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Hockley In Titanic

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The Titanic - Depth of the Heart of the Ocean

"Ahh, open your heart to me, Rose," pleads Caledon Hockley of the young Rose

in James Cameron's film, Titanic, just after he gives her a most expensive

diamond. The actor Billy Zane plays Hockley as a callous, jaded, been-there-done-

that sophisticate who seems to want her heart simply because he believes it is for sale

and he has a right to it. His blindness to higher motives in love totally disqualifies him

from being worthy of Rose DeWitt Bukater, played by Kate Winslet. But perhaps it is

also the opaque nature of love itself that defeats him. This scene between Hockley and

Rose is one of several ways in which Cameron develops the idea of the closed heart …show more content…

The crew is stumped. But then

Rose hears a newscast about it, sees her picture on TV and calls the ship, asking, "I

was just wondering if you had found the heart of the ocean yet, Mr. Lovett?

The literal gem, then, serves to drive the plot. People explore wrecks for the

challenge and for scientific purposes, but Cameron has Brock Lovett, played by Bill

Paxton, and his salvage crew searching for a diamond. This motivation works on two

levels. It gives a reason for the dangerous and expensive dive that the people sitting in

the dark theater can appreciate. Many people in this materialistic world can relate to

and understand betting one's life and fortune on a diamond that rivals the Hope

diamond in value. On an artistic level, though, the search for material wealth parallels

the confidence that the Titanic's owners place in material goods and technology. And

of course, just as money and wealth by themselves fail to make life worthwhile for most

people, all of the confidence her owners and passengers mistakenly place in the

integrity of this man-made ship cannot keep them warm in ice water.

In addition to driving the plot, the diamond functions on a figurative, symbolic

level. The gem represents the human heart, the repository and driving force behind

people's emotions. Toward the end of

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