The Two Professors of Lolita
Lolita begins with a poorly written forward by John Ray Jr. Ph.D who gives some minor (usually overly obvious) interpretations of Lolita. When the book begins however, we are introduced to Humbert Humbert who appears to have the qualifications (and in a less overt sense the John Ray Jr. Ph.D) the writing style of an academic.
When our narrator gives his description of "nyphets" he beings with; "Now I wish to introduce the following idea" as if this is not the begging of a justification for his hebophilia; but theory which he is developing. He then goes out of his way to speak with great specificity about what a nymphet is, differentiating them by features and also by what the laws says regarding them. The narrator has a very researched and well thought out style about his obsession. This forms an interesting juxtaposition to his overly sentimental story which he has just told regarding Annebel. It shows the two ways in which this effects him, both in his analytical and emotional life.
Beyond the writing style, there are also his formal qualifications, in the first chapters he describes that he studied in Paris at the Sarbonne which would put him in the center of academia at the time. We are also told that he spends his time writing a guide for English speakers on French literature. This serves to show his education and perhaps makes him seems like a more normal likable figure, but I also suspect his knowledge of French literature will be important in the remainder of the book. It is the trick of the author to make his narrator well read, because it makes it makes references to literature more plausible, and can create a meta quality to the work.
Lolita begins with a poorly written forward by John Ray Jr. Ph.D who gives some minor (usually overly obvious) interpretations of Lolita. When the book begins however, we are introduced to Humbert Humbert who appears to have the qualifications (and in a less overt sense the John Ray Jr. Ph.D) the writing style of an academic.
When our narrator gives his description of "nyphets" he beings with; "Now I wish to introduce the following idea" as if this is not the begging of a justification for his hebophilia; but theory which he is developing. He then goes out of his way to speak with great specificity about what a nymphet is, differentiating them by features and also by what the laws says regarding them. The narrator has a very researched and well thought out style about his obsession. This forms an interesting juxtaposition to his overly sentimental story which he has just told regarding Annebel. It shows the two ways in which this effects him, both in his analytical and emotional life.
Beyond the writing style, there are also his formal qualifications, in the first chapters he describes that he studied in Paris at the Sarbonne which would put him in the center of academia at the time. We are also told that he spends his time writing a guide for English speakers on French literature. This serves to show his education and perhaps makes him seems like a more normal likable figure, but I also suspect his knowledge of French literature will be important in the remainder of the book. It is the trick of the author to make his narrator well read, because it makes it makes references to literature more plausible, and can create a meta quality to the work.
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