Modernity, Mass Culture, and Self-Delusion in Nabokov’s Lolita and Martin Amis’ Money

Abstract

Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita (1955) and Martin Amis’ Money (1984) discuss the disadvantages of mass media. Amis uses John Self to reflect the disintegration of the self in the modern, Capitalist society of England in 1980s. Self represents the failure of the postmodern world by portraying a dystopian society. Amis and Nabokov tackle subjects pertaining to money, incest, delusion, and disappointment. Lights are shed on the moral aspect of the characters. The modernity of Amis’ fiction lies in its double deception of its characters; there is the American motif and a character who is not able to resist the magic of such motif. It is about consumerism or how aspects of post modernity and the consumer culture are portrayed. This paper aims to show the impact of mass media on the characters who are self-deluded and indulged in loving money, advertisements, and sex. It also aims at showing duality and corruption in both texts, John Self is bankrupt and wants to commit suicide. Humbert cheats many and is imprisoned and Lolita dies. Lolita becomes the victim of incest. It is an attempt to urge human beings to refuse cultural divisions and encourage human spirituality instead of Materialistic point of view.