At the end of Lolita, Humbert Humbert begins to feel remorse for raping Lolita, and acknowledges that he has stolen her childhood. At the end of Lolita, Humbert Humbert shows that he feels guilty for raping Lolita, and taking her innocence. After Lolita disappears, Humbert writes in a poem that “of hate and remorse, I’m dying” (256). Humbert also recognizes, during his final conversation with Lolita, that while “ [Quilty] broke [her] heart. [Humbert Humbert] merely broke my life” (279). After killing Quilty, Humbert Humbert hears “the melody of children at play,” and he realizes that “the hopelessly poignant thing was not Lolita’s absence from [his] side, but the absence of her voice from that concord” (308). At this moment, Humbert understands
