lolita

A: Amanda B: Marie C: Gab D: Victoria D: Rachel
 * Week 1**

In reading the first sixty pages in //Lolita// written by Vladimir Nabokov, a few main characters are introduced. The first character is Humbert Humbert. He is the narrator of the story and he has a mental illness. He seems to be a little creepy and is attracted to young girls. As a narrator Humbert seems to be begging for sympathy from his readers. He becomes extremely obsessed with Lolita and he claims that Lolita seduced him. I am interested to see what happens to Humbert as the book continues on. The next main character is Dolores Haze (Lolita). Lolita is a flirtatious adolescent girl, who at first finds herself becoming attracted to Humbert. After a while she becomes bored of Humbert and becomes more attracted to boys her own age. Lolita is an interesting character because she is what this book is all about. She gets herself into this whole mess with Humbert and needs to figure out how to fix things.
 * B - Marie**

Clare Quilty is another major character introduced in this novel. Clare seems to be mysterious, curious, and perplexing. This character is one of those characters that need to be kept an eye on. He is very spontaneous. Clare is also into the young adolescent girls along with Humbert, but Clare is less subtle about his obsession. Clare makes appearances often throughout this novel, but in strange ways. This is my favorite character because is seems so innocent, but he really is not. He is very sly, tricky, and clever, Clare reminds me of a rattle snake. I am excited to see how these characters mature throughout the story and what new characters get introduced.

Today was our first book club meeting on the book //Lolita//. Before the club started, we ate some of Amanda's delicious brownies. They had rainbow sprinkles on them which was awesome! When we started the discussion, we all agreed that this book is very strange. We talked about the main character, Humbert Humbert, who we all thought had a very weird name. We all agree that he is really messed up for some of the things he wrote about/did in the book. We went through all of Victoria and Rachel's discussion questions. In the end we all came to the conclusion that we all dislike Humbert Humbert and we think he is creepy. We talked about some possible foreshadowing that was taking place and we talked about Lolita. We all think that Lolita is going to fall in love with a guy her age and Humbert is going to kill that guy or Lolita. I personally think that this book is really creepy and weird and I think everyone else thinks the same way. What scared us the most though was that there are actually people out there like Humbert Humbert and possible even worse.
 * C - Gab**

1. It describes in the beginning of the book that Humbert Humbert is going to jail....what do you think he is going for? Went to jail for killing Mrs. Haze 2. What do you imagine Humbert Humbert looking like as both a teen and an adult? Creepy, not looking, but some people think he's handsome 3. Do you think Valeria made the right decision to leave Humbert Humbert for the taxi driver? Yes because he's a creeper 4. (In response to question 3) Would you have made the same decision that Valeria made? Why? Yes, because he loved someone else, even though he hid his whole nymphet love 5. If you were Dolores (Lolita) would you have been creeped out by Humbert Humbert if he was teasing you with the apple? She's catching on but she doesn't do anything about it because we're not sure if she really cares
 * D - Victoria**

1. Do you think Humbert's early relationship with Annabel is the reason why he is completely infatuated with young girls? This is definitely why he is “fascinated” with girls of that age. He misses Annabel and wishes he could be with her, but she died at a young age. So basically, he tries to replace Annabel with other girls. **
 * D - Rachel

2. Do you think Dolores has already caught on to the fascination Humbert has with her? We’re not sure; we all think she’s a little naïve. Humbert has dropped some pretty obvious hints, but Lolita is so young that it’s hard to tell.

3. If you were put into this particular situation, what would you do? Would you tell someone, or just ignore it? Victoria would go find someone for help. I personally don’t know what I would do. Amanda would call the police. Gab and Marie would, basically, be terrified.

4. Towards the beginning of the novel, Humbert is talking about a book he looked through while in prison. He sees the name Dolores, and then proceeds to say something about her being in a play with the word //murder// in the title. Do you think this foreshadows anything? Yes, it definitely does. However, we’re not sure if he murders Lolita or Mrs. Haze.

5. Humbert constantly discusses how he wished Mrs. Haze was dead so he could have Lolita all to himself. Do you think he will no longer be able to resist temptation and actually kill her later on in the story? We all think that he might eventually snap and kill her. We’re not sure; it’s far too early in the novel to tell. However, we figure that he might get even more attached to Lolita so that it’s too much for Humbert to handle.


 * Week 2**

A: Victoria B: Rachel C: Marie D: Gab D: Amanda


 * B- Rachel**

This book has sort of a strange way of telling the story to the reader. It’s hard to follow a lot of the time. Since the novel is written in first person, Humbert often gets distracted and starts shifting topics abruptly. Also, the book switches between first and third person a lot, which also makes the story more difficult to follow. Humbert also uses a lot of what seem to be phrases that were more appropriate and relatable during a different time. He also uses a bunch of words that I honestly have never even heard of. Because he switches from topic to topic so frequently while we read and “talks” a bit differently than we do now, it makes it a little harder to interpret the actual plot. With all of these factors accounted for along with the relatively inappropriate context included in the novel, I think juniors in high school should read Lolita. If my group and I would have waited a while longer to read it we might’ve understood it a little better than we do now.

During week two of reading //Lolita//, we accomplished a lot during class. First we had St. Patrick's Day themed plates and napkins, we drank some Juicy Juice, and ate Pop 'ems doughnuts brought in by Victoria. When we were finishing our food, we started by saying how creepy the book got in the second section. We knew this book would be a little strange, but when we first started it was not so bad. We thought the book was definitely starting to get freaky. We answered all of Amanda's discussion questions and Gab's discussion questions. After answering all of the questions we discussed how we feel about the tone and style of the writing. We think that the book is written very well, and we like the way it is written, we just think the actual storyline is a little strange. The final thing we had a long discussion about was how we feel about the author. If we would trust him to come into our homes or if we think he is freaky. Half of us think that just because he wrote a fiction story about a pedophile that does not make him a creepy person. But the other half of us think that he was having these creepy thoughts also, which is why he decided to write this book. We are excited to see what is going to come next in the book.
 * C- Marie**

1. Why did Humbert and Charlotte get married? Do you think he actually loves her? He got married to her so he can get closer to Lolita. He liked her, but didn't love her. 2. Why is Humbert pretending to have insomnia? So he can get sleeping pills to drug Charlotte and Lolita. 3. Why was Humbert locking the drawers of his desk? What did Charlotte do when she found what was inside? He had journals for his lust for Lolita. Charlotte theatened to leave him. 4. How was Charlotte killed? She got hit by a car and tripped into the street. 5. What do you think Humbert is going to do when he picks up Dolores/Lolita from camp? He is going to give her the sleeping pills and take advantage of her.
 * D. Amanda**

1. Why do you think Charlotte loves Humbert? -Because he's "handsome" and smart and he has an accent. 2. Would you stay with Charlotte and marry her, or just leave? -If we were in Humbert's position, we would stay and marry her. 3. How would you react if you were in Charlotte's position and found all of Humbert's journals about her daughter? -Amanda: I would leave him. -V: Scream, cry, divorce him, and shoot him. -Rachel: Injure him. -Marie: I would be shocked. 4. Do you think Lolita would be sad that her mom died? -She might be too preoccupied with Humbert so she might not even care. 5. How would you react if you were in Humbert's place when Jean kissed him? -We would be creeped out.
 * D- Gab**


 * Week 3**

A: Rachel B: Amanda C: Victoria D: Marie D: Gab

The book Lolita has an overall creepy tone. One of the main characters Humbert is in love with his late wife's twelve year old daughter, Lolita. He is very perverted. For example, he pays Lolita to do sexual favors for him. In addition, Humbert takes Lolita on a trip around the country and had her sleep in the same bed as him. He tries to flirt with her constantly. He even keeps a drawer filled to letters expressing is love for Lolita. Humbert has a very sick mind. He told Lolita that he wants to marry her, have a daughter with him, and then will be in love with his own daughter.
 * B. Amanda**

The overriding emotion in this book is lust. Humbert has a strong lust for Lolita, a twelve year old girl. All he wants is to be around her and have sexual relations with her. He has an obsession with nymphets, or young girls. Humbert almost forces Lolita to be with him, by saying that if she reports him to the police, she will be handed over to child services, and have to live in an orphanage. In addition, Lolita wants to socialize with boys her own age, but Humbert does not want her to be with anyone else. He just wants her all to himself.


 * C: Victoria**

For this week in book club, Rachel brought in cupcakes to celebrate my birthday, and we talked about how much we found Humbert Humbert to be more and more of a creep, and how bad we feel for both Lolita because Humbert is the only person who can take care of her, and if she reports him for rape then she will have nowhere to go. We continued to talk about how when Lolita grows up, this scarred her for life. She most likely will be going to a mental hospital or be super depressed, and will refuse to have children when she is older. The restriction on her is becoming more and more strained on her, and therefore she will start to try and get away from Humbert, even though she has nowhere else to go.


 * D- Marie**

1. Why does Humbert sometimes crawl over to Lolita's desk and beg for attention? -He is a freak, a pervert, and a pedophile.

2. Why does Humbert allow Lolita to throw a party? -He wanted survey all of her nice "guy" friends and see what was going on with her friends.

3. Why has Lolita been missing her piano lessons? -Humbert is restricting her privileges.

4. Why is the coincidence about Lolita's play so significant? -It is ironic because Humbert thinks it is a sign of something, but Lolita does not think much of it.

5. Where are Lolita and Humbert going on vacation and why? -Everywhere, across the country, and eventually we think he is going to take her to the beach.

1. Do you think that if Humbert and Lolita did what he and Annabel didn't do on the beach his "problem" would be gone? -Yeah the problem would be gone. 2. Why do you think Lolita stays with Humbert? -She has no choice. 3. If you were in Lolita's position, what would you do? -Gab and Rachel: Kill him -Amanda: Call the police -V and Marie: Run away at the middle of the night 4. What is your opinion of Gaston? -We don't have an opinion of him because he isn't a big enough character. 5. If Lolita acts like this now, how do you think she'll be when she gets older? -Amanda and V: Really messed up and a prostitute. -Rachel: Really depressed and isolated.
 * D- Gab**


 * Week 4**

A: Gab B: Victoria C: Rachel D: Marie D: Amanda

In section 4 of Lolita, we discussed the themes and images mentioned in the book. Overall, the mood is still dark and creepy, and the themes and images are just as scary. Some of the themes mentioned in this book are strained family relationships (Lolita wants more freedom, Humbert refuses to give her the freedom she wants out of fear of Lolita running away from him), anger (Lolita is starting to refuse to give Humbert the sexual favors she used to give him), obsession (Humbert's obsession with nymphets and Lolita), control (Humbert's want to control Lolita and everything she does and everyone she sees), stress (Humbert's mental and physical scarring done to Lolita), paranoia (Humbert's fear that Lolita is going to leave him for Clare), pedophila (Humbert having sex with Lolita). Some of the images include the play 'The Enchanted hunters, the mom dying, meeting Clare Quincy, the gun, all the different titles Dolores/Lolita has that Humbert Humbert calls her.
 * B-Victoria**

Today, we focused on talking about the different images and themes. It was hard to identify much other than //obsession// and //strained family relationships.// We also talked a lot about what we think is going to happen towards the end of the book. It’s very possible that Humbert gets so frustrated with Lolita and her desire to be around other people that he eventually just shoots her and the other man that’s getting involved in her life. We discussed his gradual approach to insanity and the way he now carries a gun around to ensure that Lolita is never around other boys, or older men. This week, we read about a conversation between Lolita’s school principal and Humbert about Lolita’s emotional control. The principal said that the teachers were noticing that she never spoke about what happened at home and how she showed lack of interest in relationships with boys. She started to say that she was thinking about having the “school psychologist” evaluate her, and Humbert was clearly uncomfortable. We can’t tell whether or not Humbert will be found out.
 * C-Rachel**


 * D- Amanda**

1. Why does Humbert always look out the window of his new house? To spy on nymphets. 2. Why is Humbert called into Lolita's school? They say she isn't sexually mature. 3. Why is Humbert so overprotective of her? Because he doesn't want her to run away and leave him. 4. Why is Humbert carrying around a gun? Because if Lolita gets out of control he will shoot her. Also, he will kill the boy that Lolita likes. 5. Do you think Lolita loves Humbert? Why or why not? Lolita loved him originally, but now she is sick of him and she wants to be free.

1. Why isn't Lolita maturing properly? -Humbert is physically and mentally scarring her. 2. Who is Pratt and what is she saying to Humbert? -Pratt is one of school principles and she tells Humbert that Lolita is not maturing properly. 3. Is Humbert bothered by the things Pratt is telling him? -Yes, he twitches because he is controlling of Lolita and the principle is saying she should go and meet boys and he does not want that. 4. Where does Lolita "disappear" to and why? Why does Humbert act the way he does when she disappeared? -Lolita does not really disappear, she just wonders off for a couple of minutes. Humbert freaks out when Lolita disappears because he is so controlling and obsessed with her. This shows how creepy Humbert is because he cannot even take his eye off of Lolita for a minute. 5. What do you think Humbert would do if Lolita started dating another guy? How would he react, would he be angry? -Humbert would freak out and he would kill them both.
 * D - Marie**

A: Marie B: Gab C: Amanda D: Victoria D: Rachel
 * Week 5**

We believe that this book was very weird and the topic was strange and disturbing. However it is informative in a way because we are now aware that there are some really messed up people like Humbert in the world. We now know that we have to be cautious because Humbert seemed like a random and normal guy but he really was a messed up pedophile. We would not recommend this to peers unless they were studying to be psychologist. Humbert can be a very interesting character to study if you were going to be a psychologist. However we believe that the book is not only weird but boring too. We wouldn't recommend this to people who were just looking for an independent reading book. We think __Lolita__ discusses the topic better than any other book because it goes into a lot of detail. We don't believe that __Lolita__ should be part of the school curriculum because it is very inappropriate and would not be good for school.
 * B- Gab**

Since this was our last book club for __Lolita__, Marie brought in delicious chocolate cake. We discussed our final thoughts of this book. We talked about how we were surprised by the ending of this book. We were expecting a shocking ending, or something really exciting. However, the book ended with Humbert killing Lolita's stalker, him reflecting on his wrong-doings, and going to jail. We also discussed how even though Humbert did all of these disturbing things to Lolita, at least he was able to recognize that he corrupted and ruined Lolita's childhood. In addition, we talked about how it was beneficial for Lolita to leave Humbert. This is because she was completely unhappy and was robbed of her childhood. she was happy with her new husband, Dick, and was currently pregnant with his baby. Lastly, we discussed how overall, we were dissatisfied with the book. It didn't really have an eventful plot, which made it very boring. We also discussed how reading this book opened our eyes to the existence incest and pedophilia. It makes you think that these horrible events actually occurs in our world today. It is scary to think that older men are doing these kinds of inappropriate sexual things to young girls. Reading this book taught us that you need to be careful about who you are with and necessarily trust everyone that you meet.
 * C. Amanda**

1. Why do you think Humbert decided not to kill Lolita's husband when he saw him? He didn't kill him because Humbert knew that it would devastate Lolita. Humbert saw the other man as innocent.
 * D- Victoria**

2. Why do you think that what Quilty did to her upset him more than finding out about her new life and pregnancy? He was more offended by what Quilty did because he put her in danger. Quilty was sleazy and inappropriate, trying to get Lolita to do things she didn't want to do. At least Humbert knew she was happy with her new life.

3. Are you surprised by the ending of the book? If so, did you expect anything different to happen? We all thought something more exciting was going to happen. Humbert did kill someone, but he wasn't a very important character so it didn't exactly make sense.

4. Do you think that after Humbert realized he corrupted Lolita's childhood that he stopped being attracted to nymphets? We don't think he completely stopped, just realized that he was wrong. It's like a chain smoker who suddenly wants to quit: you want to stop because you know it's a terrible thing to do, but you don't have the strength to do it. Just because he was disgusted with himself doesn't mean he was able to stop.

5. What do you think was the key factor that made Humbert realize that he didn't have a good influence on Lolita? He noticed that she was miserable, she kept running away, and then married very young and got pregnant. This is sort of an obvious wake-up call.

1. Do you think the shooting scene was a far too unrealistic way to end the novel? Why or why not? Yes, it was a terrible way to end the book. Humbert shot Quilty six or seven times and he was still able to crawl out of bed and follow Humbert. He died after Hmbert left the house, a few hours later. We're not doctors, but we're pretty sure he should've died immediately.
 * D- Rachel**

2. Do you think the author used some of his own life experiences to complete the book? If so, what are a few examples? It seems like he did, because he wrote in such detail that we feel it's almost impossible to make that all up. Possibly the sleeping pill scene or the constant road trips are two main examples.

3. Was Dolly's decision to move away from Humbert a good, or a bad thing? How do you think Humbert would be if she stayed with him? The decision was definitely good for her, but if she stayed with Humbert, he wouldn't have to kill Quilty and he most likely would've been a little more relaxed in social situations.

4. If Lolita //did// choose to stay, do you think Humbert would've still been compelled to kill Quilty? No; he wouldn't have a reason to kill the man because if Lolita stayed, she wouldn't have met him in the first place.

5. Do you think it is possible for Dolores to have a normal, stable life after her experiences with Humbert? Why or why not? What do you consider normal? We don't think she could be completely normal, because she is so scarred from being with him for so long. At least she got away from him eventually and attempted to get some sort of stability with a husband and a child.