Tom's post conjures up images of a Rossettian afterlife for me, with Jack in the role of
The Blessed Damozel!
The wonder was not yet quite gone
From that still look of hers;
Albeit, to them she left, her day
Had counted as ten years.
(To one, it is ten years of years.
. . . . . . . Yet now, and in this place,
Surely she lean'd o'er me--her hair
Fell all about my face . . . . . . . .
Nothing: the autumn fall of leaves.
The whole year sets apace.)
The sequence takes place in what seems like a linear, tangible afterlife (sort of the equivalent of the heavenly cocktail party that some envision as their Valhalla, where you can meet and greet either those from your own life or anyone who has predeceased you). But perhaps it is like the Faerieland feared by ancient Celtic races...could Rose have turned away from the light and gone back to her world, she might have found that she'd spent a year in a coma rather than mere moments on the sunken ship!
I still have problems with the idea of these figures being tied to the wrecksite, although perhaps if - as I suggested above - it is entirely voluntary, that would explain the absence of some individuals?
And yes, Caroline, Rose is indeed a survivor. Which had me humming 'One of these things is not like the others...one of these things isn't quite the same!' She's a bit of an odd one out, isn't she? I would hope that she didn't get special privleges and it's entirely accidental that
no one who survived the wreck, except for her, is shown in that scene. After all, there are many who lost loved ones on the ship...some of them had had relationships for more than a couple of days, even
Perhaps they're hanging in the back of the crowd.
I did like the solution put forward by one reviewer. Like the ship itself, recreated in all its glory, these people aren't actually there! They're a sort of spiritual hologram, a backdrop to Rose's personal afterlife. So while Rose gets that resolution, the others, when they died, got to go on to cracking afterlifes of their own. Better than a series of disjointed vignettes, zapping back and forward to the wreck to welcome folks back on board.
Of course, all the above is written firmly tongue in cheek, and is a moot point anyway if she's not dead - only dreaming.
(Just as a side note, Caroline - I don't know if anyone has mentioned this to you, but can I ask you to watch your use of ALLCAPS? If you read the rules of the board, you'll find that this is considered shouting and is poor netiquette. By typing my name in all capitals as you have in the above post, and have done to others, you are in effect shouting our names...not very polite, and I imagine not at all what you really want to do.)
