Lolita

Lolita

by

Vladimir Nabokov

Motels and Rented Houses Symbol Analysis

Motels and Rented Houses Symbol Icon
None of the residences in Lolita are permanent. Humbert Humbert is born in a hotel, lives in Ramsdale as a boarder, never really settles down in Beardsley, and spends most of his time in hundreds of motels and roadside inns. The same goes for Lolita, who has already left her childhood home and moved to Ramsdale by the time Humbert Humbert encounters her. Motels in Lolita are symbols for the emotional homelessness of the major characters, none of whom have a real family or deep roots anywhere.

Motels and Rented Houses Quotes in Lolita

The Lolita quotes below all refer to the symbol of Motels and Rented Houses. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Perversity, Obsession, and Art Theme Icon
).
Part 1, Chapter 33 Quotes

In the gay town of Lepingville I bought her four books of comics, a box of candy, a box of sanitary pads, two cokes, a manicure set, a travel clock with a luminous dial, a ring with a real topaz, a tennis racket, roller skates with high white shoes, a portable radio set, chewing gum, a transparent raincoat, sunglasses, some more garments—swooners, shorts, all kinds of summer frocks. At the hotel we had separate rooms, but in the middle of the night she came sobbing into mine, and we made it up very gently. You see, she had absolutely nowhere else to go.

Related Characters: Humbert Humbert (speaker), Lolita (Dolores Haze)
Related Symbols: Motels and Rented Houses
Page Number: 141-142
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 2, Chapter 3 Quotes

We had been everywhere. We had really seen nothing. And I catch myself thinking today that our long journey had only defiled with a sinuous trail of slime the lovely, trustful, dreamy, enormous country that by then, in retrospect, was no more to us than a collection of dog-eared maps, ruined tour books, old tires, and her sobs in the night—every night, every night—the moment I feigned sleep.

Related Characters: Humbert Humbert (speaker), Lolita (Dolores Haze)
Related Symbols: Motels and Rented Houses
Page Number: 175
Explanation and Analysis:
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Motels and Rented Houses Symbol Timeline in Lolita

The timeline below shows where the symbol Motels and Rented Houses appears in Lolita. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Part 1, Chapter 2
Exile, Homelessness and Road Narratives Theme Icon
Life and Literary Representation Theme Icon
Women, Innocence, and Male Fantasy Theme Icon
...years old, but he was doted on by everyone in the “private universe,” of the hotel: his father’s lady-friends, tourists, and the hotel help. He lived a charmed life filled with... (full context)
Part 1, Chapter 28
Perversity, Obsession, and Art Theme Icon
Life and Literary Representation Theme Icon
Women, Innocence, and Male Fantasy Theme Icon
As he waits for Lolita to fall asleep, Humbert Humbert walks through the hotel. He reaches a pinnacle of happiness as he realizes that Lolita is finally his. He... (full context)
Part 1, Chapter 33
Exile, Homelessness and Road Narratives Theme Icon
...buys Lolita toys, clothes and baubles. She and he take separate rooms at the local motel, but she comes into his room late in the night for comfort. Humbert notes with... (full context)
Part 2, Chapter 13
Perversity, Obsession, and Art Theme Icon
Life and Literary Representation Theme Icon
Patterns, Memory and Fate Theme Icon
...Humbert notes the coincidence between the name of the play and the name of the motel where he first raped Lolita, and is thrilled when she points this out. He assumes... (full context)