I'd actually argue that Humbert Humbert isn't unstable. He's just wrong. And Nabokov demonstrates his unreliability partly by the unstated constrast to consensus reality--the same thing Twain does in Huckleberry Finn. We're never outside of Huck's head, either, but we know he's unreliable, because we interpret what he tells us by different rules than the ones he uses. We recognize the con men for what they are; Huck can't.
But Nabokov also forces Humbert Humbert to recognize his wrongness--at the end, when he meets Dolly as an adult and sees what he's done to her. (I cannot find my copy of Lolita, so I can't quote directly.)
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momijizukamori
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Date: 2006-11-15 06:49 pm (UTC)But Nabokov also forces Humbert Humbert to recognize his wrongness--at the end, when he meets Dolly as an adult and sees what he's done to her. (I cannot find my copy of Lolita, so I can't quote directly.)