Why do people still care so much about the Titanic?

Answer 1

There is a romantic tradegy about this story (and I'm not talking about that movie). Some of the richest people in the world (and many poor people as well) aboard the most modern, largest, and safest ship ever built. And it sinks! It is one of the most shocking stories in world history and a symbol for man's continuing failure to control nature.

Answer 2

It was a time when people believed that technology could conquer the world, that nothing could stand against it, they would ride the winds, go to the moon, everything was possible! If you read the Jules Verne books you'll find that mindset everywhere. The Titanic, the unsinkable, was just a giant proof of that. Bigger, faster, stronger, nothing could stop it. And there were plans for even bigger ships!
And then it sank.
The shock was huge, if you think yourself unstoppable the sudden proof that a chunk of ice is stronger and more powerful than the best you can make is a world shaking event, well worth remembering for years and years.

Then of course WW1 came and the worship of technology became horror at what it could do as it was used to massacre people. We never recovered that absolute trust, delight and awe of technology that the people had at the time of the Titanic.

Answer 3

It was the "world's largest metaphor." (quoted from The Onion: Our Dumb Century)



IMO, the story of the Titanic has many elements of legend/myth: parable, prophecy, tragic pride, transition from one age to another; endless anecdotes illustrating human nature. It's a time capsule that can be used to examine the "zeitgeist" of a particular period in America Western European history, but can also be used to address concepts which transcend temporal and cultural boundaries.


EDIT: Regarding the answer below defining Hurricane Katrina as a "wake-up call" from G-d and describes people as acting "smug" during the first 48 hours after the storm hit and before "the floods began." (Of course, this discussion ties in very well with the contemplation of the significance of the Titanic, as both historical events contained elements of human error as well as natural disaster):

Here's a wake-up call, from me.

That hurricane blew away a huge portion of the Gulf Coast right off the bat. Katrina affected millions of people and thousands of square miles, not just New Orleans. The French Quarter (where, I guess, the few "smug"---or perhaps imprudent, but also stunned and relieved---people you are talking about were found by the media) didn't catch the hit which was predicted for it.

The storm annihilated where it did hit, and there was nobody to interview nor a place to drive the freakin camera equipment. No smugness there, nor from the thousands of people, many of whom lived far inland, who took all precautions...boarded up, evacuated, sheltered and fed others, etc. and otherwise dealt with circumstances with dignity and faith.



However, examining such facts isn't as interesting to people who choose to simplify a major natural disaster as some sort of retribution because they find it too scary to contemplate the existence of misfortune beyond one's control or powers of explanation.

If individuals choose to interpret the adverse circustances as "wake-up calls" regarding the examination their own lives or otherwise transform lemons into lemonade, then all the better. It is certainly more productive than accepting disaster (especially that which affects others) as divine will or punishment.

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Answer 4

Because like someone else said it was one of the biggest tradgedies of that time period. It was the biggest & supposedly fastest luxury ship in the world. And their were very notable people that traveled on it. Also personally i think we would have had the huge cruise ships we have today, much faster if it wasn't for the Titanic. I think it scared a lot of people & made people afraid of those types of ships for quite a while. And just by shear size it's probably one of the biggest ships at the bottom of the ocean.

Answer 5

The Titanic was a wake-up call. It was built to be unsinkable and because it was unsinkable, they didn't take the most basic safety precautions. So the unthinkable happened.

God does this to us.

We'd also become complacent about the safety of the shuttle so The Challenger disaster happened. It's when we get secure that we get a wake-up call and The Titanic was just the biggest and best known of those.

Uh, you do remember the first 48 hours of Katrina, don't you? They were pretty smug until the flooding started.

Answer 6

Because it wasn't the iceberg that sunk the ship like history states.

Jack Dawson who is portrayed as a hero in the movie Titanic was in real life a light-skinned Arab Terrorist who with a group of comrades planted small bombs throughout the ship. This was a terrorist act and he was a member of the same organization that has evolved to today's Taliban.

The Titanic is equivalent to 9-11.

Answer 7

It was a monumental tragedy. The lost of lives was enormous. It did lead to laws that protect passengers and crews today. Only the most crass and cold hearted people can look back on this and not feel some sympathy for those poor, terrified people.

Answer 8

It was a shocking thing to happen. People were not expecting such a disaster to happen on the beautiful "unsinkable ship", as it was known.
I think the reason why it's still important today is because people can't believe that a tragedy like this can still happen.

Answer 9

It was the great tradgedy for that generation. so many factors led to it's sinking and the worst part is so many lives could have been saved had just a few things been different (ie enough life boats). overall i think it's because it's an interesting story and it's true.

Answer 10

It was something very nice for some people to experience,and then ended so awful.People are just interested findnout about history,thats all:)