Part 1: Chapter 15 Summary

In the study group, a novel definition of the villain emerges: one who lacks curiosity about other people and their lives; furthermore, one "who is interested only in his own vision of other people." Humbert is such a villain, and with the arrogance of pretending to be a god, would stop time and freeze Lolita forever in the present time.

The interplay between Lolita and the students' lives reaches a critical point which induces a freewheeling discussion touching on morality, hypocrisy, family history, and the personal antagonisms between the students.

One student poses the question of whether following one's own desires is not in fact the most moral path, and that bowing to outside authority figures is nothing but hypocrisy.

One spoke of her liberal and educated mother who married a very conservative religious man but claimed to never have regretted...