Humbert had something to restrain him from Dolores. Since what he truly wanted was unattainable, he had to venture, prolong if you will, his experiences with Lo to get everything possible out of each confrontation. He made it into a perverted game of cat and mouse. Humbert sets up situations where he and Lolita will be alone. For instance, he would leave the door to his room cracked while he would write, an almost irresistible piece of cheese for a twelve-year-old curious girl. Once “the trap works”, and Lolita is peering over his notes at his desk, he is so aware of her every movement (Nabokov 48). He knows the spatial point where every key body part of hers is at all times. He makes fake movements like scratching an itch, or yawning, just to get a brief brush of her soft skin. Another gleaming example of this is when Lolita comes to visit Humbert on the sofa just after his shower. Humbert warns the reader to “examine its [the situation’s] every detail and see for themselves how careful, how chaste, the whole wine-sweet event is if viewed with…”impartial sympathy” (Nabokov 57). She brings in an apple, tossing it in the air, and Humbert intercepts it on the second throw. I need to point out that the apple is the forbidden fruit, and Nabokov not only uses it purposefully, but also makes a biblical reference to its “Eden-red” color (Nabokov 58). He is constantly looking for an opportunity to be closer to her; in this instance, it only took him one throw of the fruit to realize that this could be one. She mimics his thieving behavior by snatching his magazine, and Humbert immediately associates this with their destined coexistence and some ill-hearted personality traits they have in common. I can’t stress enough how aware Humbert is. He knows what people think of him, and what to say to calm their nerves. Humbert Humbert has a very good sense of social tact, how to evade a conver...
