Yaneli Monje
Veiled Craft of Creativity
Art is defined as the expression of creativity and imagination, as well as the creation of
beauty and emotional power. There is a certain kind of beauty and power in everything that is
created. In the novel Lolita, by Vladimir Nabokov, the author portrays art through the
manipulation of language, various narrative and examination of moral awakening.
Nabokov illustrates the manipulation of language to stir the feelings of the reader;
creating a sense of emotional power over the reader and hence creating art. Instantaneously, as
the novel begins, Humbert introduces the object of his adoration, Lolita. He states, “ Lolita, light
of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three
steps down the palate to tap, at three on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta” (Nabokov 9). Here, one sees how
Humbert uses such a moving and rousing language which translates into a poetic and artistic
admiration to the reader. Calling Lolita the light of his life, right at the beginning of the novel,
reveals to the reader how deeply in love Humbert is with Lolita. One sees how even Lolita’s
name and syllables conjures in him such a passion that he appreciates and acknowledges the
movement of his tongue as he pronounces her name vocally. In this aesthetical introduction the
reader gets a sense of how the author/narrator will use the manipulation of language to affect the
reader and create a specific meaning to the work. Later in the novel one sees how Humbert
dehumanizes Lolita to her nymphet traits to induce the reader’s sympathy for him. In the novel,
Humbert tells the reader of his suffering of nympholepsy and later introduces nymphets, he
states, “I wish to introduce the following idea. Between the age limits of nine and fourteen there
occur maidens who, to certain bewitched travelers, twice or many times older than they, reveal
their true nature which is not human, but nymphic (that is, demoniac); and these chosen
creatures I propose to designate as ‘nymphets” (Nabokov 16). Humbert uses an artificial
systematic language to define and introduce “nympholepsy” as a hurt condition. Justifying his
desires to be abnormal but acceptable as well as portraying himself as a victim of his past and of
this disease. This linguistic style then causes a commotion in the reader to feel sympathy for
Humbert and thus gaining the emotional power of his audience. Proving the novel to be art
through emotional power.
A transition of narration in the novel also proves this novel to be a piece of art by
expressing the artistic nature of Humbert’s appraisal of nymphets instead of showing Humbert’s
perverse pedophilia. Indicating that even disturbing things like this can be masked with the
beauty of art. Humbert states, “You can always count on a murderer for a fancy prose
style”(Nabokov 9). Humbert recognizes the fact that he is presenting his storytelling to the reader
