THE EDUCATION OF ROSE DAWSON: PART II
Prologue
Reflection
How much can a person learn in
less than seventy-two hours?
If someone, on the late evening
of April 18, 1912, were to tell Rose Dawson that her next three days will be
about as enlightening, trying, and even dangerous as the previous eight, she
would have likely said that there is as much chance of that happening as Jack
reemerging from the dead. Here is a young woman who has just spent her eight
previous days breaking traditions, modeling nude, making love, defying death up
to half a dozen times, and completely altering her life, not to mention her
name. Is God, if he exists, so unjust that He will allow a seventeen-year-old
girl to go through so many trials and tribulations in such a short span of
time?
Three days of experiencing life
in the complex confines of Gotham as a rich little poor girl, as opposed to the
poor little rich girl she was on board Titanic, had taught Rose that
there was so much about life she would never have encountered had she remained
Rose DeWitt Bukater. Sometimes, the lessons come voluntarily. Sleeping on the
top portion of a bunk and getting her own breakfast are easy enough for Rose to
learn. But other lessons are forced upon her, whether she is ready for them or
not. Rose finds out the hard way to exercise caution when crossing some
streets, while well-dressed men are not always what they appear to be.
Yet Rose survives these
ordeals–sometimes with the aid of a protector–and she learns that whatever does
not kill her makes her stronger. Besides, she is not alone, neither physically
nor spiritually. She has shelter over her head, food in her stomach, clothes on
her back, friends in her company, and, as Jack would say, air in her lungs.
Needless to say, Jack’s spirit will always be in her heart.
Although Rose has thus far
dropped any mention of her Bukater past, her Bukater past has not left her for
good. It is too early and too easy for her to transform fully into Rose
Dawson–an otherwise ordinary young woman who wishes to lead a rewarding
life–and pretend that Rose DeWitt Bukater never existed. Already, a couple of
her new friends suspect that she is not what she claims to be, and only through
some quick thinking and by displaying a calm manner—courtesy of her upper class
nurturing—during those situations that threaten to expose her past has Rose
managed to assuage their curiosities. How much longer can she keep up this
charade, she constantly wonders, before someone discovers her real identity?
Maintaining one’s composure is
one of the first prerequisites to delivering a compelling acting job, and Rose
actually passes this test without realizing that she has been acting all along.
That is good news for an aspiring actress. The few skills Rose acquired in her
former life have served her well so far, and they may yet assist her again in
her metamorphosis. This butterfly has emerged from its chrysalis, but it still
thinks and behaves much like a caterpillar, because its wings are still not
ready for flight.
It will take time before Rose can
begin to fly. In the meantime, she will continue to climb up that backrest
until she reaches the top.