Role Of Victim Blame In Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita

One of the criminal thinking errors displayed by Humbert Humbert throughout Lolita is victim blaming or a victim mentality. When sharing to his readers the event of intercourse with Lolita, Humbert Humbert went into this topic with a set plan. He could not tell an audience with standard morals that he coerced a young girl into sexual activities with him, and then expect them to still think of him in any light that is even near decent. He tries to describe the events as ones that he was swindled into by a provocative girl. Humbert claims, “I had thought that months, perhaps years would elapse before I dared to reveal myself to Dolores… it was she who seduced me” (Nabokov 132). By beginning this scene of events with the statement that Dolores, a twelve year old, lured 38 year old Humbert into having intercourse is his attempt at mitigating the actions that took place. He may have been the adult, but he was the one who had planned to wait to have any sexual interactions with her. Using this careful wording, Humbert deflects the blame onto his victim, and subsequently casts himself as the victim to her seductive ways.
Staying at the Haze household gave Humbert Humbert ample chances to sexualize Lolita in his own fantasies prior to ever

With his wife, Lolita’s mother, Charlotte Haze dead, Humbert Humbert becomes the full legal guardian of Dolores. Her father is not in her life, and so there is no one to save her from being under Humbert’s full authority. “Look here, Lo. Let’s settle this once for all,” Humbert explains. He continues to patronize the girl by saying, “For all practical purposes I am your father… In your mother’s absence I am responsible for your welfare” (Nabokov 119). Not only does Humbert Humbert continually talk down to Lolita to assert power over her, but he also acknowledges to her that he is in full control of her for an indeterminate amount of