I always wonder why Americans are so obsessed with the sinking of the Titanic.?

Question

It happenend so long ago, and there had been other horrific shipping accidents before and long after it happened.

Answer 1

Honestly? It's because of the movie. If they had never made a movie, they wouldn't care. There are some who would, ship enthusiasts, but most people wouldn't, unless they were drawn to the tragic fact that it sank on it's first voyage, and so many perished.

Answer 2

we are not obsessed with it...what makes you think we are?

Answer 3

Perhaps because the Titanic affected so many people, and had so many ramifications; also because it was less a ship and more of a symbol.

Bear in mind that the year 1912 was the height of both the British Empire and the so-called Age of Confidence. Science was at a cutting-edge, and the ideal of the time was that man was conquering nature. Industry and science had achieved both mass-production, eased the constraints of hunger, and through both telegraph and the new telephone, distance was being overcome everyday. The Titanic was offering a trip of Europe to New York in a trip lasting only a few days, something unprecedented for its time.

The fact that the Unsinkable Ship was sunk smashed the idea of man's superiority into bits. And there was also the method: the Titanic hit the iceberg dead-on. Had the myth of superiority been true the iceberg should have been destroyed and the ship gone on its merry way. But that didn't happen, did it? The ship sank! That meant that Nature was superior to Humans, which just couldn't be. But it was! The Titanic sinking is a painful lesson in humility.

Then there was the fact that the Titanic (and its emergency plans) were organized on a class structure. Top to bottom, with the poorest passengers riding steerage. The rich are supposed to live while the poor die. That was blown apart during the hearings; thus, the Titanic becomes a lesson in social justice as well.

The sinking also led to a tightening of maritime regulations--and some have said--helped to found the Coast Guard. After all, if man is still susceptible to the power of the sea, then others must lend a hand to their fellows.

I hope that answers your question.

Answer 4

The fascination existed long before the movie, any time a tragedy of that magnitude happens its talked about and examined for years, and not just by americans but by all, its no different than the hindenburgh tragedy. But what seperates the two is that the titanic was deemed indestructable, nothing was supposed to be able to sink it. The engineers and the designers made headlines across the world with these bold staements, and when it sank the media had a field day with it. Just as they still do when a tragedy of that magnitude happens. For instance 9/11, the Murrah building in OKC, these are _historic_ events and will always be remebered and talked about. I think obsession is a little strong a word. It sounds to me as if you harbor resentful feelings toward americans and seek yet another way to slander them in some fashion, although i have to say if that is your agenda it is a feeble one.

Answer 5

The fascination is due to a combination of things.

The ship itself was the biggest one ever built at the time. It was a huge undertaking. It was billed as the ship that God himself could not even sink! (talk about tempting fate...)

It was the era of grandeur. Some of the wealthiest people were on board, and they died with the ship. This was a turning point in America, a loss of innocence.

The boat was on it's maiden voyage. The way the iceburg struck the side ripped all four chambers of the ship. If it was a few of them it could have survived.

The communication was terrible. The was no-one to send an SOS to since the person responsible for getting messages on the nearest ship was sleeping!

There were not enough lifeboats for even half the people on board since they believed that the boat could not sink. The rule at the time was women and children first, and although some men got into lifeboats, most men died. Many of the poor died, too.

The ships band played until the boat sank, and the captain went down with the ship.

It was a very tragic event. Many laws were changed after the sinking.

Answer 6

I think I have to disagree. There was a deep fascination with the Titanic well before the movie was released (although that certainly gave fuel to the fire, so to speak). I think people in general are fascinated with disaster and tragedy, and the Titanic's was notoriously well-documented and romanticized. I think once that romantic root of interest has taken hold of people's imaginations, other events tend to be overshadowed...

Answer 7

The sinking of the Titanic was the end of our innocence--we had become convinced that we could master the very elements, and Titanic proved otherwise.  Also, it was an extreme case of hubris--just before she sailed, it was said of her that "Even God Himself cannot sink this ship!"  Also, she was the biggest ship of her time, and so many mysteries surround the sinking, and the fact that the wreck is so inaccessible, that there will be theories aplenty as to just what caused her to sink--was it just that too many of the  watertight bulkheads were breached?  Why were the crew members in the crow's nest not carrying binoculars?  Why did the ship ignore iceberg warnings for the area?  Why did the ship break in half?  Was it an expansion joint (which was an innovation at the time) that was improperly designed, and just overstressed by the jolt of the iceberg?  Also, that so many famous people died, that "Women and Children First" was the norm, and that the dance band continued to play until the end gives it a romantic but tragic air.