JCB's Ruminations on the Craft of Fiction #40
February 18, 2021
There are a lot of memes about whether or not Jack and Rose could both have fit on the door at the end of Titanic. I think these memes require the perspective provided by Ian Malcolm in Jurassic Park: "People are so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should!" And, when we ask whether or not Jack should join Rose on the door, rather than whether he could, we can reveal a couple of important things about storytelling.
The first is about character. Characters represent human beings, with all their emotions, motivations, and flaws. Jack, as a human being, likely never believed he was going to die. He probably believed he would survive up until the moment he lost consciousness. He was already in the water, probably felt relatively fine. Hey, I’m a strong, young lad, he told himself. I’ll be ok. So he didn’t bother to try and get up on the door again because he didn’t think he needed to. Plus, he’d already nearly overturned Rose, so he didn’t think it was a good idea to try again.
The second point is that Jack had to die. The story of Titanic is the story of Rose, and in that story Jack serves a particular function in Rose’s development. Once his function is served, Rose and the story no longer need him. If he were to survive, he would undermine her growth. The future of her life, revealed in photos, has only become possible because of what Jack taught her about herself. But if he sticks around, she’ll instead wind up tied to him. For that reason, Jack needs to stay in the water and let Rose survive alone. He’s brought her to the precipice, and now it’s time for her to start making her own choices without him. That’s the whole point. If he survives, the story is unfulfilled.
So, regardless of what the memes say, Jack should not get on that door, even if he theoretically could. The movie, after all, is a story. Next time, I’ll explain why the Eagles could never have taken the Ring to the Fire, and Sauron would have won if they had tried.