“The Convergence of the Twain” (1912) by Thomas Hardy and “Some Reflections on the Loss of the Titanic” (1912) by Joseph Conrad both discuss the tragedy of the Titanic after colliding with an iceberg on 15th April 1912, during its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York. Hardy’s poem and Conrad’s essay similarly portray the opulence of the ship – which was a symbol of wealth, extravagance, power, and industrialization of Britain – and the ship’s ephemeral nature, through the use of irony and juxtaposition. Both writers express their disdain for the pride and importance that their contemporaries placed upon scientific and technological progress. Hardy shows the waste of the ship’s magnificence, which is juxtaposed against its present environment, to emphasize the waste of money, technology, and craftsmanship.
In contrast to the sensationalist media exploitation of the sinking of the Titanic, Conrad’s is a distinctively personal and human voice speaking on behalf of dead brother-seamen who, betrayed by the so-called “unsinkable” ship, and forgotten in the media “babble,” have no voice of their own. The modern era – represented by journalistic opportunism, the quest for speed, an emphasis on the commercial and mechanical, the modern foolish trust in material, and impersonality – confronts what Conrad delineates as a code of values inherited from the past, a life dependent upon devotion to a traditional and exacting craft with an emphasis on individual effort and respect for community. For Conrad, to operate a sailing ship was to master a “craft.” You had to observe and interpret nature, adapt and react to fast-changing conditions, obey without question, decide without doubt, toil without pause. The craft connotes more than a clutch of skills; it is a code for how to live. It turns a sailing ship into a “fellowship,” a community forged by shared values. Conrad is sure that material may fail, and men, too, may fail sometimes; but more often men, when they are given the chance, will prove themselves truer than steel.