A banned or challenged book tends to be disputed and unwanted in public places. When a book is banned from schools or even a whole state it means that it contains things such as sexual explicitness, offensive language, political incorrectness, violence, views contrary to the state or are seen threatening in some way (Gale 1). The book Lolita written by Vladimir Nabokov was banned in 1955 in France and Australia for its controversial content (Amy 4). Lolita should be banned or challenged because of its detailed way of describing a situation that influences bad actions.
The act of banning books has been long-established since colonial times for the basis of religious beliefs such as blasphemy or seditious libel (Donald 2). The prohibition of these literatures was initiated for the good of the community or for the government’s convenience (Donald 5). Furthermore, in the United States the Bill of Rights declares that there is no law against freedom of speech, press or religion. In this case, freedom of the press is protected by the First Amendment yet the movement of challenging books like Lolita should continue because they contain uncensored language and imagery that is not beneficial for society.
Neighboring on, Lolita was challenged because of its open minded way of describing sexual activities between a middle aged man a twelve year old pubescent girl. Many critics announced this novel as “pornographic trash” and quoted its “obscene” descriptions of a pedophile’s sexual life (Chester 1). While others approved it for its originality and “Sparkling wit”. This novel was recognized and published in the U. S. , Germany, Italy, France, Japan, Norway, and the Netherlands for its literary merit (Chester 5).
Subsequently, in 1964 the book was later required to use in school as a study tool. Dr. Bob Brissenden of the Australian National University sought this novel to provide a great example for students attending courses in American Literature (Amy 8). In addition, the author Vladimir Nabokov was an English teacher who lived in Berlin that later immigrated to the United States to start his successful career as a writer. Nabokov’s literary works such as Pale Fire, Speak Memory, and Bend Sinister were not as controversial as the famous Lolita (Chester 3).
In the long run, there is no clear reason why Nabokov wrote Lolita but it seemed that it was not welcomed in society back when it got published. This novel has been argued by literary critics for its sickening and lascivious way of carrying out a message that can influence today’s society into having an excuse for crimes such as rape. In the book, Nabokov starts out with Humbert Humbert as the main character, who is in jail for murder, he is confessing his crimes to the jury. This man falls deeply in love with Dolores (Lolita) Haze a seductive and flirtatious nymphet.
Humbert gets married with her mother and then kills her to get a chance to be with his beloved Lolita. He becomes obsessed with this capricious adolescent and sickly describes his intimate moments with to her as “deep hot sweetness thus established and well on its way to ultimate convulsion I felt I could slow down in order to prolong the glow” showing that Nabokov’s writing is impure and indecent that could cause anyone to think atrocities about young girls in society (Vladimir 153).
This sick pedophile also has confidence with the jury and tells them his sexual actions, “and my moaning mouth, gentlemen of the jury, almost reached her bare neck, while I crushed out against her left buttock and the last throb of the longest ecstasy man or monster had ever known (Vladimir 61). ” This type of description and vivid imagery corrupts the audience’s imagination. As Lolita gets tired of Humbert, she runs away and Humbert never gets to see her again until she is sixteen years old.
Humbert finds her pregnant yet he still loves her, “Tlooked and looked at her and I knew as clearly as I know that I will die, that I loved her more than anything that I have ever seen, or imagined on Earth… / loved her this Lolita, pale, polluted and big with another man’s child… (Vladimir 205). ” Nabokov’s writing has many more scenes that include even more inappropriate visuals of Humbert’s sexual desires with Lolita.
In many circumstances, the author accomplishes his goal to make Humbert look more like a passionate character that loves Lolita, yet the whole message of the book illustrates a maniac who technically rapes a twelve year old girl. Vladimir Nabokov’s famous and controversial novel, Lolita, should be kept banned because it would only corrupt young girls or boys and also adults because they would find the main characters’ actions as an example.
Unfortunately one’s reaction to the uncensored scenes of the book cause a feeling of offense because it gives a clear visual about what a man could be thinking about a young girl. A person’s first view of such disturbing scenes could automatically cause a sensation of disgust towards men because of how the author portrays the things Humbert desires to do to Lolita. Overall, children should not read this literature that contains sexually explicit scenes because it would only open up their minds into what adults are capable of.
Lolita is a very detailed novel that contains sexual scenes that are worth banning from any public places such as high schools or community libraries (Lisa 7). The author illustrated this book to sound like a “love story of a man who falls in love with a beautiful young girl, yet the whole message is filthy and causes a bad influence in people (Lisa 24). Additionally, the idea of using this book for any educational benefit certainly sounds displeasing mainly to parents. In conclusion, this book should not be in any way be placed in public places for people to freely read because of its heinous content.
