Censorship In Lolita By Vladimir Nabokov

Lolita Reimagined Like many books that have achieved classic status, Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov has had its run with censorship issues when first being published for its extreme sexualization of children. Its taboo content, documenting a middle aged man’s run with perversity and his love affair with a child is unfortunately all Lolita is commonly known for. The genius behind Lolita is so easily misunderstood, stemming from the common practice of relating oneself to a novel’s characters while reading. However, Nabokov has opposed this practice of the reader several times, specifically in his essay Good Readers and Good Writers. What then, must be considered when reading Lolita? Most notably, readers consider how they are pulled against their
Psychologists have come to a general consensus that the way a child is raised has an immense impact on how they are to behave sexually in the future (Hubble 1958; Spanier 1977; Thigpen and Fortenberry 2007). Benjamin Karpman, a Northwestern sexual psychopathy researcher, in his paper The Sexual Psychopath
Misunderstanding Humbert and/or Lolita as sexual freaks is a gross oversimplification as they are illustrated as extremely curious individuals who lack dialogue with their parental units. Lolita’s mother lost in “her blind faith in the wisdom of her church” (Nabokov 50) fails to coach Lolita sexually with “sound religious training” (Nabokov 55) and Humbert’s suddenly cut off relationship with Annabel and missing father figure, show that their habits of seeking out replacement figures for lost love or parental figures is a manifestation of an emotionally damaged childhood. In a typical pedophilic relationship, there is a clear distinction between who is the victim and who is the victimizer. In Lolita this power dynamic is missing and both Lolita and Humbert are shown to be the victimized and victimizers. At first, readers sympathize with Lolita because Humbert is portrayed as a power hungry, dominant man, “I was…an exceptionally handsome male…I could obtain at the snap of my fingers any adult female I chose” (Nabokov 16). However, once Lolita realizes that Humbert is in love with her, she uses this power to manipulate him to no