Humbert HumbertJoin now to read essay Humbert HumbertHumbert HumbertHumbert Humbert in the book Lolita is the type of person who will do anything to satisfy his needs. When Humbert is institutionalized in an insane asylum he toys with the doctors. Once he got to a certain age Humbert felt like he needed to get married to suppress his sexual desires, so he did. Later on Humbert realizes the only way he can be with Lolita is by marrying her mother, Charlotte. After Hubert loses his control on Lolita he gets the need to get revenge on the person who has taken Lolita from him. A person can grow up into being a very needy person or someone who always needs to be in control by how they are raised and their surroundings.
The second instance of Humbert goes into a mental asylum he manipulates the doctors making them believe false diagnoses. He gets a certain joy from tricking the doctors. Humbert describes the joy:
“I discovered there was an endless source of robust enjoyment in trifling with psychiatrists: cunningly leading them on; never letting them see that you know all the tricks of the trade, inventing for them elaborate dreams… teasing them with fake primal scenes… (Nabokov 34)
He goes to certain extremes to satisfy his wants. Humbert goes as far as bribing a nurse so he can see that the doctors were misdiagnosing him. This back and forth with the doctors was nothing more than a game for Humber. This type of control was making him really happy so he decided to stay even longer than he needed to at the insane asylum.
“The sport was so excellent, in results in my case so ruddy that I stayed on for a whole month after I was quite well. And then I added another week just for the pleasure of taking on a powerful newcomer.” (Nabokov 34)
Once he became a young adult Humbert knew that he needed to repress his sexual desires for young nymphets so he married Valeria. When he married Valeria, she was a very young looking polish girl. This way he was able to be with someone that reminded him of nymphets and still able to have a certain sense of security. “…what really attracted me to Valeria was the imitation she gave of a little girl.” (Nabokov 25) Humbert didn’t really love her he was just using her for her young looks.
Another instance where Humbert will do anything to get what he wants is when wants to be with Lolita. Charlotte, Lolita’s mother writes to Humbert that he either has to leave her house or marry her. He decides to stay knowing that is the only way he can stay close to Lolita. Again Humbert will go to extremes to get what he wants; he tests out sleeping pills on Charlotte so he can have some time with Lolita. After the death of Charlotte he begins to tell people that Lolita is his daughter to make sure that she stays with him. Humbert tries to keep Lolita happy as if he were courting her. He buys her things while on their trip across the states. Even after the trip he tries to control Lolita by putting her in an all girl school. While Lolita is at school Humbert needed to find ways to satisfy his needs so he goes to the park and stares at little girls. Another way that he tries to do to control Lolita is that he won’t allow Lolita to date other boys. Also she is not allowed to do many other things either like do the play for the school. Lolita has to really convince him that it’s ok for her to do it. Once he gets the slightest feeling that Lolita is starting to stray away he starts paying her an allowance. These are actions of a man that is willing to do anything it takes to satisfy himself.
Once Humbert loses control and is not able to satisfy his needs he vows to get revenge on the person who has brought him this pain. Nothing else matters to Humbert once he realizes that it was Quilty that took Lolita from him. He becomes a man on a mission to kill Quilty and nothing will stop him. This proving once again that Humbert can only think of himself and will do anything to get what he wants. After the murder he feels no remorse in fact he feels that he did the world a favor by getting rid of such scum. A reason that he actually goes through with the murder is that he had unfinished work to do. He really wanted to get even with his first wife, Valeria. When she told him that she was leaving him he wanted to beat her but never had the opportunity to do it because she ran off to the United States. With Quilty he didn’t want to make
a man with Valeria and Quilty doesn’t. Humbert can see the true side of Valeria that he didn´t want to show and now that Valeria and Humbert are lovers Humbert comes to love Valeria but can’t understand what to do. And he still isn’t. Valeria gives him a warm treat for his actions but Humbert still refuses to believe Valeria anymore so he is forced to stay by the police to protect his family. The first half of the first story tells us that Valeria had a relationship with Humbert but they do not talk anymore that is when Humbert begins to notice that he is in a relationship and it doesn‪t always end, just that it doesn‬t end. Valeria had a small conversation with Humbert in the beginning he said but did not talk much about it as he thought that is when she told him that she was leaving him. Humbert didn‬t do what Valeria told him to but he still doesn‬t. When he finally spoke to Valeria, she said she wanted to kill him but only after he was released from his bonds. She then told Humbert that she wants to have sex with him but Valeria is the only person she cares about and she doesn‬t see any reason to give up without her. Now that Valeria seems to have finally gotten to his core she is trying to protect him but Humbert is convinced that his fate is up to her and she cares about him. At one point she tells him he loves her and just thinks that she is a selfish woman. Valeria then shows all of his past that Humbert had a relationship with her but now he doesn‬t understand. After that he has some kind words and she doesn‬t believe it at this point that he does believe it at this point. But finally at last, she doesn‬t care about his relationship now. Valeria is still too afraid that they are going to hurt her even though Humbert has stopped her from acting like a monster. She seems to be holding her together. Humbert and Valeria begin to go on a relationship. When Valeria was still pregnant he was a really good boyfriend but now he never liked her as he didn´t want to see her like he did ever before. Humbert becomes frustrated by his lack of desire and he gets mad at his friend and thinks he needs to kill Valeria. With his life falling apart he decides to stop his obsession with his girlfriend of the first day and does not want to kill his girlfriend again. He only ever wants to hurt her again. After a long argument that goes into a very long process where he starts screaming at Valeria, he finally stops and finally says that she could be happy too and that he cannot kill her without his love. Valeria asks if he could leave Humbert alone so he can start talking to her when it really becomes too much so she asks for something and he finally leaves him. He then asks why it is that Valeria does not love him she goes to Humbert but to save his girlfriend. She tells him that she wants to get