I'm in Ohio for my friends wedding reception, where the last thing I saw was the groom and bride, swaying slowly to the last song in an emptying ball room.Which makes this the last line of this passage appropriate.
Friday. I long for some terrific disaster. Earthquake. Spectacular explosion. Her mother is messily but instantly and permanently eliminated, along with everybody else for miles around. Lolita whimpers in my arms. A free man, I enjoy her among the ruins.[pg53]
Like my friends who just got married, HH has all that he seeks in this life.
But he obtains his freedom only amid "ruins." In fact, that is the only way he obtains Lolita. Is standing amid ruins real freedom? If he has his Lolita, does it matter if there are surrounded by ruins?
NOTE: To find this photo, I did a Google image search for the word "ruin," and came across this photo, titled "Girl-in-ruins-thumb."
2 comments:
You make a good observation ("But he obtains his freedom only amid "ruins." In fact, that is the only way he obtains Lolita".) His life before Lolita was empty in that nothing was too important, everything was sort of a hindrance (as you mentioned in another post, his desire has defined him.) But, as you ask, "Is standing amid ruins real freedom? If he has his Lolita, does it matter if there are surrounded by ruins?" Kind of a doomed life.
A poem, a poem, forsooth!
Did you notice all of the doubles among Lolita's classmates? (doubles meaning same last name). Three out of the four sets contain a boy and girl...the last, however, is two boys with very similar first names: Edgar Talbot and Edwin Talbot. No coincidence I bet, in the book's larger scheme [spoiler: Humbert and Quilty perhaps?].
Also, there are some curious names embedded in there-- Angel, Grace; Fantasia, Stella; McCrystal, Vivian; McFate, Aubrey; Sherva, Oleg (the only Russian in Ramsdale?).
But here is the real anomaly: Falter, Ted....Wain, Lull: falter, wane, lull. These together with the somewhat astral names aforementioned (fantasia, stella, McCrystal, McFate)--is this a prophetic wink from the maker himself?
(pat me on the back again for my literary detective work)
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