evident through out the entire novel upon his introduction to Lolita and the essences of ever thought Humbert has regarding Lolita.
Even considering the importance of these four major characteristic indicators, it must be emphasized that these indicators alone mean little. Their significance and weight comes as they accumulatively form a pattern of behavior. To provide a more definitive explanation for an understanding of these particularly patterns of behaviors Humbert replicates upon fitting the definition a pedophile, are compared using supporting text as evidence to key components summarized for a Preferential Child Molester, from this point will be referred to as Pedophile. Based on training provided to law enforcement to execute investigates with an end goal of the violator’s conviction and founded on extensive research and development from The Federal Bureau of Investigation.
When providing significance and weight to the four major characteristic indicators, multiple co-indictors are used to provide a solid foundation for the placement of an offender with in the category of a Pedophile. First of the major characteristic indicators mention previously is The Long Term and Persistent Pattern of Behavior which includes four key co-indicators. First of these co-indicators is the presence of the sexual abuse in the offender’s background. In the very beginning of the novel Humbert implies the presence of sexual abuse in his childhood background as he explains how he was sexually active prior to the age of thirteen resulting from everyone favoring and displaying physical forms or ‘being petted’, this detail of his adolescent is text as follows, “I overheard the servants discuss his various lady-friends, beautiful and kinds beings who made much of me and cooed and shed precious tears over my cheerful motherlessness.” Second, the offender frequently and unexpectedly moves as a way to deal with the problem. These moves occur with no explanation of the moves. If attempting to provide an explanation, it will reflect nothing of the true circumstances. In part one of the novel, Humbert moves multiple times in a short period of time, although his purpose is explained in the book are to pursue certain families which possess daughters fitting to his target. Another form of this can be explained as he uses, what he refers to as “breakdowns,' when his Pedopile urges cause him to experience overwhelming pressures that risk potential exposure by surfacing his sexual fantasizes, he self admits himself to mental health professional institutions. Of these key co-indicators, third and fourth, often though not always tend to be found together. Prior Pedophiles arrest and repeatedly planned high risk attempts to obtain a child. More often than not, these are found together as the offender has prior arrest as result of these bold and repeated attempts to obtain children. An example of these two found together, is evident by the exact moment found in the text that Humbert meets a unfamiliar woman that promises to fulfill his request of obtaining a child and later, “She surrendered my gift to the ex-detective whereupon I was suffered to leave”. In this moment, Humbert is confronted by is led to strange men who cause him to panic in fear of being law enforcement. He then, returns the child he refers to as a ‘trophy’ over to the three strangers and escapes further issues from this incident. This is the first contact with law enforcement as a consequence in pursuit to satisfy his sexual preference for children he encounters but, not the last. Second of the major characteristic indicators mentioned previously is, Children as Preferred Sex Objects which includes key six co-indicators. Using the combination of one through three, the offenders age being over twenty-five years old, single, and never married while living alone, from the self chosen limitations of dating yet, if the offender is married there is a special relationship with spouse. When comparing these co-indicators the first, second and third can be collectively used in comparison to Humbert specifically. Being single and over the age of twenty-five serves no significance alone. After Humbert’s first encounter with law enforcement, he pursues marriage as tactic of avoiding himself as a Pedophile. Using this tactic to form a delusional and false sense he is out smarting all others, he entertains the acts of marriage, referred in text,” With Valeria’s help I did find after all some legal outlets to my fantastic predicament”, to a woman named Valeria for a total of four years that later ended with her leaving him for another man she falls in love with and ultimately with her new lover she is provided with the happy life he would not provide her. Fourth of these key co-indicators is, the offender’s excessive interest in children. In order to be considered excessive for the purpose of Pedophile behavior, the example of Humbert’s over involvement with children orphanages provides him with an ease of access to surrounding himself with many potential victims. Next and fifth of these key indicators is, age and gender preference. Most Pedophiles have a certain age of a certain gender among children that they favor. This is represented as Humbert as in text he specifically explains this, “The idea of time plays such a magic part in the matter, the student should not be surprised to learn that there must be a gap of several years, never less than ten I should say generally thirty or forty, and as many as ninety in a few known cases, between maiden and man to enable the latter to come under a nymphet’s spell.” Last of these indicators and of upmost importance for he relevance to Humbert is, Pedophiles refer to children as “clean, pure, innocent”. Pedophiles have idealist views of children as expressed in through their language and writings and this is prevalent in the novel. Humbert gives the title of “nymphets” and coined as the term with the sole purpose of referring to his ideal profile with his own strict requirements that must be met to acquire the title. Humbert provides this detailed description in text, “Between the ages limits of nine and fourteen…provisionally plain or just nice, or cute or even sweet and attractive, ordinary, plumpish, formless, cold-skinned, essentially human little girls”. Humbert even directly instructs the reader to use the specific ages of nine and fourteen as “boundaries”. Third of the major characteristic indicators mention previously is Well Developed Techniques in Obtaining Victims which includes two key co-indicators. One of these two co-indicators and is not entirely easily detectable in text for the reader, Humbert’s skillful methods of identifying vulnerable victims. In the novel, represented as he highlights comments made by Charlotte Haze which express her lack of her daughter Lolita’s existence and show proof to her constant aggravation in response to her presence are comments such as, “ Just slap her hard if she interferes with your scholarly meditations”. This specific comment condones Humbert to use physical abuse to make Lolita obey if found as a bother to him for any reason. The other co-indicator is, access to children. In the novel, Humbert goes to great lengths to ensure continued and uninterrupted access to Lolita. The beginning of these extreme measures to ensure minimal interference he commits the serious sexual exploitative act of raping Lolita and in the murder of Clare Quilty. The character Clare Quilty, is not only his rival but, a pedophile with the same obsession with Lolita. Last of the major characteristic indicators mentioned previously and fourth is the Sexual Fantasies Focusing on Children, somewhat self-explanatory and has only one key co-indicator, the collection of child erotica. Child erotica can be explained as the most significant characteristic of all to Pedophiles. Child erotica, also commonly referred to by law enforcement as “pedophile paraphernalia”, is any material relating to children serving sexual purpose to the pedophile. These items necessarily illgel for a Pedophile to possess. These materials serve great purpose to Pedophiles. In the text, Humbert gives a perfect example, “A girl’s plain nightshirt that I had managed to filch from the linen closet of an orphanage”. When mentioning this child erotic, he also provides it use as found in the definition. To elevate Humbert’s sexual fantasy in this moment of the novel, using imagry describe as a young girl fitting that of a “nymphet” clothed in it.
In conclusion, the constructed fictional character of Humbert by Vladimir Nabokov in the historical literature and novel Lolita, foreshadows the modern profile and key components used by law enforcement for Pedophiles. Often expressed as “modern time monsters”, the specific category of Pedophile used for Humbert’s comparison, seek out a preferred children to sexual exploit by the behavior of these four major indicators and their co-indicators and provide significant information on the characteristics of Pedophile behavior patterns. Using all of this provides law enforcement with the essential information to conduct successful investigation for possible convictions. Although key text evidence is primarily listed from the beginning of the novel and important to note, as the beginning of the novel provides the character construction that is of primary use for the comparison. Yet, the entire novel of Lolita serves as a hauntingly and almost identical replica to what is seen as the profile of a Pedophile. Although the novel context and pulblication date are years prior to society’s formal introduction to Pedophile, the international fear of Pedophiles is still at large in the current year of 2019.
Works Cited
- Nabokov, Vladimir. Lolita. New York: A Division of Random House Inc. Second Vintage International 50th Anniversary Edition, 1997. Print Book
