Lolita | Part 1, Chapters 14–15 | Summary

Summary

Chapter 14

Humbert says he's proud of himself for accomplishing what he did without Lolita knowing. Indeed he still intended "to protect the purity of that 12-year-old child." He is "repaid for his pains," however, with the news that Charlotte is sending Lolita off to summer camp. Humbert feigns a toothache to explain his sudden "grim mood" and to avoid accompanying Charlotte out to "the piazza."

Chapter 15

Humbert shares that Charlotte told Lolita that he supports her going to camp. She mopes for a few days but then just as she's getting in the car to leave, she sees him in the window and runs upstairs to kiss him goodbye.

Analysis

Humbert objects to Lolita's absence because he will miss two months of her remaining two years of "nymphage," after which she will no longer be the "Lolita" Humbert named and desires. He knows, paradoxically, he will love Lolita forever yet she will not be Lolita forever.

Humbert provides a few details that, as in previous chapters, further obscure whether Lolita plays any role in sexualizing their relationship. When she runs inside to kiss him goodbye he describes her "stamping" and "panting" up the stairs before kissing him with her "innocent mouth." Humbert's word choice suggests that animal desire compels Lolita into Humbert's arms even while her mouth is "innocent." She leaves for camp "alive, unraped," suggesting that—if he'd somehow been able to continue—she would have been neither.