Parlez Vous! /// (in)Dependance!

His use of french throughout the novel is also very precise, coming in at certain moments to confuse the english reader, or perhaps to reveal something that cannot be captured in English. The way his french cuts in creates another narrator in itself, another voice in a story written by a very conflicted soul. For example, a little past halfway through the book, he loses a game of chess to Gaston, a man he doesn’t particularly like because Lolita “misbehaves”. Immediately after he discusses the losing move, he says: “mon pauvre ami, je ne vous ai jamais revu et quoiqu'il y ait bien peu de chance que vous voyiez mon livre, permettez-moi de vous dire que je vous serre la main bien cordialement, et que toutes mes fillettes vous saluent”(Nabokov, 203). This translates to “My poor friend, I 've never seen and although there is little likelihood that you see my book, let me tell you that I shake hands cordially, and all my girls greet you”. This is just one example of how Humbert (if that is even his real name) constantly cracks jokes to himself, inserts obvious symbolism, foreshadows purposefully, and adds sly commentary on every scene of the book. He specifically does this about his own use of french in the text later, when Dolores says “But do you mind very much cutting out the French? It annoys everybody”(Nabokov, 243). He then speaks in french on the same page.

Truly this book contains humor and irony on a level that makes Humbert incredibly self-concious.

However, Humbert’s mental state slowly degrades as the power continuum in his relationship between Dolly shifts. At first, he is in total control and love. However, quickly the situation degrades. It starts with Lo beginning to hate him, not specifically mentioned by Humbert until their first road trip ends, when Humbert describes Lo post-sex, “her sobs in the night-every night, every night-the moment I feigned sleep”(Nabokov,176). Slowly, he becomes more and more jealous and controlling, first fearing the neighbors in their new home, then making specific rules for Lo, “Absolutely forbidden were dates, single or double or triple-the next step being of course mass orgy. She might visit a candy bar with her girl friends, and there giggle-chat with occasional young males, while I waited in the car at a discreet distance”(Nabokov, 186). His initial love begins to evolve into a sickening obsession, an uncontrollable need to be her sole lover. Their stiff negotiations become more of a battle than a relationship, Lolita pushing hard bargains for higher allowance in exchange for sex. It is at this point we see Humbert begin to lose control, saying “it was in her power to deny me certain life-wrecking, strange, slow paradisal philters without which I could not live more than a few days in a row”(Nabokov, 184). Again and again Humbert admits his love for Lolita is a plague, something he cannot escape and which drives him to extreme circumstances even though he knows it pains Lo as well.