Of course the writer is correct and I thought the same thing when I read that book.
I do remember one scene near the end when the main character is looking down at some small-town scene from a hilltop (or something like that) and he can hear laughter of children in the distance and he thinks to himself that he stole Lolita’s childhood.
Excellent article.
I’ve never seen that perfume ad, but I wonder how it is any different than thousands of messages sent every day ‘sexploiting’ little girls.
The whole “Toddlers and Tiara’s” genre is way beyond creepy.
I thought Lolita was a truly nauseating and creepy book. I also had to read it in high school (I remember that same cover with the saddle shoes) and it completely appalled me that our teacher was gushing over it. In fact, it rather made me wonder about the teacher...
Child molesters always say it was the fault of the child, the child “made them do it,” etc. While Nabokov may have meant this to show the complete unreality and depravity of the self-justifying Humbert Humbert, it’s undeniable that many people got exactly the opposite message out of it and that it served to create that image of a sexualized child that now seems to be so dear to the hearts of everybody, ranging from advertisers to Penn State coaches.
I read it when I was nineteen, and it was pretty clear that it was molestation and rape to me.
One correction to the article. The term “pedophile” should be applied to those who sexually abuse prepubescent children. While what Humbert Humbert does is bad (based on descriptions I have read, I’m not ever going to read the book), Lolita is presumably past puberty and at least somewhat able to cope with and recover from what happens to her.
A pedophile who assaults a prepubescent child, however, is orders of magnitude worse. The psychological damage to the child is much worse and longer lasting. It could also lead to the victim themselves becoming a future pedophile, if I’m not mistaken. Which means that one act or series of acts of brutality have consequences that, unchecked could last generations.
The younger a person is when abused, the greater the damage. The distinction is important.
My grandmother was married at 15, my grandfather was 21 at the time (this was in 1920). She and my grandfather remained married for 64 years, until he died in 1984. Those who would call this child abuse and would call my grandfather a rapist or pedophile would be wrong. My grandma was a very kind and loving person, completely normal acting to all those who knew her, and didn’t seem to have suffered any ill effects associated with abuse or rape.
Visit any mall and you will see young girls dressed like street walkers. Not that this is an excuse for pedophilia, but you have to blame parents for letting their daughters dress and act like this and put them at risk for sexual exploitation.
I read the story too - it’s a very well written story.
It’s also very graphic; it isn’t graphic in detail, but the imagination of HumbertX2 is shocking in all of it’s masculine obsessiveness.
I did chuckle when HumbertX2 tried to excuse his obsession by stating that Edgar Allen Poe had his Virginia, so he could have his own vixen as well.
Most people have only seen the movies. I also read the book and was quite disgusted.
The Victorian crybabies in our society have got this whole thing out of whack. A 22 year old male can get 15 years in prison for having consensual sex with a 15 year old sex pot, but a man can get his teeth knocked out, his skull fractured and permanently disabled by a thug who gets 90 days.
For my part, I am sick and tired of hearing about how girls who have been pubescent and sexually active for years are “raped” by an older boyfriend. And, a woman assaulted by a stranger in her privates is no more injured in my opinion than any other serious assault victim.
Suck it up ladies. Your privates are no more important than any other serious injury. And, a person having consensual sex with a 15 year old maybe should get a pay out ticket, maybe.