Depending upon the title to be used,
was there any tension of an underlying sexual nature between big Haze and Lo? I thought I was taking a stab in the dark on this one, but there are some interesting lines that I think are applicable. Some people intoxicate themselves at new years, I stay at home and re-read a good classic for discussion, ah what they are missing!.
From page 56, H.H. talking about the frustration of having big Haze interfere with any and all interaction with Lo.
"But for almost three weeks I had been interrupted in all of my pathetic machinations(who, as the reader will mark, was more afraid of Lo's deriving some pleasure from me than of my enjoying Lo).
She's hypocritical for not being upset at H.H. about this, but keep in mind that the issue of tension is between the two females of this story. How bad does it get? H.H. ponders that when they are married, he can force the issue(as the issue is between the gals, not between big H. and H.H.) and ultimately force her hand in regards to access to Lo. He senses from the page.56 quote that she is weak in regards to competition and that although it might hurt her feelings, she will ultimately grant his unholy request. From page 70....
how eventually I might blackmail-no, that is too strong a word-mauvemail big haze into letting me consort with little Haze by gently threatening the poor doting big Dove with desertion if she tried to bar me from playing with my legal step-daughter.
Later on in page 80, H.H. mused to himself that if big Haze was expecting, that would leave him plenty of time with Lo for months on end without supervision from the old hag.
But what was Charlotte ever a sexual competitor? Oh yes dear reader, she was.....
"I am even prepared to tell my tormenters that perhaps once or twice I had cast an appraiser's eye at Charlotte's coral lips and bronze hair and dangerously low neckline, and had vaguely tried to fit her into a plausible daydream."
(page 70)
On page 51, the three main people head to the store in a car. Sensing that something wasn't right, Big Haze took care of the matter by having Lo sit behind her seat with H.H. in the passenger front seat. "Try holding hands now!" the old cow must have thought.
I have nothing else to report, save, primo: that big Haze had little Haze sit behind us on our way home, and secundo: that the lady decided to keep Humbert's Choice for the backs of her own shapely ears.
Not to be oudone by her mother, Lo foiled a potential encounter between H.H. and big Haze....
. . .Mrs. Haze strolled up and said indulgently: "Just slap her hard if she interferes with your scholarly meditations. How I love this garden. Isn't it divine in teh sun." And with a sign of feigned content, the obnoxious lady sank down o nthe grass and looked upa t the sky as she leaned back on her splayed-out hands, and presently an old gray tennis ball bounced over her, and Lo's voice came from the house haughtily: "Pardonnez, Mother. I was not aiming at you."
So, big H strikes her best pose and Lo just happens to lob a ball their way. Of course it was towards Humbert dear mother........
This is a key confrontation IMHO. Just imagine this scene, how is not a portrayal of the *electra* or Persophonne complex? This would make one heck of a confession statement while reclining on the therapist's couch.
Big H. srikes back, page 67....
. . .Haze, with a dreary laugh, said she had told Lo that her beloved Humbert thoroughly approved of the whole camp idea "and now," aded Haze, "the child throws a fit; pre-txt: you and I want to get rid of her...
This action of hers hurts Lo's feelings and Lo feels "doublecrossed" by H.H. While it didn't sever their relationship, it certainly put a dent in it for a time. Why did big H. say it?, she saw the relationship and tried to foil it to the best of her abilities.
Haze then takes a page from Lo and tries to manipulate H.H. into revealing the hidden letters in a drawer:
She gave me one of those wounded-doe looks that irritated me so much, and then, not quite knwoing I was serious, or how to keep up the conversatin, stood for several slow pages.(Campus, Canada, Candid Camera, Candy) peering at the window-pane rather than through it, drumming upon it with sharp alomnd-and-rose-fingernails.
Who is the mother and who is the daughter in the above scene? If you can't beat 'em, join 'em!.
The nature of "the game" is one that Lo understood very well, her own personal philosophy was dedicated to this game of competing for a mate. From page 114:
My duty is-to be useful. I am a friend to male animals. I obey orders. I am cheerful. That was antoher police car. I am thrifty and I am absoltuely filthy in thought, word and deed.
Oh yes, the tension is thick in the Haze house-hold.
