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 becomes concerned as Lolita socializes more frequently with her schoolmates. Above all, he is jealously terrified of Lolita going on any dates. Though he tries to adjust, he is horrified by what is considered normal behavior for American teenagers. He reads the local newspaper’s advice column for teens, and becomes alarmed. He is relieved to notice that Lolita seems little interested in the boys around her. He reflects constantly and anxiously on the charade of his suburban life, hoping that nobody will notice its depravity and fraud.
Humbert’s prudishness is ironic and hypocritical in the extreme. He is a child molester, and yet, he is horrified by the dating culture of American teens. Humbert’s anxiety persists no matter what his situation. Before he had Lolita, he was anxious about finding ways to molest her. When he was on the road with her, he spent all his time thinking of ways to distract her. Now that he has “settled down,” with her, he lives in constant anxiety that he will be discovered or that she will develop feelings for a boy.
Themes
