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
Humbert Humbert leaves Ramsdale and drives to Clare Quilty’s house—Pavor Manor—on Grimm Road. He arrives at night, and many cars are parked outside. Reassured that Quilty is at the house, he leaves, planning to return in the morning. On the way back to the lodge where he’s staying, he passes a drive-in movie. A man onscreen raises his gun.
Pavor means “fear” in Latin, and the Brothers Grimm were famous compilers of German fairytales. The two together suggest that Clare’s manor is fantastical and terrifying. An atmosphere of menace is created around Humbert’s coming confrontation with Quilty. The movie character’s gun enhances this atmosphere of menace. The atmosphere of menace can be understood as a parody of gothic novels, which often end with a confrontation with a frightening villain in a ruined estate. Once again, Humbert is telling his story in a self-consciously literary way.
Themes
