Badawi, Sally M.

This thesis conducts a toponalysis of phenomenological notions of "Being" and "dwelling" in Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita and concludes that the existence of the characters rests in their relationships to dwelling and the ramifications of their separation from home. As Humbert and Lolita experience alienation and uprooted-ness, they embark upon a two-year journey which orbits around reality, as their travels follow what David Seamon calls, Journey-Dwelling Spiral, however, without ever attaining a state of dwelling. As they attempt to overcome their disorientation, Lolita distances herself from Humbert, and Humbert projects his nympholepsy onto another, Quilty. Because Lolita succeeds in her goal, Humbert's life splinters and his only chance at reunification is by writing his memoir, Lolita, Confessions of a White Male.