The Boston Dawsons were a very rich and powerful family. They all stuck together, no matter what. Except for one. He was the one that wanted something more in life. He wanted adventure, romance, love. He didn't need the money that his family business offered. Money couldn't buy happiness. And that's the thing he wanted most. Jack Dawson was an artist. Born in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin and raised in Boston, Massachusetts. His mother had died a few years earlier and his dad was never home. Jack was twenty years old and doomed to a worthless marriage based on money. He didn't love the woman. She was awfully cold and conceited. Her name was Elizabeth Hockley. Daughter of steel tycoon Nathan Hockley. She was a gorgeous woman. But terribly rude. He didn't actually propose to her. His father and her father came to a decision and told them that they were to be married. Before then, he'd only seen her once. Now they were in South Hampton, England, boarding a ship which would take them back to a marriage, neither one of them wanted. He wanted to escape. He needed to. He just couldn't find his courage any longer. It was gone. Maybe forever.
Rose Bukater was from Philadelphia. She left home a year before since her father died and her mother committed suicide. She had a little sister that she took with her since she was only a baby. She didn't know any of her relatives that were alive. She barely had any money left and she had to save most of her money for a trip back to America on the Titanic. She'd finally made enough money. Now she and her two-year-old sister, Gabrielle could be happy again, in America. She wanted to escape her life, badly. But she couldn't let Gabrielle down. Their parents already had. Rose and Gabrielle traveled to a lot of places. California, Texas, Iowa, Florida, Wisconsin and Europe! Rose's mother died before Gabrielle said her first word. So she called Rose mommy. Rose didn't mind at all. She was more of a mother than Ruth was anyway.
Ruth, their mother, didn't like children. She hurt her children, physically and emotionally. Rose picked Gabbie up and their bags and boarded the Ship of Dreams. This was the beginning of a better life.