Tawnia Wilson (Eastman)
LIT 431
10-12-09





The two words I am going to write about are Enchanted Hunters, which is the first

hotel Humbert and Lolita ever stayed in. I find this to be both an ironic and disturbing

because Humbert seems to see himself in this role in his pursuit of his desires. In reality,

there was nothing enchanted about Humbert”s hunt for the perfect moment to take Lolita

as his forever. He tried to make it seem as if his relationship with Lolita was enchanted

but he hunted her like prey through manipulation, bribery, drugs, and lies. He wanted her

and could not take the chance that she wouldn’t feel the same in return. In an ironic twist,

not until it was too late did he realize he was the hunter becoming the hunted by Quilty.

They both did everything they could to get Lolita and Quilty proved to be the better

hunter in the end by taking her out from under Humbert.

The words used to introduce the hotel to the story, as well as the circumstances

Humbert and Lolita find themselves in when coming to it have a very negative feeling,

which hunting can correlate with, as well as words related to enchantment. These serve as

pre-cursors of bad things to come. “We did not see any traffic light-in fact, The Park was

as black as the sins it concealed-but soon after falling under the smooth spell of a nicely

graded skill.”(117) The word sin is an excellent hint of Humbert’s intent and possibly

what subconsciously he as well as the readers might think of the act being fulfilled. The

word spell shows what he wants to cover up the reality of his choices. He wants to

enchant us with a spell in hopes to justify that what he is doing is not that bad.

Further down the page, more negative and mystical words come up. “A row of parked

cars, like pigs at a trough, seemed at first sight to forbid access: but then by magic, a

formidable convertible… came into motion.”(117) The words “pigs at a trough”

symbolizes the fact that they are at a dirty place to do considerably dirty things. It seems

to me as if Humbert’s subconscious is coming through when he brings up these kinds of

words. He knows deep down that what he is doing is bad, but he can’t help himself.

When he uses words that are similar to enchanted they are meant to serve as a hopeful

smokescreen to cover up the reality of his filthy intent. In his mind, if what he is doing is

enchanted, magical, and spellbinding, then there isn’t anything wrong with it.

Quilty, Humbert’s doppelganger, is quite the manipulative hunter himself. His play

that Lolita is in has virtually the same name as the hotel itself. The play’s name serves as a

reminder of the hotel and a way of Quilty saying, “I know what you did.” Much like the

character she plays, Lolita is an enchanter that hypnotizes both Humbert and Quilty. They

both want the same thing out of their enchanted prey, but with slightly different

approaches and intent. Humbert is hoping to find what he had with the Annabel of his

youth, regardless of his own age. Quilty’s intent is more obviously vulgar while Humbert

keeps the illusion that Lolita is an enchanting fantasy.

In conclusion, the words enchanted hunters take on a life of their own in the story.

They are two words that interpret a lot of what Lolita is about. They represent what

Lolita, Humbert, and Quilty’s intersecting fates are all about. As much as Humbert would

like to justify his actions as fanciful and magical, the fact is he is just like Quilty in his hunt

to satisfy his urges within a smaller, weaker prey.