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Carson
English XI
Humbert/Humbert
When we read a novel, we are undoubtedly given the author's perception of his/her own characters. We are told what each character is, and how we should regard them. Decisions are made for us. When we watch a movie, however, the camera works as the main narrator, and we are invited to judge characters and make plot analyses on our own. How a director chooses to shoot his/her movie, what he/she directs the actors to do, and, most importantly, what parts he/she chooses to include or omit alter the meaning of the adapted literature and change the way we receive the characters and material. Adrian Lyne's presentation of Lolita, whether intentionally or not, is geared toward making the viewer feel a certain degree of sympathy for Humbert Humbert, as he makes Humbert the most tolerable, and of the most "normal" characters in the movie. More than anything, Lyne presents a Humbert that audiences can identify with, in contrast to Vladimir Nabokov's Humbert, who is so sick and hard to understand that he is fascinating. The difference between Nabokov's Humbert and Lyne's Humbert is that between bestial predator and victim of circumstance.
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From the outset of the movie, Lyne's view of Humbert Humbert is different than Nabokov's. By omitting much of Humbert's discussion of nymphets, what nymphets are and should be, and his obsession with pursuing nymphets, Lyne makes Humbert appear respectable when compared with Nabokov's sick and tortured Humbert. Nabokov's Humbert proclaims
Now and then I took advantage of the
acquaintances I had formed among social
workers and psychotherapists to visit in
their company various institutions, such
as orphanages and reform schools, where
pale pubescent girls with matted eyelashes
could be stared at in perfect impunity
remindful of that granted one in dreams.
(16)
Nabokov's Humbert dreams of nymphets, obsesses over nymphets, and turns Lolita into his nymphet, filling his dead love, Annabel's, memory with her body. Lyne's Humbert, on the other hand, falls in love unintentionally, inconveniently, and uncontrollably, making the audience feel and pity Humbert's helplessness.
When reading Nabokov's Lolita, the reader is asked to imagine an innocent twelve-year old, and accepts whatever picture of innocence his/her mind's eye may create. In Lyne's movie, the viewer must accept Dominique Swain as twelve-year-old Lolita, though she appears to be sixteen or seventeen. This is another one of Lyne's instruments to induce sympathy for Humbert and make the story more understandable aesthetically, the characters do not look awful together. By casting an attractive Humbert (Jeremy Irons), and a seductive, mature looking Lolita, Lyne makes it conceivable that a young girl could love Humbert and that a sensible Humbert could be enthralled by Lolita. To further the audience's ability to understand, Lyne turns the viewer into the pervert in the scene where Lolita runs up the stairs to say goodbye to Humbert before she leaves for camp. Panning from behind, the camera lets the viewer see parts of Lolita that Humbert cannot, and, because of the beautiful cinematography, the viewer feels no shame in looking at Lolita. By showing things like Lolita's hitting Humbert with her doll, speaking to Humbert in a low whisper, and having Lolita step on Humbert's pants when she brings in the laundry, Lyne emphasizes that it is Lolita who begins and controls this romance. Nabokov, on the other hand, creates a calculating, obsessive Humbert, whose mind is occupied solely by his nymphets. Humbert's obsession and his willingness to act upon it are explicit in the passage where he compares himself to an "inflated pale spider"
Sitting in the middle of a luminous web and
giving little jerks to this or that strand. My
web is spread all over the house as I listen
from my chair where I sit like a wily wizard
Is Lo in her room? Gently I tug on the silk.
She is not. Just heard the toilet paper cylinder
make its staccato sound as it is turned; and no
footfalls has my outflung filament traced from
the bathroom back to her room. Is she still
brushing her teeth…? No. The bathroom door
has just slammed, so one has to feel elsewhere
about the house for the beautiful, warm-colored
prey.
(48)
Nabokov's Humbert is smart, careful, and willing to do anything to catch his "prey," while Lyne's is simply, pathetically, unable to control himself. While Nabokov's Humbert is controlling the situation and spinning the web of events, Lyne's Humbert is clumsily groping in the dark for his love, his Lolita.
Besides predatory and tortured, Nabokov's Humbert is immoral. He consciously marries Charlotte Haze in order to "have his way" with her daughter, and puts tireless effort into finding just the right sleeping pill that will knock her and Lolita out, so that he can do as he pleases with Lolita. Later, Humbert hints at his skewed morality when he states that when he returns to the hotel room he is, "still firmly resolved to pursue [his] policy of sparing her purity by operating only in the stealth of the night, only upon a completely anesthetized little nude," (14) and continues to, "insist on proving that [he is] not, and never was, and never could have been, a brutal scoundrel" (11). Though Lyne's Humbert gives Charlotte sleeping pills to "avoid his husbandly duties," there is no mention of his taking advantage of Lolita in her sleep. Here, Lyne has successfully eliminated yet another part of Humbert's character that an audience would struggle to relate to or feel sympathy for. Nabokov's dynamic Humbert is almost unimaginable and the reader cringes as he looks at little girls on the streets of Ramsdale (7) or in the hotel lobby when he has just left Lolita's side (16). Humbert's "love at first sight, at last sight, at ever and ever sight" (70) for Lolita seems exaggerated and lacks credibility, as he even admits that he simply "did not know a thing about [his] darling's mind" (84). Though Lolita begins this fateful affair, Nabokov's Humbert is aware after a short time on the road with Lolita that she is no longer enjoying their situation. He notes, among other things, that when he arrives while Lolita is playing tennis with some else, she emits a "tremendous ugh of disgust at [his] intrusion" (16). Nabokov's Humbert bribes Lolita with money and swimming pools in return for sex and uses threats like leaving Lolita in an orphanage to force her to stay with him, to prolong his selfish indulgence.
The way that the director/author presents Lolita in this story is influential in how the viewer/reader regards Humbert Humbert. In the novel, Humbert writes with the wisdom of hindsight and admits his awareness of Lolita's unhappiness. She is clearly the victim in the novel, no matter what methods to justify, redeem himself, apologize for or explain his actions Humbert employs. Lyne, however, omits almost all of the instances which illustrate Lolita's misery; it is feasible for some time that Humbert does not know how Lolita feels. Soon after Charlotte dies in Lyne's movie, Lolita takes on the role of manipulator, using her sexual power over Humbert to get what she wants. The viewer can see how Humbert falls victim to his sexuality in the scene where Lolita seduces him into raising her allowance and allowing her to be in the play. Lolita brings about the power shift in the relationship; she begins, controls, and ends it. Lolita tricks Humbert into thinking that she loves him, bringing her places to see Clare Quilty, and giving her what she wants. The whole time, Lyne's Humbert is oblivious. It is Lyne's Lolita who makes the threats, calling Humbert a pervert and threatening to report him for rape. It is a complete reversal of the relationship in Nabokov's book, where, though Lolita possesses the same sexual authority over Humbert, it is Humbert who holds the positions of powerful manipulator and immoral corrupter. He forces her to live with him, sleep with him, and see no one else. Nabokov's Humbert shows no feeling for Lolita when he describes raping her
I pushed her softness back into the room
and went in after her. I ripped her shirt
off. I unzipped the rest of her. I tore off
her sandals. Wildly, I pursued the shadow
of her infidelity; but the scent I traveled
upon was so slight as to be practically
undistinguishable from a madman's fancy.
(15)
In contrast to this portrayal of a selfish, heartless Humbert, Lyne directs Lolita to laugh while Humbert rapes her, demonstrating that nothing Humbert does can hurt Lolita. Lolita laughs wildly at her rapist while he cries and begs Lolita to tell him where she has just gone. It is clear in this scene, perhaps more than any other, that Lolita has complete control over Humbert's mind and body and that she will bring or prevent his demise. In the movie, the relationship stays the same in many senses until the end, when Lolita is just fine and Humbert is a begging, helpless lover.
Nabokov does not give his reader any characters to like or to relate to. The victimized Lolita, the immoral, evil Humbert, the obnoxious Charlotte none of these characters are appealing. Nabokov is able to interest his reader through his unique writing style and the eerie quality of his story. Lyne must tell this "same story" in fewer words and ends up creating a more accessible, imaginable, and bearable story, by creating a more human Humbert that the audience can understand, if not like. These two very different Humberts account for two very different stories. Not for better or for worse, the two Humberts certainly serve for difference. One is the sad story of a tortured, helpless, man and his unfortunate love; the other, a twisted story of a sexual predator and his victim. Both stories captivate and disturb the reader/viewer, as they force him/her to think about self-control, obsession, morality, sensuality, and love.
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