By: Jacob Hales

A few months ago, a staff member and I wrote articles on the conspiracy and tragedy surrounding the sinking of the Titanic. It was a “competition” to see who could appeal to our newspaper advisor, Mr. Schweickert. I ended up “winning”, but I shouldn’t have. Malena poured her heart and soul into her article, while I used what I already knew. However, I didn’t write this article to prove I knew what I was talking about, I wrote it to bring awareness to a topic almost no one cares about. It’s a piece of history that should never be forgotten.

It took two weeks, nine pages, hours and hours to write it. But when it was finally published, I felt ashamed. I turned this tragedy into a statistic and a joke. I made 1,500 men, women, and children a statistic. I almost didn’t turn in the article because I felt so despondent. I still regret writing it; something so tragic it shouldn’t be statistic. Some have told me “It doesn’t matter, it happened over a hundred years ago”, or “Technically it is a statistic.” It hasn’t changed my mind on how I feel about the article.

I am writing this epilogue to explain the purpose of the article. Most people watch the movie and feel bad for Jack and Rose. That is not the purpose of the movie, Jack and Rose represent a mass collective. The collective of businessmen, immigrants, workers, and families who spent their fortunes on a passage to the United States. Whether it be for starting a better life or for holiday pleasure, it doesn’t matter. All of those people who suffered that horrible disaster didn’t deserve what happened to them.

Imagine spending all of your money, every last penny on a one-way ticket to somewhere supposedly great, leaving everything behind; your job, your home, your friends, your family. Then boarding a tremendous ship with the wealthiest people in the world and speeding across the Atlantic at an astounding 21 knots. Only to drown in the corridors behind locked gates, a few feet away from the upper decks. Only to be part of a statistic.

The disaster brought awareness to safety boards and changes were made to ships around the world. A law was passed a few months after the sinking that there were enough lifeboats and life jackets for all souls aboard transoceanic liners. But 1,500 people were killed because the deck was “too crowded” on the Titanic according to Bruce Ismay, president of the White Star Line. Looks over safety, nice job Bruce Ismay.

Everyone romanticizes the tragedy, it’s all about Jack and Rose

In an age of non-stop innovation and relentless engineering, the disaster brought the world to a standstill. This epilogue and the article before are dedicated to the men, women and children who lost their lives the night of April 15th, 1912. May their souls not remain unrestless at the bottom of the bitter cold Atlantic, may they find peace in those who still bring awareness to the most infamous sea disaster of all time.