Gaming the Fiction

       The discussion on Tuesday really spoke to me in that I had never really sat down to think of Lolita as a game. However, upon further inspection, the entire novel consists of little matches that ultimately add up to the winning point– the end of the game, the climax if you will. The first match begins with Annabelle and the final match ends with the death of Quilty, and there are, of course, the rest of the matches in between. The "game" with Annabelle is arguably the only true game of lust- a young Humbert is in love with a girl of his age and they are constantly craving consummation. Of course, there is the idea that Annabelle may not have existed, but for the sake of this argument, she did. Their game is the adolescents vs. society, and ultimately they lose. They are defeated by the boys making fun of them as they attempt to ravage each other on the beach and they are defeated, finally, by Annabelle's sickness that leads to her death.
     The second game is Humbert's game of attempting to assimilate in to society. It is Humbert vs Humbert. He knows his unique carnal needs are wrong– so he tries to marry a woman like a normal man would do, and he chooses a woman who seems a bit childlike. However, Humbert is ultimately defeated by Valeria, because she is not the woman he thinks she is, and she leaves him because his urges have bubbled to the surface. The beginning of the novel is not really filled with triumphs for HH.
     When Humbert moves to Ramsdale, the matches and their outcomes begin to switch. The moment Humbert sets his eyes on Lolita, a new match begins. This is the hunter vs. his prey. The enchanter vs. the enchantress. In order obtain closeness to Lolita, Humbert begins the game of seduction– but not of Lolita but of her mother, Charlotte. Charlotte falls in love with Humbert, and Humbert convinces her to marry him. It is Humbert vs. Charlotte in his pursuit of Lolita, and just as he feels as if he is about to lose yet another match, Charlotte is struck by a car and Lolita is finally his. He has won! Or, he's won this match at least.
    The rest of the novels entirety is a game between Lolita and Humbert. First, Humbert must continuously keep Lolita entertained so that he can continue having the violent sex with Lo in which he has become addicted. Humbert must keep her happy, and this is a game that he is constantly losing. And then, there is the game against time. Lolita is not getting any younger, and neither is Lolita, so Humbert must consistently race time in order to keep his precious nymphet a precious nymphet while he can.
    The ultimate game, though, is Lolita's attempt to escape Humbert. This is a game that Humbert is not fully aware– or at least, pretends to not be in awareness. Lolita is not happy, her mother dies, and as Humbert says himself, she has nowhere else to go. Lolita ultimately wins this match, and flees with Quilty to rid herself of her life with her dear Hummy.
    Finally, Humbert spends his time searching for Lolita, and upon finding her, pregnant and in need of money, he tries to convince her to come with him. Of course she does not go, and the last of the novel is the match that all the other matches have been leading up to all along: Humbert Humbert vs. Tom Quilty. Humbert tracks him down, and kills him. Though Humbert lands himself in jail, he feels as if he has won and sits down to write this novel before his untimely death. Did Humbert ultimately win? That decision is up for the reader to decide and ultimately becomes a game of its own.