Reading Lolita in Tehran Lesson Plan

What is a “perfectly equipped failure” and how does it connect to fiction?

A perfectly equipped failure is someone who chooses failure in order to preserve their integrity. Azar points out several examples of perfectly equipped failures in fiction, including Pnin, Herzog, and most of Henry James’ characters. Azar argues that she believes James himself thought he was a “perfectly equipped failure” because his novels were so misunderstood at the time. Rather than write something he knew would be popular, he decided to stay true to who he was as an artist and write novels that were not widely accepted at first. Your students may point out that Azar is, at one point, a...