The Mouse/Mousetrap Motif in V. Nabokov’s Novel Despair
https://doi.org/10.25205/1818-7919-2025-24-2-134-141
Abstract
Purpose. The article examines the mice/mousetrap motif which is “peripheral” (B. Gasparov) in V. Nabokov’s novel Despair, but it is associated with the central motives of crime and punishment, self-identification, and relationships with a double.
Results. It is proved that the double-antagonists of the central character of the novel are allusively associated with the images of a cat / lion, and in Herman’s appearance and behavior associations with the image of a mouse can be traced. A significant piece of clothing is the “mouse leggings” that Herman takes off and puts on Felix before killing him. An attempt to replace or borrow the name of his double-antagonists counterparts testifies to Herman’s internal insecurity and dissatisfaction with himself.
The image of a mouse contains an allusion to Notes from Underground by F.M. Dostoevsky, and the final motif of the mouse, the image of a mousetrap, refers to the famous Hamlet scene. However, it is given in a transformed form in the novel: Herman appears as both a director, an actor, and a viewer, but does not feel remorse, does not sense a “trap”. Self-exposure occurs when Herman takes the position of the reader of his text.
Conclusion. The text created by the character becomes a «mousetrap», and in the absence of eyewitnesses, it testifies against the author, who turned out to be mediocrity and a criminal, revealing the failure of Herman’s plan to get rid of the “mouse” in himself and take the position of the “master” of his existence.
Keywords
V. Nabokov,
literature of the Russian expatriate community,
the mouse/mousetrap motif,
the novel “Despair”
УДК: 821.161.1; 82-312.7
About the Author
E. A. Poleva
Tomsk State Pedagogical University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Elena A. Poleva - Candidate of Sciences (Philology), Associate Professor.
Tomsk
Scopus Author ID 57211584072; WoS Researcher ID AAQ-9167-2021; RSCI Author ID 496799
References
1. Barth R. Tekstovyi analiz odnoi novelly E. Po [Textual analysis of one short story by E. Poe]. In: Barth R. Izbrannye raboty: Semiotika: Poetika [Selected works: Semiotics: Poetics]. Comp., ed. by G. K. Kosikov. Moscow, Progress, 1989, pp. 249–262. (in Russ.)
2. Gavrilov A. “Kot Feliks” – samyi uspeshnyi serial Ameriki [“Felix the Cat” is America’s most successful TV series]. ProfiSinema, 2009, April 23. (in Russ.) URL: http://www.proficinema.ru/questions-problems/articles/detail.php?ID=57210 (accessed: 03.03.2024).
3. Gasparov B. M. Literaturnye leitmotivy [Literary leitmotifs]. Moscow, Nauka, 1994, 303 р. (in Russ.)
4. Gura A. V. Simvolika zhivotnykh v slavyanskoi narodnoi traditsii [Animal symbolism in the Slavic folk tradition]. Moscow, Indrik Publ., 1997, 912 p. (in Russ.)
5. Gurg M. Nabokov, naslednik poetiki Dostoevskogo v povesti “Otchayanie” [Nabokov, the heir to Dostoevsky's poetics in the story “Despair”]. In: Dostoevskii i mirovaya kul'tura. Al'manakh no. 12. Obshchestvo Dostoevskogo [Dostoevsky and World Culture. Almanac no. 12. Dostoevsky Society]. Comp., ed. by K. A. Stepanyan. Moscow, Raritet-Klassika plyus Publ., 1999, pp. 202–209. (in Russ.)
6. Dognal I. Neskol'ko zametok po povodu obraza myshi v “Zapiskakh iz podpol'ya” F. M. Dostoevskogo [A Few Notes on the Image of the Mouse in F. M. Dostoevsky’s “Notes from Underground”]. Otechestvennaya filologiya [Russian Studies in Philology], 2021, no. 3, pp. 73–80. (in Russ.)
7. Lebedeva V. Yu. Vizionerskie motivy v romane V. Nabokova “Kamera obskura” [Visionary motives in V. Nabokov’s novel “Camera Obscura”]. Filologos [Philologos Magazine], 2015, no. 27 (4), pp. 38–42. (in Russ.)
8. Mastepak T. G. Motiv peremeshcheniya i semantika kul'turno-geograficheskikh toposov v romane V. Nabokova “Otchayanie” [The motive of displacement and the semantics of cultural-geographical topoi in V. Nabokov’s novel “Despair”]. Vestnik Tomskogo gosudarstvennogo pedagogicheskogo universiteta [Tomsk State Pedagogical University Bulletin], 2018, iss. 6 (195), pp. 112–119. (in Russ.)
9. Nikolaeva E. G. Zhivotnyi kod v romane V. V. Nabokova “Otchayanie”: eshche raz k voprosu o “l'vinom” nachale v obraze Ardaliona [Animal code in V. V. Nabokov’s novel Despair: once again on the issue of the “lion” principle in the image of Ardalion]. In: Konstantinova N. V. (ed.). Tekst i kontekst: literaturno-kul'turnye svyazi [Text and context: literary and cultural connections]. Monograph. Novosibirsk, NSPU Press, 2021, pp. 103–110. (in Russ.)
10. Saraskina L. Nabokov, kotoryi branitsya (Nabokov i Dostoevsky) [Nabokov, who swears (Nabokov and Dostoevsky)]. Oktyabr' [October], 1993, no. 1, pp. 176–189. (in Russ.)
11. Seredenko I. I. Dostoevsky v prostranstve romana V. Nabokova “Otchayanie” [Dostoevsky in the Space of V. Nabokov’s Novel “Despair”]. Vestnik Tomskogo gosudarstvennogo pedagogicheskogo universiteta [Tomsk State Pedagogical University Bulletin], 2000, iss. 6 (22), pp. 28–30. (in Russ.)
12. Silantev I. V. Motiv kak problema narratologii [Motive as a problem of narratology]. Kritika i semiotika [Critique and Semiotics], 2002, no. 5, pp. 32–60. (in Russ.)
13. Smirnov I. Art à Lion. In: Nabokov: pro et contra. Antologiya. In 2 vols. St. Petersburg, Izd-vo Russkogo khristianskogo gumanitarnogo instituta, 2001, vol. 2, pp. 730–740. (in Russ.)
14. Taganova N. L. V. Nabokov i F. M. Dostoevsky: vechnyi dialog [Nabokov and F. M. Dostoevsky: Eternal Dialogue]. Solovievskie issledovaniya [Soloviev Studies], 2012, no. 1 (33), pp. 123–130. (in Russ.)
15. Nabokov V. Otchayanie [Despair]. In: Nabokov V. Complete Works. In 4 vols. Moscow, Pravda Publ., 1990, vol. 3, pp. 333–462. (in Russ.)
Review
For citations:
Poleva E.A. The Mouse/Mousetrap Motif in V. Nabokov’s Novel Despair. Vestnik NSU. Series: History and Philology. 2025;24(2):134-141. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.25205/1818-7919-2025-24-2-134-141
Views:
153
Email this article 