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1-Page Summary of Lolita
In the foreword of the book, a fictional John Ray Jr. explains that he found Humbert’s manuscript after his death and published it because despite his despicable actions, Humbert was still an excellent writer. He also notes that this novel will be enjoyed by psychiatrists as well as parents who want to raise better children in a better world.
In the book, Humbert describes his childhood on a French Riviera and how he met his first love. He writes about how they never consummated their relationship because Annabel died of typhus. Despite this tragedy, Humbert goes on to become a professor and begins working odd jobs. Eventually he marries another woman but still remains obsessed with young girls like Annabel who remind him of her beauty and sexual awareness. He eventually moves to America where he rents an apartment from Charlotte Haze in New England who has two children, Dolores (Lolita) being one of them. Lolita is twelve years old at the time while Charlotte is married to Humbert’s landlord whom she doesn’t love anymore but stays with for financial security only.Humbert becomes infatuated with Lolita as soon as he meets her and begins following her around obsessively writing down everything that happens in his journal.He also tells Charlotte about all these things which causes her to fall in love with him despite hating him before.The story ends when Charlotte finds out what’s going on between Humbert and Lolita,she confronts him,he denies it all,and then she gets hit by a car right after leaving the house resulting in death.
Humbert meets Lolita at a camp and they drive across the country. Humbert claims that Lolita seduces him, but she has actually manipulated him into doing what she wants. The two eventually settle down in a house where they live for many years until Charlotte dies. Then, Humbert discovers that he’s being followed by some strange man who is also interested in Lolita.
Humbert eventually gets a job at Beardsley College somewhere in the Northeast, and Lolita enrolls in school. She wants to socialize with boys her own age, but Humbert is restrictive of his rules. Nonetheless, he allows her to appear in a school play. Lolita begins to behave secretively around Humbert and he accuses her of being unfaithful. He takes them on another road trip where they are followed by someone unknown.
Lolita is very sick and Humbert takes her to the hospital. However, when he comes back for Lolita, she has already been picked up by her uncle. Humbert flies into a rage but then calms down and leaves the hospital heartbroken and angry. For two years, Humbert searches for Lolita unearthing clues about who kidnapped her in order to exact his revenge. He halfheartedly takes up with a woman named Rita but then receives a note from married and pregnant Lolita asking him for money. Assuming that Lolita has married the man who had followed them on their travels, Humbert becomes determined to kill him. He finds out that she’s poor and pregnant at seventeen because of Clare Quilty whom he realizes had taken her from the hospital after they met earlier in the book during one of his performances as The Great Dictator. When pressed, Lolita admits that she loved Quilty but he kicked her out when she refused to participate in child pornography orgy which was one of his fetishes. Still devoted to Lolita, Humbert begs her return home with him which she gently refuses wanting no part of what happened between them before. In desperation, Humbert gives Lolita 4 000 dollars saying it will be enough money for both herself and baby daughter while promising not come looking for either again. Having nothing left,Humbers tracks down Quilty at his house where he shoots him multiple times killing him instantly after realizing how much damage this madman did to all involved including himself through manipulation especially towards young girls like Dolores (Lolietta) which was based on an actual case involving Vladimir Nabokov’s own stepdaughter Véra Slonim who was also only 12 years old when Nabokov first started dating Vera’s mother Anna Feigin (1907-1997). After being arrested,Humbart continues writing memoirs stipulating they can only be published upon death of Dolores aka Lolette/Lolietta aka Lola aka Lo-lee-ta
