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A masterful recreation of the internal thoughts of a maniac have skilfully been crafted in both Vladmir Nabokov's Lolita and Iain Banks' The Wasp Factory. Completely reimagining the world through a different perspective is a difficult enough task, to create a character with a twisted mind who still manages to justify their evil actions to themselves is fascinating. Humbert Humbert's narrative voice in Lolita is used to tell a horrifying story of abduction, rape and murder in a poetic and romantic way.
His eloquent use of language is calculated to manipulate the reader and distort their view of him, he is aware of how society views people of his nature and to combat this he downplays his crimes by writing himself off as a pathetic but harmless romantic rather than a heartless child abuser.
Frank Cauldhame on the other hand, narrator of The Wasp Factory, has an almost brutally honest confession to his murder of younger relatives and his ritualistic slaughter of animals, he sees no wrong in his ways due to a belief in a higher power and does not question his own morality.
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He uses his childhood almost as a justification for the actions of himself and his older brother Eric, an escaped psychiatric patient, however he is not apologetic of his ways and greatly lacks empathy. Frank experiences delusion to cope with his reality, it serves no purpose to trick others into following his agenda, he is a victim of the delusion his mind has created to give the tragedies of his childhood some sort of meaning.
Humbert on the other hand shows self-awareness from time to time and the mask slips, his delusion switches between being a necessity for the reader and for himself.
It is necessary for himself because he knows he's wrong but doesn't want to believe it, it is just as important for the reader to become intrigued enough by Humbert so that they aren't completely alienated by what he has to say. In a way Humbert has created his delusion and Frank's delusions have created him. In the comparison of these two novels we see how narrative technique effectively creates delusion and the purpose this serves, to separate sense of self from their
In Lolita Humbert on the surface is a polite and educated man. He is charming, handsome and delightfully European in the eyes of the Americans which surround him. Unbeknownst to those which he encounters in the book, he is in a sexual relationship with a twelve year old girl, posing as his daughter. Humbert's sense of self contrasts to what his actions and motivations would tell you about his morals, he is deeply deluded about the kind of man he is. (quote) Nobody truly see themselves truthfully, however Humbert lives in his own egocentric world, oblivious to the needs of others. The only times he will act kindly is to maintain a non-threatening image and to feed his vanity by gaining the approval of those around him. (quote) The style in which the book is written shows us that he means to elicit sympathy whilst also putting himself on a pedestal of intellectual superiority in the hopes that the reader will hold him in the same regards as he holds himself, exonerating himself from his crimes. He uses his elaborate language to try and mask his sins and admits this himself , "You can always count on a murderer for a fancy prose style."
The language of The Wasp Factory conveys a different message to the reader. Frank is very blatant and straightforward when describing what has happened and how he feels about it. (quote?) Frank will often explain the root of his strange behaviours and showing an awareness of how this makes him strange, yet at the same time states his violent actions to be sane and rational
Humbert is very judgemental of those around him, particularly adult women. He is constantly flattening characters to be one dimensional and only having flaws, rarely considering their internal experience. Due to his hatred for adult women, particularly Valeria and Charlotte, we do not get the true depth of her character. Humbert portrays them as vacuous, illogical and overly emotive when in reality it is likely their desire for him is what disgusts him as he is not attracted to adult women. He makes an attempt at living a normal life with his first wife Valeria whom he lives with in Paris. He has not married her for love but rather to suppress his urges, "what really attracted me to Valeria was the imitation she gave me of a little girl". He grows to detest her calling her "a large, puffy, short-legged, big breasted and practically brainless baba" this begins his hatred of sexually mature women and his road to pitying all women he comes across, treating them as if they are intellectually inferior to him. Valeria must have sensed the lack of love in the relationship and leaves him for another man, despite Humbert not caring for her he is angered by this betrayal and thoughts of violence against her flood his brain.
He strikes her knee with his fist and as she moves her things out with his lover he decides "I would limit myself to hurting her very horribly as soon as we are alone", her lover remains the whole time while she packs her things as Humbert pictures all the ways he could hurt her, she leaves unharmed and Humbert is left alone with his unbearable sexual urges. After suffering a mental breakdown and being hospitalized ,where he enjoys to manipulate and toy with counsellors, he decides to travel to America to continue on his book on French literature. When finding a place to stay he ends up in the home of Charlotte Haze, mother of Dolores Haze who he has nicknamed Lolita.
When he first meets Charlotte he describes her as "a weak solution of Marlene Dietrich", he does not find her attractive in the slightest and grows to detest her lively behaviour, painting her out to be pathetic, clingy and annoying. However Charlotte has fallen in love with Humbert, being blissfully unaware of how he truly sees her, whilst she is dropping Lolita off at summer camp she leaves Humbert a letter confessing her infatuation. She gives him the option to leave immediately or to stay and be with her, moving into the house permanently and becoming a parent to Lolita . Humbert realises that this will bring him closer to the fulfillment of his fantasies by having constant access to Lolita "I imagined (under conditions of new and perfect visibility) all the casual caresses her mother's husband would be able to lavish on his Lolita".
He completely disregards Charlotte's needs and marries her purely to be closer to Lolita, for a moment he talks of her less scornfully now that she serves a purpose to him rather than just being an obstacle "my story has reached a point where I can cease insulting poor Charlotte for sake of retrospective verisimilitude." Humbert at this point brings Charlotte into his delusion, he marries a woman he does not love for his own selfish and perverse needs. He goes from calling her "the Haze woman" distancing himself from her completely and now he continually refers to her as "poor Charlotte" in his writings, he pities her for making the mistake of falling for him and believes she is naive for wanting to fit into the role of a perfect American housewife.
As they spend more time together Humbert grows to hate her melodramatic ways of speaking, her ideas of romance have came from popular culture and Humbert detests this, being the literary scholar that he is he looks down upon her dreams, perceiving her as being too superficial. On a visit to "Hourglass Lake" Charlotte shares her plans of sending Lolita away to boarding school, Humbert must act quickly as is symbolised in the name of their scenic spot. He quickly turns to thoughts of murder, "she swam beside me, a trustful and clumsy seal, and all the logic of passion screamed in my ear: Now is the time!" His thoughts of violence he once had with Valeria have resurfaced, however this threat is much more real as Humbert is fearful of losing Lolita.
Ultimately he cannot bring himself to drown her and makes a long wordy speech to the reader explaining that he is sexually deviant but not violent, this continues with him trying to downplay his immorality and push the image of a harmless man rather than master manipulator. "We are unhappy, mild dog eyed gentlemen, sufficiently well integrated to control our urge in the presence of adults, but ready to give years and years of life for one chance to touch a nymphet" after sharing the disturbing intrusive thoughts he has of murdering Charlotte when confronted with a disruption of his plan to get closer to Lolita he instantly must downplay the severity of this thought process to prove his innocence. He tries to control the way the reader views his actions by making it seem as though men like him are just a bit unusual and society does not understand them, minimising the dangers his actions will eventually have on Lolita.
Despite his impression he gives of being a talented writer he cannot see the depth in the characters in front of him, he does not see that they too have internal existences which his actions will ultimately impact. "Emphatically, no killers are we. Poets never kill." He goes from long wordy sentenced to two very clear statements of his innocence. This quote summarises the purpose of his "fancy prose", to acquit him for his crimes in the eyes of others. Humbert so strongly wants to believe an educated and intelligent man who sees the beauty in everyday things and finds romance in the mundane cannot be reduced to such an obscene act as murder.
Frank's belief in his rituals is what gives his life and his childhood suffering meaning. He stresses the importance of his rituals and the schedule these actions follow. He goes as far as to refer to these actions as his "ablutions", they are as vital to him as hygiene and serve as a sort of spiritual cleansing in his routine. The predictability of these actions which always are done in "a definite and predetermined pattern" this seems to give him control when in truth his restrictive and precise order in which things must be done prevents him from having a normal life and to move away from his pain of the past and towards growth. To Frank's knowledge he was attacked and castrated by the family dog at a young age and this is why he has no penis.
Angus killed Old Saul in a rage and buried him in the skull grounds, a decade later Frank dug up the skull and heavily incorporates it into his rituals. The skull is representative of his loss of masculinity. He feels that he will never be an adult man and this makes him feel powerless. By physically owning the skull and using it in his obsessive rituals he feels like he can reclaim some of the power he has lost. Frank finds comfort in giving great significance to objects in his possession as he allows himself to own that power and feel as though he has more control of the things around him. He has lost the potential to become a man and by owning a piece of that traumatic event helps him regain that part of him.
When looking into the eyes of the skull he reflects on the version of himself he feels was stolen from him by Old Saul "I saw myself, Frank Cauldhame, and I saw myself as I might have been: a tall slim man, strong and determined and making his way in the world, assured and purposeful."This is one of the most important of the many tools he uses in his rituals, it shows that these objects are necessary for him to have some feeling of control over his own life and to prevent any further tragedies happening to him. He uses the bunker as a space where he can mourn the loss of his manhood and channel his energies into his rituals, using it as a safe space to think about the challenges of past, present and future, or the ways his future could have been. Both Frank and Eric deeply hate dogs because of the incident that happened.
Eric kills many dogs he comes across as revenge for what old Saul did, Frank on the other hand killed his younger brother Paul believing he was an incarnation of the dead dog. He says this very casually and matter of fact as if it was simply the way things are meant to be and he cannot be held responsible. "Not that I bore him any personal ill-will; it was simply that I knew he couldn't stay. I knew I'd never be free of the dog until he was gone" Through the sacrifice of Paul and reclaiming of the skull Frank feels the revenge he desired has been partially resolved and he has gained something back from the dog "Old Saul had gone down in our history and my personal mythology as the Castraitor, but thanks to the little creatures who flew the creek I had him in my power now." The most crucial part of Frank's personal mythology is the use of the wasp factory.
It is Frank's most comprehensive tool of divination, he refers to it all throughout the book. The warning it has given him and the questions he must consult it on are thoughts that Frank ruminates over everyday until we actually see the factory being used in the later chapters of the book, there is an air of mystery surrounding it even after its process has been revealed. In the attic there is an altar surrounded with items significant to Frank from throughout his life, most notably mementos from each of the devices used to murder his young family members, teeth from Old Saul, a jar of a freshly collected solitary wasp - all items which have been acquired through death or violence - and the factory. The factory consists of a large clock face where the wasps are put inside and at each numeral there is a narrow corridor.
There are twelve different avenues which a wasp could travel through and at the end of each is a different disturbing torture such as boiling water, electrocution, poison and drowning in Frank's urine to name a few. Frank begins the ritual by by reciting his secrets "the catchetism also tell the truth about who I am, what I want and what I feel", this moment acts as a confession, a moment of the day where he can speak about his actions honestly and to relieve himself from that guilt. Next a wasp is placed into the factory, locked inside the corridor of its choosing and Frank tries to make sense of what the factory is telling him by the cause of death. He places the corpse of the wasp, if there is one, in a matchbox and it too is placed on the altar whilst Frank deciphers the meaning. His wasp dies by fire, a particularly powerful message.
This option is permanent, unlike other options which are interchangable, and meaningful to Frank as he says that "I have signified fire as Paul's death", it is the second time in a row he has received this answer and wonders if it is a warning, an answer or a prediction. He has a strong faith in what the factory has to say even though he has great difficulty at times to try and grasp what it means. This violent ceremony allows Frank to come to certain conclusions without feeling the weight of responsibility of his decisions or thoughts, the vagueness of the contraption allows him to interpret it in whatever way seems most suitable at the time, whether it be permission to act a certain way or to validate his paranoia by giving himself something to blame his anxieties on. The wasp factory is vital to taking away Frank's accountability and to act as higher power which listens and makes him hear whatever thoughts he is suppressing.
Masterful Depictions of Psychopathy in Literature: The Artistry of Nabokov and Banks. (2019, Dec 15). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/frank-cauldhame-essay
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