Obsessions and the Downfall It Brings Upon Life

Obsessions and the Downfall it Brings Upon Life

What is the first thing that comes to mind when someone speaks of obsession? For most people it is the obsession with media or someone with no life, or maybe both. Inside almost every single person’s mind is someone or something they are passionate about. Not only are they passionate about it, they are obsessed. So much that they are unconscious that their obsession be dangerous to themselves as well as others. In Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, Perfume by Patrick Suskind and Obsession by DaMoyre, they all express different stories of obsession, but they all mainly have the same concept. Their obsession is what brings the downfall of themselves, as well as the surrounded environment they are in. For example, in Lolita the downfall is that Humbert does not know that he is being taken advantage of when Lolita asks for his money, same with Obsession, the young girl in the story is too naïve to even care or know that she is being taken advantage for her body, not her feelings or personality. Finally in Perfume, it is evident that society would view Grenouille as someone with no life. His life and perfume are all that he cares for and surrounds himself with. For example, if Grenouille smelt a desirable scent on someone, he would do anything to get that scent even if he had to harm that person. This demonstrates that he is so tormented with his obsession that he has no care or sympathy for anyone. The protagonists in Lolita, Perfume and Obsession are unaware that their obsession is not only hurting themselves, but hurting others too. They may interpret the obsession as a sign of love, but society views it differently. What does society view it as? Society has a book of rules, and being overly obsessed is viewed negatively and as a huge problem. Also, since obsession can often be mistaken as love, it is easy for people to fall into that trap and become victims to that problem.

In the three literatures, Lolita,

Bibliography: Ackroyd, Peter. "Patrick Suskind."Contemporary Literary Criticism. 1986. This author writes his opinion on Patrick Suskind’s novel, Perfume. It is written in an encyclopedia format where they critique an author’s works. In this critique he describes the setting and idea of Perfume that it’s a story about odour and the whole surprising fact that Jean-Baptiste Grenouille does not have a scent at all. I took a quote from this author’s critique and it helped proved my point which was that Grenouille’s obsession is so strong that it has a separate presence. It is relevant to my essay because my thesis is to prove that they are unaware of the character’s obsessions. Hayat, Marc. "Psychoanalysis: Obsession." Large Print Press 24 May 2008 . The author is writing what the definition of obsession is in an online journal and article. Many people are not aware of what obsession is because everyone may have a different definition. However, society will always portray one definition of obsession so I took a quote that defined the way society viewed obsession. It is relevant to my essay because one of my arguments is obsession vs. love. Lehmann-Haupt, Christopher.Nabokov 's World. New York: Penguin Books, 1998. Christopher Lehmann-Haupt wrote a very long and intriguing critique on Perfume, however I found no use for it. It talked a lot about how we feel sympathy for Grenouille’s character because he was born destined to have no scent and to ultimately be a killer. It didn’t really help me because it didn’t support my thesis nor any of my arguments. Pifer, Ellen. His monster, his nymphet: Nabokov and Mary Shelley. New York: Cambridge University Press , 1999. This author compares the monster in Mary Shelley’s book Frankenstein to Vladimir Nabokov’s novel Lolita. In the comparison, she describes Humbert indirectly as a person who may be questionable about his love for Lolita. He almost describes her like an object or animal in the quote I found. It is relevant to my essay because it fits right in to my argument of obsession vs. love and whether or not he knows the line between it. Quin, John D.. Nabokov 's World. New York: Penguin Books, 1998. This author talked a lot about Humbert’s obsession with nymphets. He talked about Humbert’s feelings when he went and decided to kill Lolita’s other lover. I took a quote from it which described how far Humbert was willing to go for love. This source is relevant to my essay because it shows the unnatural obsession of Humbert which is again one of my arguments.