"Now I wish to introduce the following idea. Between the age limits of nine and fourteen there occur maidens who, to certain bewitched travelers, twice as many times older than they, reveal their true nature which is not human, but nymphic (that is, demoniac); and these chosen creatures I propose to designate as "nymphets." [...] But let us be civilized. Humbert Humbert tried hard to be good. Really and truly, he did. He had the utmost respect for ordinary children [...]. But how his heart beat when, among the innocent throng, he spied a demon child, "enfant charmante et fourbe,"dim eyes, right lips, 10 years in jail if you only show her your looking at her. So life went. Humbert was perfectly capable of intercourse with the EUve, but it was Lilith he longed for. The bud stage of breast development, [...] the first appearance of pigmented pubic hair [...]. My little cup grins with tiddles."Lolita, Nabovok. 16, 20.Story of a pedophile, who explains his cravings and adventures with his Lolita, Dolores.
There is obviously a "glitch" in all four of these men's minds. They have unnatural desires. Mrs. Reilly was saying that Mr. Henry was a worse offender than Cholly. I however disagree because in all cases these men use little girls as substitutes for their unrealized fantasies:
-Cholly: his inability to love, his longing for past happiness and freedom,
-Soaphead: his homosexual desires blocked by his hate of people, ...
For Mr. Henry, it is harder to discover but he is the one I associate most with Humbert Humbert: they seem nicest on the outside but are predators on the inside. The intricate workings of their mind are most dangerous.
The question here is whether what makes their offenses appalling is that they abuse a child's trust or that they are directed towards children. I lean towards the latter and that is probably why I find that there is no saying that one offender is worse than the other. What makes the offense bad for you?
I agree. There is definitely a “glitch” with all of these men’s minds. It is difficult to understand why Mr. Henry is a pervert, and what is going through his mind as he is propelled to touch Frieda. I get chills just like Claudia when Mr. Henry is sucking on the whores fingers or wiped the bottle sweat onto his hand and then turns it up to his lips. There is just something so creepy about Mr. Henry. I think he is the usual pervert; he gets kicks out of executing certain actions that are unnatural. I think it is just in his nature to be “bad”.
ReplyDeleteAs for Cholly and Soaphead, I can understand what is going through their minds and why they do the things they do. Hurt and rejection goes through Cholly’s mind. He is deeply hurt by the rejection he endured by both parents, which in return has transformed him into a person with distorted morals hence the bad acts. All of Cholly acts should be taken into account, not only the incest. He beats his wife, drinks incessantly and puts his family on the street. Yes, it is very appalling that he directs himself onto Pecola, who is a child, but at the same time one should take into account that it was not appalling for him. It was an act of love, because Cholly doesn’t process and think, but acts instead which is all due to his animal-like nature by living “dangerously free”. Whatever goes through his mind cannot play a role in convicting him a rapist, but rather a victim of his inability to act and think clearly. It would be truly appalling if Cholly fully understood the repercussions of his action and still did, cause then we are dealing with a rapist and not a sick person. I cannot see this man as an offender making his action against his daughter a little less horrible to me, but don’t get me wrong the idea of hurting children in general is absolutely horrible.
As for Soaphead I find his offense towards young girls is extremely wrong. I think he preys on young girl because they are smaller in size and easy to distract and manage, and that is horrible to simply prey on girls because they are just easier and pure. But I feel in a way that I cannot hold him in a tinny tiny way responsible for the horrible offense that his has committed. I believe his harsh bringing up by his father is the only and major force reinforcing the “glitch” in his mind. “Velma was to rescue him from the nonelife he had learned on the flat side of his father’s belt. (170)” He has been abused and brought up to think in a very rigid way which has forced him to become the man he is, so is he really accountable for the horrid acts against the little girls, is it not his father’s fault for completely ruining him and thus influencing him to choose the wrong path? I also want to add that I feel in a way that his is trying to redeem himself, by trying to get Pecola her blue eyes? Some would say it is an offense towards Pecola to say to her that she has blue eyes, but Soaphead is trying to help her, because I think he knows that she will never really get the bluest eyes, but helps her pretend she has them to allow her glimmer of hope she is holding onto become a reality.
Honestly, all these men’s actions are appalling, but certain factors make them seem appalling but in a different kind of way, because it is not only appalling for Cholly and Soaphead’s victims but for these two men as well, who are victims of their offences.