Sexuality and American Culture

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      The “doubling” notion is very present in the second half of Lolita. Humbert describes the unit of a motel as a strange arrangement which appeared to be for two couples (again the notion of doubling).

     “At first, in my dread of arousing suspicion, I would eagerly pay for both sections of one double unit, each containing a double bed. I wondered what type of foursome this arrangement was ever intended for…”

“… By and by, the very possibilities that such honest promiscuity suggested (two young couples merrily swapping mates or a child shamming sleep to earwitness primal sonorities) made me bolder…’

    Nabokov presents us Gaston Godin in chapter 6. His last name and first name subtly suggest that he is the double of Humbert by starting both with the consonant “G”. Nabokov also suggests that Godin is a homosexual pedophile and a double of Humbert by telling us that: “He knew by name all the small boys in our vicinity”.  It also happens that Godin is an admirer of Tchaikovsky, Norman Douglas and other writers who are all homosexuals. Another doubling that is very noticeable in chapter 11 is the fact that the play in which Lolita is a performer has “coincidentally” the same name as the hotel where Humbert and Lolita first had sex.

       Another important point is how Humbert’s nature changes throughout the novel. If Humbert was attempting to justify his actions in the beginning of the novel, at the very end of the novel, he doesn’t even attempt to do so. He confesses his cruelty and admits that he had corrupted a young girl and destroyed her life. I was surprised by this sudden change of nature because I was already used to the Humbert who was always defending himself and attempting to justify his actions. In the first chapter of part 2, we have a Humbert trying to convince Lolita that his actions are not entirely illegal and could have been legal in different legal systems by recounting the life of the Sicilians who are allowed to have a father-daughter relationship similar to his relationship with Lolita. At the end of the book, we have no such Humbert; he has now abandoned this fight to conform to the norms of the society by admitting that he is in fact a rapist and that he deserves to be arrested.

        Escoffier presents us the history of the discourse of homosexuality. Upon reading the first half of his essay, I have understood how nonconformity was associated with mental illness by authors such as Lindner in the late 1950s. From a psychoanalytic view, the homosexuals were mentally ill people, unhappy and frustrated rebels who wouldn’t conform to the society. Relating this essay to Lolita, it seems to me that Nabokov’s view of homosexuals was no different from these authors that Escoffier is telling us about in his essay. Let’s recall Nabokov’s description of Gaston Godin in Humbert’s words in chapter 6: He describes him as “a flabby, dough faced, melancholy bachelor…He always wore black, even his tie was black; he seldom bathed; his English was a burlesque.” “There he was devoid of any talent whatsoever, a mediocre teacher, a worthless scholar, a glum repulsive fat old invert, highly contemptuous of the American way of life, triumphantly ignorant of the English language…” . We can clearly see Nabokov's underestimation of Gaston in Humbert's words. Like Hindner, he clearly viewed homosexuals as miserable individuals and rejects of the society.