September 30, 2013

Chapter 31 of Part One is yet another soliloquy by Humbert to the "sensitive gentlewomen of the jury" (135).  It begins thus, "I am trying to describe these things not to relive them in my present boundless misery, but to sort out the portion of hell and portion of heaven in that strange, awful, maddening world– nymphet love" (135).  Interesting to note that though his body is bounded physically by the prison walls, his misery is not, it extends beyond himself, or at least rhetorically, possibly in a bid to persuade the reader, or the "jury" of a state of mind that would net some sympathy.  Whether or not he is actually miserable is one, impossible to know, and two, beside the point.  Furthermore, the verb, "relive" in that sentence suggests at once, the act of remembering, and the veracity of the original events in question.  That Humbert describes the world (as different from the "real" world?) of nymphet love (if it is love) in terms of a duality (hell ; heaven) recalls the numerous other oppositions in the novel-memoir, such as, "the beastly and beautiful," which is restated in the next line (135).  This "world," as Humbert would like us to think, is "strange, awful, maddening," which seems to exonerate Humbert by suggesting his relation to it is unnatural, repulsive and insane; i.e., Humbert cannot be helped, his actions are compulsory, out of his control (135).  If he is in control, it, the world of nymphet love, would not possess such "negative" modifiers.  However, this string of characteristics, like the "sensitive gentlewomen" or "boundless misery," my emphasis, could be read as a common ruse on Humbert's part to deceive the reader, but then these are lies, calling into question the validity of all his statements and related memories throughout the text (135).