Chapter 6 Chapter 6 History is not so warm

In the middle of the night on April 12, 1912, the unsinkable ultra-luxury giant passenger ship "Titanic" unfortunately collided with an iceberg in the waters near Newfoundland. The icy sea water poured into the cabin mercilessly, and the shadow of death brutally swallowed the ship. Everyone on board. In later literary and film and television works, what we read and saw afterwards were full of human and touching warm pictures: the gray-haired old captain solemnly announced that women and children should leave the ship first, and peacefully communicated with them. The "Titanic" sank together; a kind and brave pastor risked his life to return to the sinking "Titanic" and appealed emotionally: "Let women and children get on the lifeboat first!"; after a father kissed his little daughter affectionately Sending her to the lifeboat, he burst into tears as he bid farewell to his relatives under the starlight; an old noble couple hugged each other tightly and slept with a smile on their faces when the god of death came, leaving the chance of life to others...

Regrettably, these moving scenes are just the wishful thinking of future generations and artistic creations out of good intentions. The reality of history is far from being so warm, but on the contrary, it makes people sigh and chill. According to the preserved passenger records and the calculations of some scholars, there were 319 passengers in the first-class cabin of the "Titanic" (the lowest ticket price was 30 pounds and the highest was 870 pounds), and 200 people survived, with a survival rate of 63%; There were 269 passengers in first class (minimum fare £12), 117 survived, a survival rate of 43%; third class (minimum fare of £3) had 699 passengers, 172 survived, a survival rate of 25% .

There are two reasons why there is such a big difference in the survival rate of the three classes of cabins. One is that the "Titanic" arranged the lifeboat storage area near the first class cabin and the second class cabin, just like other passenger ships. , in order to reduce the worries of rich and middle-class passengers about the risk of navigation, all ships at that time were designed in this way.The second reason is that the arrangement for escaping into the water also maintains the same logic, that is, first-class cabins, second-class cabins are given priority, rather than the "women and children given priority" that was widely spread later. As far as children are concerned, there are 32 children in the first- and second-class cabins. , only one person died; there were 75 children in the third-class cabin, and 55 people died. Needless to say, the cabin as a symbol of social class has become a bargaining chip for life.Many of the victims of the first and second class passengers either blindly believed that the "Titanic" was an "unsinkable ship", or missed the chance to escape while waiting for their families, while the surviving third class passengers, Most made it to lifeboats after jumping into the water.

The real Titanic is cold, I hope it will become history forever; the artistic Titanic is warm, I hope it can illuminate the hearts of each of us.