Posts
5/08/2012 08:58:00 PM
David Michels
This few weeks ago was the commemoration of the sinking of the Titanic. Halifax held its own commemoration and my family attended the Titanic Evening of the Bells narrated by Gordon Pinsent. We had to park about ten minutes away, as every street was filled with cars. Grand Parade grounds were filled with curious spectators. Key to the event was the various re-tellings of the disaster through spoken word, music, and animation: stories of the experiences of survivors, rescuers and those left behind we shared. A strong emphasis of the stories were the experiences of compassion and heroism in the midst of such an overwhelming disaster. Five years later Halifax would experience its own disaster and would be grateful for the kindness of Boston and other cities.
Storytelling is an essential means for people to create identities, and the Titanic disaster helped shape the city of Halifax. I remember as a child in school in Dartmouth, NS we sang the folk song "It was sad when the great ship went down." It might seem odd that children would be taught such a horrific song, and the lightheartedness of the melody seems incongruous with the lyrics.
The song seemed to be a cautionary tale that warned against technological arrogance (perhaps like a "Tower of Babel" story), and certainly the idea of divine judgment occurs in the song.
When they built the great Titanic,
They said what could they do,
They said they'd build a ship
That water could not go through.
But God with His mighty hand
Showed the world it could not stand.
It was sad when that great ship went down.
A Titanic crewmember is quoted as remarking to embarking passenger Mrs Sylvia Caldwell that “God himself could not sink this ship!” I don't believe God smites ships to make a point, but I also don't make light of the Almighty.
Why does this song and the stories that inspired it persist, especially in times when we could recall many more horrific disasters? Why is Titanic one of the world's best known ships? I wonder if it is the moral story.
It was a delicate balance to stage a grand commemoration without it becoming a shameless tourism event. I did notice the shift in the story telling with this commemoration: the emphasis was on the heroism, and the compassion. Certainly worthy of remembrance and celebration. We didn't hear much about the "unsinkable ship" or the moral story. It is a different time perhaps, though it is a time when we have begun to see the dividends of our own technological arrogance. I am a big fan of author John Wyndham (1903-1969)(Chrysalids, Kraken Wakes, Day of the Triffids etc.). A re-occurring theme in his apocalyptic writing is that the human race is simply not as brilliant as it believes it is, and that we will be our own undoing. Wyndham was also from a different time, but his warnings still resonate.
A solemn remembrance. May I learn from others' mistakes, and not repeat them. May I learn to walk humbly with my God.
Storytelling is an essential means for people to create identities, and the Titanic disaster helped shape the city of Halifax. I remember as a child in school in Dartmouth, NS we sang the folk song "It was sad when the great ship went down." It might seem odd that children would be taught such a horrific song, and the lightheartedness of the melody seems incongruous with the lyrics.
The song seemed to be a cautionary tale that warned against technological arrogance (perhaps like a "Tower of Babel" story), and certainly the idea of divine judgment occurs in the song.
When they built the great Titanic,
They said what could they do,
They said they'd build a ship
That water could not go through.
But God with His mighty hand
Showed the world it could not stand.
It was sad when that great ship went down.
A Titanic crewmember is quoted as remarking to embarking passenger Mrs Sylvia Caldwell that “God himself could not sink this ship!” I don't believe God smites ships to make a point, but I also don't make light of the Almighty.
Why does this song and the stories that inspired it persist, especially in times when we could recall many more horrific disasters? Why is Titanic one of the world's best known ships? I wonder if it is the moral story.
It was a delicate balance to stage a grand commemoration without it becoming a shameless tourism event. I did notice the shift in the story telling with this commemoration: the emphasis was on the heroism, and the compassion. Certainly worthy of remembrance and celebration. We didn't hear much about the "unsinkable ship" or the moral story. It is a different time perhaps, though it is a time when we have begun to see the dividends of our own technological arrogance. I am a big fan of author John Wyndham (1903-1969)(Chrysalids, Kraken Wakes, Day of the Triffids etc.). A re-occurring theme in his apocalyptic writing is that the human race is simply not as brilliant as it believes it is, and that we will be our own undoing. Wyndham was also from a different time, but his warnings still resonate.
A solemn remembrance. May I learn from others' mistakes, and not repeat them. May I learn to walk humbly with my God.
