Opinions of Lolita

My previous posts have focused on characterization or the Nabokov's style or themes he presents in the novel, but for this final post, I want to focus on how the book has affected me, and how it could be used to help improve other English student's skills in analyzing texts.

The biggest question regarding Lolita is if its subject  is too controversial to be taught or read by high school students. English professors and critics have argued over this novel for years, their opinions varying pretty significantly. Some believe that the book should be banned from classrooms because of its justification or portrayal of pedophilia, while others argued that the author intended to offer criticisms about society by writing the topic of the novel as he did, and that although the subject is unpleasant the moral the story offers is beneficial. I would have to agree with this, I believe that the author offers not only valuable statements about the unfavorable aspects of our society, but also presents elements of literature that are elegant and intuitive, such as his use of irony and symbolism. However, I do believe the topic is a little intense and mature for freshman or sophomore classes to be reading and discussing, but it would present and interesting and insightful view for upperclassmen and could be beneficial in their progression towards being successful on the AP exam.

I discussed what I think the meaning of the work as a whole was in my last post and I believe that the theme of the novel, and the devices the author used to express these ideas are sufficient enough to credit the book as being worthwhile to read in an English classroom, as the moral of the story is still relevant to our society today. I also believe the subject of rape and sexual abuse, which was presented in the novel, needs to be discussed and learned more about in school as it is also a very relevant issue in society. I believe by reading the book and discussing the effect it has on the readers in class would be a useful activity to help prepare students to use it as a novel on one of the AP prompts. It would also be helpful to review the stylistic and literary devices presented in the novel as a class. This would help students getting used to analyzing texts and being able to understand multiple points of view and identify motifs and themes in passages which is an important skill on the AP exam.  

I would recommend this book to people who are looking for a challenge of both literary and ethical circumstance. Vladimir Nabokov included many literary devices into this novel that often are not noticed when looking through it the first time. This is one reason why I believe the book should be included in the curriculum of an AP English class. It is important that students be able to identify the literary devices used in pieces as that is one of the key things students have to do on the AP exam. I feel this book has helped me learn how to identify and understand the devices being used as the character, Humbert, in the novel often alluded to the previous comparisons and analogies he had made. The novel forces the reader attempt to understand the references, allusions, symbolism, and irony used throughout the novel but also forces them to ask why they were used and what effect they have on what the author, or the main character, Humbert, is trying to prove. This book also helps the readers be able to understand the effect of narrative point of view and how it is used. The novel is written in first person objective where we see the opinions and revelations of only one character observing what is going on around us, this is significant in this novel as it helps to develop the theme as I talked about in recent posts. Being able to identify the significance of literary devices and the style and diction of the author or also very important skills that we work on in our AP English class and that we will be tested on in the future. These are also just good skills for readers to have as they enhance the reading experience and allow the reader to understand more about what is going on in the book and feel more connected to the topics it introduces.

Reading this book was a good experience for me and helped me develop my skills in analysis and forces me to notice details of the writing and devices used that I hadn't noticed in books before. For that reason I also believe it would be a good option as a suggested book for other AP English students looking to expand their repertoire and maybe improve their interpretive skills as well. Reading from the perspective of the antagonist forced me to perceive a point of view I did not morally agree with or understand, but also allowed me to focus on the literary devices and style used, instead of shifting point of view, it also -as I have stated before- helped to develop the major theme in the novel. Overall I believe, this book would help the readers to gain skills in analyzing literature and determining the significance of specific literary devices and stylistic features which would be helpful for doing well on the AP exams.