What Are Nabokov's Tricks And What Is Behind Them?

In the foreword, John Ray, Jr., Ph. D puts forward this idea, " 'offensive' is frequently but a synonym for 'unusual'; and a great work of art is of course always original, and thus by its very nature should come as a more or less shocking surprise." (Nabokov 2000: 5) and essentially this is nothing but Nabokov's own opinion. He wants to show that the "offensiveness" or "shocking surprise" in what follows the foreword should be regarded as inherent properties of " a great work of art" instead of the defects of this novel. However, clearly, the reader and the critic have not taken these words seriously or have failed to understand them as Nabokov expected. The debates on Lolita and Nabokov have never really ceased since the initial publication half a century ago. With the abnormal story and the equally abnormal use of various techniques, the true theme of this novel and the creative principle of Nabokov are obscure and confusing. What are the tricks Nabokov plays and what is behind them? This is right what this thesis is intended to answer.The first chapter is an analysis of the narrative of the confession. The first person narration not only endows the hero Humbert the privileges as the sole narrator of the confession but also makes it natural for the reader to mistake Humbert for the authentic author of the confession rather than Nabokov, With this premise, the detailed discussion of the point of view, the narrative techniques, the narrative structure, and the narrative peculiarity displays the efforts Nabokov makes in this aspect and the remarkable effects—to draw Humbert nearer to the reader, to set a good image for him and to gain more sympathy.The second chapter is about the rhetoric of the confession. Nabokov applies all kinds of rhetoric skills in the confession. What are discussed in this chapter are his allusions to historical figures, the word games he plays, the transcendence of literary genres and his adoption of the prose style. With the use of all these, the confession is clean, and full of beauty, and the image of Humbert becomes better. Moreover, the credibility of its content is enhanced.After the analysis of the form of the confession that makes the image of Humbert graceful, learned, helpless and pitiful. Chapter Three is about the unfavorable clues Nabokov arranges in the confession. There are questionable points in the reliability of Humbert's role as the only narrator; the similarities between Humbert and Quilty implies their equal abnormality and immorality; Humbert's purposefully conceals his cruelty to his two wives; he ever does different jobs while in fact has few significant achievements in reality. All this discloses that Humbert is far from the image he sets for himself in the confession.Chapter Four focuses on the foreword in the name of John Ray. Jr., Ph. D and the postscript Nabokov added to Lolita in the second year of its initial publication. The short foreword is highly expressive and connotative, containing information both advantageous and disadvantageous to Humbert, and the postscript is where Nabokov places his explanation about Lolita including the background messages and his ideas about literary creation. He declares that the meaning of literary creation lies in the so-called "aesthetic bliss" it can bring. In these two parts there are more proofs for the real attitude Nabokov holds to Humbert and the more important to literary creation.The detailed analysis of the text of Lolita, the confession, the foreword, and the postscript, shows that Nabokov gives a full play of his high ability in narration and rhetoric to change an abnormal and immoral story into an appealing and touching confession of a painful and good-imaged hero, but at the same time he also makes great efforts to reveal the truth about the affair and the characters in a subtle but still detectable way. He expects the reader to perceive the hidden messages through penetrating the tricks he plays in the form. The challenge to the reader's perception and the course of detection are right what can produce the "aesthetic bliss". It is detached from the traditional dual aspects of artworks—morality or form. This is the true theme of Lolita and also the principle that guides Nabokov's creation.To conquer the controversy in Lolita and in Nabokov's creation is only the surface significance of this thesis. The originality of my studies mainly lies in that through the delving of the true theme of Lolita and the creative principle of Nabokov, a new angle from which to interpret an artwork is proved to be also feasible besidesthe traditional morality and form. Through Lolita Nabokov tells us that modern artworks can show much more things that are much more novel than traditional ones, and that to appreciate them, the reader and the critic should equip themselves with new skills and conceptions.