The Sea

As suggested by lines 1-3, the sea symbolizes the sheer "depth" of "human vanity" – a penchant for self-aggrandizement, decadence, and egoism that does not stop even to consider humanitarian concerns. It follows, then, that 'vanity' brings about the ultimate demise of the Titanic, by drawing so many innocent lives closer to an inevitable disaster. The sea is also symbolically rich given its cold, eternal, and undiscriminating nature. Its "cold currents" pass carelessly over the good and bad, the well-intentioned and the manipulative without discrimination (6). There is a similarly impersonal quality to human egoism: it does not care who or what it brushes over, so long as it reaches its desired goal. Finally, we might consider the endless push and pull of sea currents as a manifestation of the universal, "Immanent Will" (18). This, too, acts omnipotently without any thought for individual lives and purposes.

Underwater Creatures