While trying to recover a recent posting about
Graham Greene, I came accross two messages, the first dated May 2008 and more recent one, from January 2010, from
which I excerpted one query, by Fran Assa: "I wonder if it was the
quote below that Graham Greene was thinking about when he asked VN if he were a
Catholic based on something he had read in Lolita." The
unretrieved item carried an information on Greene's mistaken idea that
Humbert Humbert had repented and been converted to the Catholic faith, plus an
additional comment that this author had recently offered, for auction
or sale, an edition of "Lolita" he'd received from Nabokov with a
dedication.
My curiosity has been aroused after
I read about the recent pedophilia-related scandals troubling the
Roman Church, particularly the words by French Monsieur Jacques Gaillot,
Archbishop of Evreux, related to a Canadian priest (Denis Vadeboncoeur) he'd
given shelter ( cf. "Le Parisien/'Aujourd'hui.") Most statements emphasize the
importance of confession and repentance, while they keep silence concerning the
destinies of the victims of sexual abuse.
Graham Greene's attitude seems to me to be
similar: "Lolita," deserves recognition, not only because of its literary
excellency, but because it would describe a pedophile's repentance
and conversion to the "true faith." In "Pale Fire" we follow part
of Kinbote's religious qualms, and, apparently, also in
TOoL we apprehend (vaguely) a similar inclination in
a widowed Flora. Nabokov often voiced his lack of interest in
"organized religion," his criticism concerning Tolstoy's and Dostoevsky's
literary piety, T.S.Eliot's conversion. I wonder if his references to
religion have a satirical intention, something I cannot
yet grasp.
Nabokov shows compassion for his tormented
and unfortunate fictional sinners whereas to lament Lolita's tragic
life, focus on Hazel's and Shade's sufferings or on all the
other depicted victims is possible, even necessary, but it demands a
lot more attention and ellaboration on the part of the readers. I wonder
what we can make of David Krug, Romantoski and Cincinnatus, should we try to
extract them from their fictional status as representatives of some kind of
"martyrdom." Even Lolita is often linked to Saint Joan of Arc and
her pennant (I forgot how it is specifically designated by Nabokov
- but its presence is felt in incendiary "Transparent Things", in "Pale
Fire's" 'auto de fé'...)