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
Living in a fixed location with Lolita for the first time, Humbert Humbert becomes anxious about his neighbors, all of whom strike him as too curious about he and his “daughter.” He has a contemptuous attitude toward all of these people: two English professors, a businessman, and an old spinster who asks Lolita—in Humbert’s opinion—too many questions.
Even having settled down, Humbert remains an outsider. Because he fears that he will be discovered, he cannot form relationships with any of his neighbors, and become part of the community. His domestic life is a charade.
Themes
