Titanic and Human Nature
Nature: The Desultory Presence of Fear “The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside; somewhere they can be quite alone with the heavens, Nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature”. This is a quote by Anne Frank from The Diary of a Young Girl that clearly praises and acknowledges the beauty of nature and its power of soothing and helping people to become happy. Frankly, Anne Frank’s words reflect one of the common views of nature. Many people in the modern society and the media portray nature as beautiful, heavenly, and aspect in life that can truly help people live and solve issues. This construction of nature is reflected in the Japanese Television Film, Heidi, Girl of the Alps, which portrays a peaceful life of a girl, Heidi living a joyful lifestyle in the beautiful landscape with White Mountains and green grass in the Alps. The admiring nature is a symbol of peace in the modern society where the media is trying to build an image where nature functions as a healing spot for humanity. However, nature is not always so and this is not the only view of nature. Despite the human’s respect, nature can pose their indifferent side and become a cruel presence ravaging. The film, Titanic portrays the verisimilitude of the cruel nature where the citizen’s dream gets crushed by nature. It clearly portrays the indifference of nature, and analyzing nature in “The Open Boat” by Stephen Crane along with “To Build a fire” by Stephen Crane will validate this point. The film Titanic can be described as a film that portrays a struggle between humanity and nature and that draws attention to the view that ultimately nature does not give mercy to humanity and is capable of overriding them. Titanic’s scene of the grand scale vessel leaving the dock is affiliated with a hopeful and joyful mood with the bright and lively band music happily sending
Cited: London, Jack. "To Build a Fire, by Jack London." The World of Jack London. Century Magazine, n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2013. Crane, Stephen. "The Open Boat Crane, Stephen, 1871-1900." Crane, Stephen, 1871-1900. The Open Boat. Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library, n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2013. Titanic. Dir. James Cameron. Pref. Leonardo Dicaprio. Paramount Pictures, 1997. DVD Takahata, Isao, dir. Heidi, Girl of the Alps. Fuji TV. Tokyo, 1974. Television.