Analysis Of The Legend Of Titanic By David R Slavitt

The Myth, the Legend, and the Truth of the Titanic April 15 , 1912, a night of dread and misgivings.The titanic is a story well known throughout history. A legend still remembered to this very day. The unsinkable ship full of majestic grandeur and affliction. The sinking of this infamous ship was viewed as a simple tragedy, remembered only for the glory of what it once was. In the poem “Titanic” by David R. Slavitt and “The Convergence of the Twain” by Thomas Hardy gives a different perception of the Titanic, and what lead to the upcoming collision. Both of these works, in a different manner, challenge and question the traditional views of the legend of the Titanic, buy using tone, purpose and duality. In the “Titanic,”David R. Slavitt criticizes the aspect of romanticism. He denounces the way today’s generation view the tragedy of the ship. Instead of today’s people viewing it as an atrocious event, it is merely seen for the romantic aspects of the Titanic. In the poem, David R. Slavitt states, “To go down...We all go down, mostly alone. But with crowds of people, friends, servants, well fed, with music, with lights! Ah!”(Lines,4-6.) Slavitt disapproves the views people up hold of the Titanic. The opulence and romanticism disappoints him, due to how …show more content…
In the “titanic” there is expectation of how remember the Titanic versus how they should remember the Titanic. The way we, as a whole, remember the Titanic is not the way people should remember it. “And the world, shocked, mourns, as it ought to do but almost never does. There will be books and movies to remind our grandchildren who we were and how we died, and give them a good cry.”(4-6) The books and movies that were made to remember this event are not worth remembering. The beauty and opulence and even the romanticism are not worth remembering. The tragedy and the lives lost are what should have been