Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Lolita, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Perversity, Obsession, and Art
Suburbia and American Consumer Culture
Exile, Homelessness and Road Narratives
Life and Literary Representation
Women, Innocence, and Male Fantasy
Patterns, Memory and Fate
Summary
Analysis
After she recovers from a fever, Humbert allows Lolita to have a “Party with Boys,” in the house. Every ten or twenty minutes, Humbert invents an excuse to come downstairs and check on what’s going on. The party goes terribly: one girl doesn’t show up, one boy brings his cousin, and nobody can dance. When it’s over, Lolita says the boys disgusted her. Delighted with this, Humbert buys her a bicycle, a new tennis racket, and a book on the history of painting.
Lolita’s social life is as much a sham as Humbert’s, probably because of the abuse she has suffered has made her antisocial. He is relieved to see this, and rewards her with gifts.
Themes
