The Least Convincing Love Story of the Century

I understand that the assignment for the weekend is to argue why Lolita is the only convincing love story of the century, but I don’t feel that it is. I’m still going to write the response agreeing with the quote, but I do want to express my true viewpoints as well. 

Many argue that Humbert Humbert shows his true love for Lolita towards the end of the novel when he offers her money regardless of whether she goes back to him. I find it sweet and all, but I can’t see Humberts affections as anything more than an obsession. I just don’t understand how anyone could fall in love with Dolores. In my opinion, she is rude and intolerable. Humbert never spoke of Lolita without seeming lustful. There were never any intellectual conversations, never any common interests except for maybe having sex in the beginning of the novel. His main concern throughout the story was always making sure that he has Lolita with him so he can have his way with her. If he truly loved her, he would have allowed her to leave without her having to run away. Yes, he let her go when she was 17, pregnant and married to another man. But that was because he didn’t really have any other choice. For the majority of their time together, Humbert and Lolita’s “love” was a one way streak. Humbert obsessed over his little nymphet because of a disturbing fetish and Lolita stayed with him because she had nowhere else to go. Love is more than a physical attraction. No matter how physically attracted Humbert was to Lolita, he showed no signs of any other type of attraction. Love is more than sex.