5 years, the time it took the author Vladimir Nabokov to put words on paper and create the dark world of Lolita, having finished the novel in 1953 the publication had to wait another 2 years before seeing the light of day. Only after Graham Greene reviewed the book, even calling it "one of the three best novels of the year", did the book begin to take off, although not without controversy. As the years have passed the story has continued to gain both positive and negative attention, although no definitive conclusion has been drawn as to why the shocking story continues to be a favorite. Instead, the book pushes readers to reach a final verdict and decide whether fictional novels have a duty to be moral or whether it is more important for the book to have aesthetic value instead. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay To fully understand the literary work, you must first interpret the author's intentions, his background, and how he came to write such a novel. Born Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov, on April 22, 1899 to an aristocratic family, a talent for writing ran in the family as his father VD Nabokov was the writer of many books and reports on politics such as "The Provisional Government". After leaving Russia in 1919, Nabokov and his family moved to England where Vladimir attended Trinity College, Cambridge first studying zoology before moving on to French and Russian literature. In 1922 the family had settled in Berlin; however, shortly after Nabokov's father was murdered, this later influenced his writing as accidental murders feature prominently in his books. Writing poetry was an important part of Nabokov, he published 2 collections in 1916 and 1918 before leaving Russia and continued to write poetry whilst in England, as well as between 1922 and 1940 when living in Germany and France. He explored other branches of art such as theater and cinema before finding his favourite; prose. At first, his novels earned him only a few hundred dollars which he used to finance his butterfly hunting. While writing these first 8 novels he earned money teaching tennis and languages ​​such as English and Russian. Nabokov was finally noticed when Lolita was completed. The novel is described to "examine love in light of its apparent opposite", which is a subtle allegory of Nabokov. On his inspiration to write the novel, Vladimir wrote in "On a Book Called Lolita" "As far as I can remember, the first thrill of inspiration was somehow provoked by a newspaper article about a monkey in the Jardin des Plantes, which, after months of persuasion by a scientist, he predicted the first ever charcoal drawing of an animal: the sketch showed the bars of the poor creature's cage.” Although it may not seem so at first glance, the two stories share similarities, someone is driven to do something without realizing the factors that limit him. It is said that Nabokov also took inspiration from Russian classical ballet and European fairy tales at the time of its release in 1955, the morals and ethics of society were similar to what we have today in terms of topics such as those that appear in the novel . Groucho Marx said: “I will delay reading Lolita for another six years, until he will not turn 18.” The author encourages us readers to determine whether a story is obligated to abide by ethical standards or whether it has the freedom to represent whatever thoughts the writer chooses. However, to reach this conclusion one must be familiar with thenovel and understand the writing style used. The story begins with a preface describing how the story became known, the single lets readers know that our antihero Humbert died in 1952 in prison before being tried for his crimes and having written a memoir before his death. The memoir begins by telling us about Humbert's childhood years when he grew up in the Rivera in a luxury hotel owned by his father. During his youth, Humbert falls in love with Annabel, a young girl on holiday in the hotel. The frustratingly blocked sexual urges continued to create serious problems for Humbert later in his life. The story continues, as Humbert continues to age, he studies in England and France and marries a woman named Valeria who later leaves him for someone else. After collecting some money thanks to an inheritance, our protagonist moves to the United States where he is hospitalized for mental problems. After his release, Humbert meets Charlotte Haze and her daughter Lolita and immediately moves in with them. Humbert tolerates Charlotte and focuses his attention on Lolita instead, although soon after the move Charlotte decides to send Lolita to camp due to her wild behavior. Humbert is therefore faced with a dilemma; should he stay with Charlotte to be with Lolita or will he leave? He ultimately decides to marry Charlotte, although shortly afterwards Charlotte finds Humbert's diary detailing his hatred for her and his immoral love for his daughter. In her frenzy she is hit by a car and Humbert rushes away in a panic. He decides to go to the camp to pick up Lolita and take her to a hotel where the two will spend the night together. During his reflection on the events, Humbert writes that it was Lolita who started their activities. The couple then spent a year taking a trip to the United States. As they get to know each other better, Lolita begins to behave badly, eventually they move to Beardsley where Humbert starts as a teacher and Lolita attends school. As they settle in Lolita begins to become interested in other people and takes part in a school play. Humbert, hurt by the decrease in attention he receives, lets Lolita organize a trip but during the excursion she falls ill and is taken to hospital. Lolita leaves with someone else and Humbert tries for years to look for her with no luck, years later Lolita sends him a letter and he finally finds her. When the two finally reunite, Humbert begs Lolita to return as she is now pregnant, once she receives the money she will be able to move in with her husband. Humbert decides to track down the man Lolita left with years ago and kills him, while fleeing the scene he is caught and arrested. An interesting thought to consider is why Nabokov decided to write a preface with a character irrelevant to him. the actual story. Why was John Ray Jr. chosen to be the one to inform us of what happened to Humbert? Ray claims that it was Humbert's lawyer who contacted him and asked him to read the memoir written by our antihero, there was also talk of a possible publication of said memoir. Ray's job was to edit the autobiography so that the characters remained anonymous and in addition to this, he mentions that minor changes have been made and that the work is completely in Humbert's original words, this is clearly stated in the preface as " My task turned out to be easier than either of them." of us expected this extraordinary memoir to be presented intact. Ray's personal opinion and insights, all written in the preface, constitute a kind of abstract or preparation for readers inso that they can later form their own opinion on the work. The preface also provides information that helps readers understand the ending of the story; however, readers only realize this after reading the novel to the end. Although the little introduction Ray provides is essential to the story, and without it, readers would feel like the book ends too abruptly. After reading the novel, readers are faced with distressing scenes and unthinkable thoughts that make us wonder how the author could have possibly erased such motifs. However, the story depicts these events in such a way that for only a second the readers are almost hypnotized before the wave of disgust hits them. This is due to the fact that Nabokov mastered the art of writing prose, John Updike said in the past that “Nabokov writes prose in the only way it should be written, that is, ecstatically”. By focusing on the style of her writing, she can make anything look beautiful, and Lolita captures this phenomenon perfectly. Readers are immediately captivated by his talent for shaping words, so only after reflecting on what they've just read do they realize how heartbreaking the plot is. This subtle manipulation tricks readers into believing that what they just read is not as terrible, shaping their view and opinion of the book. Perhaps Nabokov wanted to demonstrate that even the most immoral of characters can receive sympathy when depicted in such unusual ways. So does the author's writing style make readers sympathize with Humbert's unethical ways? The language used to describe the events of the novel leads readers to believe that what happened between Humbert and Lolita was not something criminal or wrong but that in fact their actions were just that. Humbert wrote that what happened was “A greater deed” although he continued to try to defend his actions several times by stating that he is not a “brutal scoundrel” and that he “has insinuated himself into the estates of poets and not in the hunting ground of crime." As we read Humbert's attempt to redeem and verify his actions over and over again, we are led to feel almost sorry and pitiful for him. This is then later met with judgment, how should readers feel after reading the novel? The author wants us to think that Humbert was not a monster, on the other hand, our personal ethical standards clearly dictate otherwise. According to society and the moral code of many, if not most individuals entering into a relationship of a romantic or sexual nature with a child is not acceptable. This is due to the fact that children are easily impressionable and are not fully developed, so they cannot make decisions on such matters. This is a basis on which we readers can agree that the ideas that the author introduces into the story are perceived as wrong, because they are wrong. Frustration sets in when these two views merge and we are left with a feeling of confusion about how we should feel. Nabokov managed to create such confusion simply with his writing style, that is, how powerful his control over words is. One should ask: does a fictional novel have a duty to be ethical? What limits are set for novels? If an author decides to delete such events, is he free to do so? According to the right to freedom possessed by every human being, everyone has the right to have opinions and expressions, including the freedom to communicate information and ideas through any medium. The limitation to this right is that you cannot produce media that causes crime, violence or panic. If the readerunderstands these rights, he can clearly see that Nabokov simply decided to use his freedom of expression since people are not forced to read the novel. The author wanted to create something allegorical, something beautiful and horrible at the same time and so Lolita was born. Fictional stories are said to be meant for entertainment, enjoyment, teaching lessons and bring aesthetic pleasure while being read. They don't tell real stories, however sometimes they contain real elements implemented within them. The novel was meant to have aesthetic value, it was written as it is because the author aimed to challenge boundaries and open our minds to how few rules literature truly has. Nabokov wanted to demonstrate that fictional novels owe readers nothing, no morals, no ethics, no take-home messages, and he did so in 336 pages of poetic prose. Morality, destiny and free will; each theme can be found in Lolita by reading the story. Morality is the value system someone has that helps them distinguish right from wrong and good from evil. The morals of Lolita's characters differ quite significantly from social norms, both Humbert and Lolita seem to have trouble deciding whether their actions are wrong or not. Although Humbert has moments of reflection where his subconscious begins to nudge him in the right direction, he promptly shakes off these thoughts and continues to justify his actions. Fate is believed to be the progression of events that happen beyond our control, in this case fate had made our anti-hero Humbert desire girls. Considered a pedophilia disorder, a psychiatric illness in which patients experience desires towards prepubescent children. Free will is the ability to make decisions without being limited by anyone, if we were to take the plot of our story by changing just one detail, would Lolita's age be the story still be what it is now? If we changed Lolita's age to 18, 17 or even 16 what would happen to our novel? While still a significant age gap, the alteration would make Humbert appear not as a criminal simply as a perverted man who preys on young adults. Free will also applies to Lolita, she is still free to decide what to consent to but if we go back to her original age this freedom is taken away from her. The 3 themes; morality, fate, and free will push and pull each other throughout the story. When the characters want to decide on an issue at hand, free will dictates that they are free to do whatever they want, at the same time morality steps in and says that they are not actually free because they have to act according to rules and laws and finally fate . he saves the situation by letting everyone believe that the events that occurred were simply due to fate. This cycle continues throughout the book and none of the 3 ever ends up as the winner because the themes continue to connect with each other. After reading the novel the reader expects to receive a take-home message, but the message is not entirely clear. as obvious, with careful interpretation we can conclude that Lolita teaches readers some different things. First, the most obvious one is for parents, teachers and educators to work to provide a safer environment for children to grow up in so that such tragedies do not happen to other individuals. Secondly, that beautiful language can actually make bad actions not seem so terrible at first glance, admitting all that, after a while actions always speak louder than words. And finally that even the worst people have a subconscious that will always come out in the end”.