The Enchanter's Guilt

Throughout “The Enchanter” there was a strong sense of suppression and guilt (between both the characters and the reader) in a deeply eloquent text. Nabokov uses rich and vividly descriptive adjectives for every thought, sight or sound of the Enchanter, but he never labels that character as a pedophile, in contrast to each other character being given an adjective. In a way, it seems as if this tactic was to keep such a negative word out of the vocabulary of the book to ensure a deeper connection between that character and the reader. The reader almost feels sad for him when he first sees Cordelia after being parted for a long period of time and she doesn’t seem to be quite as beautiful to her as she had previously been (58). Even though his actions are seen as socially and morally wrong, he speaks about these infatuations in the most loving way. He even marries and cares for her mother to take ownership of her (29). Only in the end is there a great sense of guilt when he and Cordelia are naked as she sleeps (73). Nabokov makes the reader almost want it to work out between the two characters, but in the final scene the reader feels guilty for wanting The Enchanter to be able to love such a young and innocent child. As soon as Nabokov describes the girl’s small body as The Enchanter sees and feels her (70-71), pure disgust and guilt boil up inside the reader.

The sense of suppression was only felt in The Enchanter, himself. He describes his suppression as well as Nabokov. Even in the beginning he talks about his suppression, for he was “seeking justification for [his] guilt” (6). His desires made him awkward and he wasn’t very good at talking to people, but for some reason, people liked to talk to him. In the park, the knitter talked to him without him responding much (10).  He also felt as if he would get caught from his awkwardness. If he would have been a smooth fellow, he could have gotten Cordelia in his lap while they were in the park talking together and no one would have seen it as a strange thing (12).  He was so capable of suppressing his urges he knew when he had to run from his desire, especially when he was in the park (10). His suppression and guilt are the two driving forces that pull the story along. He tries not to fall in love with Cordelia, but it just sort of happens and there isn’t much he can do about it, except to be an influential person in her life. His suppression soon boils over when he, as he had planned, got her alone with him. After a long period of time, he had suppressed his urges enough and could finally do as he pleased with her. The final scene between the two is awkward and hard to read, but it’s one that must be read because the reader wants to know if he deflowers her and gets what he wants, or fails. He does get close to his goals, disgustingly close, but inevitably fails. Even the wording becomes awkward in this scene, especially when Nabokov describes his genitals as “his magic wand” (73). He could no longer suppress what he knew was wrong, so he ran away in guilt.

“The Enchanter” is beautifully written, but it comes with a strange guilt. It’s not something one would want to deal with or go through, so it’s uncomfortable. However, it’s a story of love, which is something most humans are drawn to read. In the end, one does feel disgustingly guilty about connecting with The Enchanter, but the end is somewhat satisfying.