I'm coming to your site a bit late, and excuse me if I missed the discussion on this already, BUT--Why did the older Rose through the diamond into the sea? Why wouldn't she give it to her granddaughter (who really should have been her great-granddaughter given their ages) so she could have a secure life? No one I have posed this question has given me a logical answer. Rose was an intelligent woman. If she didn't want her family to be ruined by the fortune the jewel would have brought, why not set up a scholarship fund or build a hospital? This is the one part of the movie that just does not fit in. Help me please!

-- Pat Pursley (ppursley@ix.netcom.com), February 09, 1998

Answers

I don't know what just happened to my answer! If it now posts twice, my apologies in advance. (1) Rose had probably come to despise wealth attained strictly by inheritance. Recall she gave up her own after breaking ties with Mom, Cal,etc. (2) If the diamond were cursed, who's to say the hospital or scholarship fund wouldn't be? (3) Perhaps most important, the diamond was a token of remembrance for Jack and those who perished. It's not as if Rose ever wore it again herself. Re her age: She was 101, her daughter (wonder what happened to her, BTW) would have been ~70, so Lizzy was ~40, which she appeared, i thought.

-- Bob Gregorio (rgregori@pacbell.net), February 09, 1998.

Bob again. Forgot to say that my #1 note was in reference to Pat's question of giving diamond to Lizzy.

-- Bob G. (rgregori@pacbell.net), February 09, 1998.

Pat, I agree with Bob's comments. In addition, the script is clear about two things: 1) Rose comes to MIR with a special mission, as she can thraw away the necklace so it would go down to Titanic; 2) during her life she was tempted to sell it to Cal for money, whenever she had financial difficulties (up to 1929 when Cal shot himself). But she managed to keep it. Also, Cameron mentioned the fact that the diamond sealed Rose's fate. And it was a cursed diamond, as the original Hope Diamond. Cal dies, while Rose escapes because she doesn't know about having the diamopnd in her pocket. Lovejoy also dies. At the same time, dropping the diamond means that Rose achieves absolution. For a more religious interpretation, remember in the New Testament that rich people have to give up their assets in order to go to Heaven. So Rose departs from any material stuff, including the 30 million dollars diamond. She knew Liz will not get her happines from the diamond but in spite of it. And it's also a tribute to the souls of those who died in that tragedy. Remember her joy when she drops it? It was like she surprised herself with that move. Whether she dies or not after that it remains an open end. Atheists will proclaim her dream, sort of mission accomplished. Believers will proclaim her dead and resurection, the final union with the Titanic victims.

-- Dan Draghici (ddraghic@ccs.carleton.ca), February 09, 1998.

I agree with Dan and Bob. The Titanic sank because of human arrogance. When the Titanic sank, the people were humbled. The diamond was also a symbol of arrogance. She had to get rid of that physical reminder of arrogance before it could bring any harm to anyone else.

-- Misty Chacon (Mystified) (HiRver@concentric.net), February 09, 1998.

As we all know, there are material things in this world that may be worth much money that we may have. Having said that, I would guess that the jewel meant nothing monetarily to Rose and that it was a connection to a very difficult, but beautiful, time in her life. When she made the decision to contact the salvors and tell her story, she also made the decision to end that chapter in her life, once and for all. The gem was just a material thing that meant a constant reminder of a time past and now, for the first and last time, she had told her story and there was no need to hold on to the past or the gem. To put it in rather rude terms, she was "cutting the cord"!

Regards, Peter

By The Way: I think Gloria Stewart was absolutely outstanding in this film and I hope she is recognized for it.

-- Peter Nivling (pcnivling@capecod.net), February 10, 1998.

I believe that Rose dropped the diamond in the sea because it was a symbol of her past, which she had kept to herself for all those years. She let go of her past, especially the part with the diamond. When she told her story and let go of her past she didn't need to hold on to the diamond anymore.

-- Ashley (beaner05@ix.netcom.com), February 10, 1998.

Pat, you mention finding a logical answer for this, but I don't think logic has that much to do with it. Rose wore THOTO once--nude, when Jack sketched her. It is the only thing she has that physically symbolizes her attachment to Jack. Monetarily, it means nothing to her and, as the script floating about the net points out, to have used it for money would have been using it the way Cal would have, would have been letting Cal help her. Once she's told others about Jack, and shared that piece of her soul with them, she can let the physical symbol of that go. So she buries it with Jack, since in many ways it represented Jack to her.

ml

-- Mary Lynne Nielsen (m.nielsen@ieee.org), February 11, 1998.

I believe she didn't give it to Lizzy because, even though she knew the story and how important it was to her grandma, Lizzy would never know the emotional impact it had on Rose throughout her life. I believe she through it over because she knew she would die, and she would see Jack soon, therefore, she no longer needed his "memory"

-- Sara (sarar@rnet.net), February 11, 1998.

The diamond was a symbol of Rose's past. Her story of being on Titanic and meeting Jack was a part of her past (a VERY important part of her past)and she kept them a secret for 84 years. When her picture is discovered on Titanic and brought to the surface, Rose feels "it is time" to tell her story, let people know what happened, and let people know about Jack. After telling her story there is nothing left but to return the diamond back to Titanic, where for her reasons she feels it belongs there. Once all is done, it is now for Rose to return to Titanic as well. Her promise for her future started there on a piece of wood floating in the Atlantic Ocean, and now it is where she returns to spend eternity with the man she loved. She fulfilled her promise and not it's time to "go back to Titanic"

-- Caron (bianchi@iserv.net), February 12, 1998.

Just something that I was thinking about the other day.......it takes two hours to free fall to Titanic's resting place. When Old Rose throws the necklace into the sea it starts to sink. Probably about the time it reached titanic is about the time she dies. Think there is some symbolism there? Her soul returns to Jack with the diamond.....???

-- Miranda Swearingen (Kylen1@hotmail.com), February 21, 1998.

Miranda, cool point!

I think the diamond symbolized her soul. When she threw the necklace, she brought her hand out from her chest and dropped it. As the diamond returned to Titanic, so did her soul.

-- Becky Gordon (becky.gordon@pfs.sprint.com), February 23, 1998.

I got in a conversation with an engineer last night, who had just seen the movie for the first time. He said he was "mad" that Rose threw the diamond in the ocean. What should she have done with it, I asked. He said, given it to someone, like the insurance company to whom it legally belonged, since the company had reimbursed Cal for the loss. I had never considered this point. After thinking it through, I concluded that if Rose had done that, people (ie, Ruth and Cal, who Rose was trying to stay away from) would have suspected she was alive and perhaps tracked her down.

-- Bob Gregorio (rgregori@pacbell.net), February 24, 1998.

Bob,

The guy who said that must have been an insurance agent or maybe an IRS agent.

Linda

-- Linda (Ashokan4@Yahoo.com), February 24, 1998.

It's like in the movie "Top Gun" when Maverick throws Goose's dogtags in the ocean.

-- Sara (sarar@rnet.net), March 02, 1998.

This is a very old thread. Perhaps no one will read this, and that is just fine. I have a different take on the diamond as a symbol, one that occurred to me recently. Jewels -- all jewels given by men to women -- serve one primary purpose. They are tools of seduction. They work pretty effectively, too, by the looks of things. The problem with seduction is that, despite the romantic notion that it's a peachy way to find a mate, it dooms the relationships that get started that way. Seduction is a short-cut to relationship development that never works. Fulfilling relationships are always based on respect and trust. Seduction precludes respect and trust from being developed. Throwing the diamond into the ocean was an admission that it had -- because it was a tool of seduction -- ruined her life. It might not be an especially fun answer to the question, but it should be considered.

-- Bill Hansen (bill@tanglewood.net), December 10, 2002.

I HAVE A FEELING ROSE THREW IT IN THE MEMORY OF JACK DAWNSON WHO RESCUED HER COMMITING SUCCIDE AND ONE FROM DROWING AND SHE EVEN LOVED HIM.AND EVEN THOUGHT SHE WAS OLD SHE REMEMBERED HIM.

-- anjela (anjela8@rediffmail.com), January 06, 2004.

Why didn't she give that to me? I am poor, I would use that

-- Hugo from brazil (georgeweasley@hotmail.com), April 10, 2004.