Lolita, As Viewed by Homer Homer’s Odyssey is the story of one man’s epic journey to return home and reestablish the proper order in his life. Throughout Odysseus’ journey, he encounters many obstacles that he must overcome in order to reach his destination. Homer describes Odysseus as “ . . . that man skilled in all ways of contending, the wanderer, harried for years on end…”(I, 2-3). With this in mind, I think if Homer were asked to comment on Lolita he would be able to relate many similarities between his own Odyssey and Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita specifically through thematic parallels and similarities in their writing style. When speaking of the author of Lolita, I will be speaking of Humbert Humbert not Nabokov. The reason for this is, the story of Lolita is being told by Humbert Humbert through his manuscripts. Therefore I’ll be speaking of Humbert Humbert’s writings in terms of Homer’s writings in the Odyssey.Homer would immediately see a striking similarity in the beginning of both works. Homer begins by giving a brief synopsis of his poem. He tells of Odysseus and his wanderings, and ultimately his quest to reach his homeland. Humbert, in the same way, begins his story by giving a vague overview of what is to come in his writings. In the first chapter we are introduced to Lolita. We are told that there was another love in his life, before Lolita, without whom Lolita may have never existed. Humbert hints at Lolita’s age, and we learn that he murdered someone. Both introductions whet the lips of the reader and invoke a genuine hunger for what will come in the following pages. Upon reading the first chapter of Lolita, the major thematic similarity between the Odyssey and Lolita is uncovered. Homer would conclude that Humbert Humbert, over the course of the book, will be embarking on an odyssey. This odyssey, which is two-fold, is defined more cle...
