In the afterword of Lolita, Nabokov describes two opposing visions of the book, shown by two readers. One thought that Lolita was a story of "'Old Europe dissolving young America,'" while another saw it as "'Young America dissolving old Europe'" (p. 314). The question is: who or what exactly represents young America and old Europe? In the context of the book, the young Dolores Haze is the embodiment of young America and its culture, while Humbert Humbert represents the older and more refined European culture. Who is dissolute is another question entirely. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay What exactly is young America? In the post-war era in which Lolita is set, young America was a new consumer culture: materialistic, spoiled, obsessed with objects. These are teenagers obsessed with movies, soda fountains, and skating rinks. For a European like Humbert, their culture is superficial. Thoughts of Europe conjure images of cathedrals, fine art, elegant cuisine. Compared to this, American culture seems cheap and unsophisticated. Culture would prove to be one of the biggest differences between Dolores and Humbert, aside from the most important difference in age. Dolly's childhood love for Humbert began in the image of a man in an advertisement. Humbert comes across this advertisement in Dolly's bedroom, taped to the wall with the letters "HH" written next to the man's face. How fitting, then, that Humbert later observed: “It was she to whom the advertisements were dedicated: the ideal consumer, the subject and object of every disgusting poster” (p. 148). Indeed, Dolly's desire for consumption would prove profitable for Humbert: it would allow him to buy her love (or perhaps her sex would be a more appropriate term). Humbert exploits the idea of ​​America as a nation of consumers through Dolly. The promise of movie matinees, sweater sets, and ice cream sundaes was all that could keep Dolly with Humbert. He marvels at the price of Dolly's love: "Knowing the magic and power of her soft mouth, she managed - within one school year! - to increase the bonus price of a fancy hug to three and even four dollars" (p. 184). In a way, consumerism drives the relationship between Dolly and Humbert. Yet Dolly's "Americanness" is precisely what Humbert hates most about her. He loves most parts of Dolly, as is evident in his writings about her. But he can't stand his infatuation with pop culture. He complains: "Mentally, I found her to be a disgustingly conventional little girl. Sweet hot jazz, quadrille dancing, sticky sundaes, musicals, movie revues, and so on - these were the obvious items on her list of loved things" (p. . 148). Dolly represents a cheap and frivolous culture through Humbert's eyes. Their relationship is made more complex by the opposition that exists in their backgrounds: old Europe cannot relate to young America. Perhaps Dolly was never able to fulfill Humbert's longing for his first love, Annabel, because she couldn't be exactly who Annabel was. Annabel was classy Europe; Dolly was fast food America. Humbert simply couldn't connect with Dolly. Humbert's disdain for some parts of American culture is made evident in some of his statements, such as when he describes Mrs. Haze as "bland American Charlotte" (p.83). His European background gives him elegance in the eyes of others. In Charlotte's confessional love letter to Humbert, she essentially apologizes for her stereotypical tendencies.