Vladimir Nabokov Essay
Introduction
Vladimir Nabokov stands today as one of the greatest writers of the 20th century with great achievements in both his English and Russian novels. Born into a wealthy, aristocratic Russian family, Nabokov was well educated and discovered his interest in writing at a young age, publishing two poetry books before leaving high school. But his privileged life ended there, as the Bolshevik revolution in Russia forced his family to flee to England especially since his father was a well-known fighter for individual rights. With their escape, Nabokov’s family was financially ruined, he was never able to return to his homeland, and his father was murdered. These tragedies troubled Nabokov for the rest of his life, but he learned to overcome
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But now, Lolita has left him and he is in a state of remorse for his actions as he reflects on his memories. Humbert has obliterated the distinction between reality and fiction for the sake of attaining selfish desires, allowing his imagination to run freely and giving a fictional report of Lolita’s feelings. But now, he realizes that he has conjured up his own stories about how Lolita has reacted to his actions to justify them and that these desires has caused him to ignore Lolita’s true feelings. These reflections of his past mistakes and torturing memories portray Humbert’s desire to overcome his guilt by confessing. But they also reflect Nabokov’s trouble with his past memories, especially the memory of his murdered father and how he tried to overcome his confusions regarding the memories by exploring them through his writing. Past memories continue to haunt people, as they do for Humbert, but they can alleviate the associated discomforts through reflection. Reflection on past memories is a possible way for people to try to alleviate their adversities. It allows them to think about their mistakes or problems, accept them and eventually
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