''Vladimir Nabokov's Comic Quest for Reality' - Nottingham eTheses
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''Vladimir Nabokov's Comic Quest for Reality' - Nottingham eTheses

''Vladimir Nabokov's Comic Quest for Reality' - Nottingham eTheses ''Vladimir Nabokov's Comic Quest for Reality' - Nottingham eTheses

etheses.nottingham.ac.uk
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28.02.2014 Views

- 235 - While I keep everything on the very brink of parody, there must be on the other hand an abyss of seriousness, and I must make my way along the narrow ridge betwe4n my own truth and the caricature of it. 4 Pale Fire is another instance of a novel in which he performs this artistic balancing act, and the reader must perform it after him if he wants to arrive at a recognition of the essential content under, or im- plicit in, the deceptive comic surface of the novel. The analysis of The Real Life of Sebastian Knight has shown that its philosophical questions are contained in its very parodies, and, just as there, some deep seriousness becomes visible in what is only super- ficially comic in Pale Fire. The initial source of seriousness in Pale Fire is Shade's poem. It is autobiographical. However, it does not give a detailed account of his life, but follows the various stages of his life-long musings about life and death, the possibility of an existence after death, and the question whether everything in a man's life is just mad and improbable coincidence, or whether there is a pattern in his existence in which each incident has its logical place. Shade has been troubled by these questions ever since his early boyhood when he was subject to mys- terious attacks. During these attacks he suddenly and unaccountably sinks into blackness which is yet sublime, because his existence is no longer limited to "here" and "now" but is "distributed through space and time" (I, 146-156). Although the attacks stop after a while, the memory remains with him of some

- 236 - forbidden knowledge of which he has been allowed a taste. By this taste, as if by something indecent, he feels "corrupted", "terrified", and yet strangely attracted, eager to know more (I, 160ff. ). The curiosity and the wonder aroused in him by "playful death" (I, 140) remain with him throughout his life. There is a time when he suspects that everybody, except only himself, knows the whole truth (II, 167-172) and that this truth is kept from him on purpose. There is a time when it seems to him that only people insane can live with the terrible uncertainty about what awaits them after death (II, 173-176); and there is the moment when he decides "to explore and fight / The foul, the inadmissible abyss" and to make this his main purpose in life (II, 177-181). For a long time there are only questions and speculations, caused not only by his general perplexity but also by the deaths of his Aunt Maud and his daughter Hazel: "What momant in the gradual decay / Does resurrection choose? " and who is the determining force behind it? (II, 209-211). Should we scorn a hereafter simply because we cannot verify it? After all, our present life was something unknown to us prior to life. Might not existence after death be just as wild and nonsensical and weird and wonderful as this life? Paradise and Hell are both equally 4. likely (II, 217-230). But even though it should be paradise, he will turn it and eternity down unless the tenderness and passion of this life, the joy in little things, and the daily trivia are all there to

- 236 -<br />

<strong>for</strong>bidden knowledge of which he has been allowed a<br />

taste. By this taste, as if by something indecent, he<br />

feels "corrupted", "terrified", and yet strangely<br />

attracted, eager to know more (I, 160ff. ). The curiosity<br />

and the wonder aroused in him by "playful death"<br />

(I, 140) remain with him throughout his life. There<br />

is a time when he suspects that everybody, except only<br />

himself, knows the whole truth (II, 167-172) and that<br />

this truth is kept from him on purpose. There is a<br />

time when it seems to him that only people insane can<br />

live with the terrible uncertainty about what awaits<br />

them after death (II, 173-176); and there is the moment<br />

when he decides "to explore and fight / The foul, the<br />

inadmissible abyss" and to make this his main purpose<br />

in life (II, 177-181).<br />

For a long time there are only questions and<br />

speculations, caused not only by his general perplexity<br />

but also by the deaths of his Aunt Maud and his<br />

daughter Hazel: "What momant in the gradual decay /<br />

Does resurrection choose? " and who is the determining<br />

<strong>for</strong>ce behind it? (II, 209-211). Should we scorn a<br />

hereafter simply because we cannot verify it? After<br />

all, our present life was something unknown to us<br />

prior to life. Might not existence after death be<br />

just as wild and nonsensical and weird and wonderful<br />

as this life? Paradise and Hell are both equally<br />

4.<br />

likely (II, 217-230). But even though it should be<br />

paradise, he will turn it and eternity down unless<br />

the tenderness and passion of this life, the joy in<br />

little things, and the daily trivia are all there to

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