Is it possible for someone who we initially regard as a hero to later become a villain? We hear stories of common, everyday people going on to overcome extraordinary odds, either intentionally or unintentionally, and potentially being deemed as having acquired a heroic status. We have also heard accounts of cold-hearted villains who reach a turning point in their lives and make the decision to represent good, as opposed to evil. However, is it plausible for such a caring and selfless individual to transform, either consciously or subconsciously, into someone who is greedy and unreservedly irresponsible? Think about it.
Ever since his childhood growing up in Hanley – Staffordshire, England, Edward Smith had always showed an avid love for the sea. When he was just thirteen-years-old, he left school and moved to Liverpool beginning a career and apprenticeship in seafaring. Constantly rising in stature with every endeavor he would undertake, eventually earning his Extra Master's Certificate, he was well on his way to fulfilling his lifelong dream of working on the sea. Also, after having later joined the Royal Naval Reserve, Smith was from then on qualified as a full Lieutenant. In addition to all of his outstanding achievements and sterling credentials, Edward Smith also held the distinguished position of Commander in the Royal Naval Reserve. Other honors that Smith received throughout his career included the Transport Medal, the Royal Naval Reserve's "Long Service Decoration," the privilege of commanding the White Star Line's newest and largest ships on their maiden voyages, and, the all-around recognition of being a "safe captain" who people knew and trusted.
Amidst his continued string of successes, one small mishap which Captain Smith faced was when a vessel under his command, the Olympic, collided with a British Royal Navy cruiser, the H.M.S. Hawke, in September of 1911. Although it was the British warship that crashed into his ship, the Olympic was blamed for the incident because of its sheer massive size and intense suction power that allegedly pulled the Hawke over, causing it to crash into the Olympic. Regardless of this incident and the financial toll that it took on the White Star Line, Captain Smith was still able to move on with his head held high and his dignity still intact.
However, Captain Edward J. Smith is probably most remembered for taking the R.M.S. Titanic on her maiden voyage in April of 1912. With an exceptional reputation and a description by many of his passengers as being very flamboyant, Smith was also very popular amongst them. As a matter of fact, it is believed that a majority of his passengers "€¦would only sail the Atlantic in a ship commanded by him." Obviously adored for his leadership and people skills, Smith was seen as "€¦competent and well-liked" by the masses, very much exemplifying a hero who is both relatable and unafraid to take the bull by the horns. (We can even see Captain Smith's amiability in the 1997 film rendition, "Titanic," for example, through his hospitable nature and choice to sit down to dinner with his passengers).
Regardless of all of his accomplishments and his vast amount of popularity, we cannot overlook the cold, hard facts – we all know how the story of the Titanic ended. Whether you received your knowledge and understanding of the legend of the Titanic from the acclaimed movie or from research and nonfiction accounts of the incident, we can all agree with the possibility that the encounter with the iceberg could have potentially been avoided.
Apparently, throughout the course of the evening leading up to the disaster, Captain Smith had received at least two warnings of icebergs in the path of the Titanic, with accompanying advisories to reduce the ship's speed. However, Smith did not fully heed these notifications because it is believed that he wanted to make it to New York in a record amount of time. Therefore, on numerous occasions throughout the process, he actually ordered more speed for the ship, despite the warnings in his hand. Also, bearing in mind the vessel's title of being "unsinkable," it is believed that Smith made the automatic assumption that "€¦anything big enough to sink the ship, [will be seen in time for them to turn around]." Also, when it came to actually being proactive during the process of saving the passengers after the collision, Smith's "€¦legendary skills of leadership seemed to have left him, he was curiously indecisive and unusually cautious" all of a sudden – the complete opposite of the man everyone had originally known him to be.
In an effort to beat the clock with an overconfident attitude, Captain Smith's actions were those of a competitive nature and sparked by potential greed and selfishness. Caused by his negligence regarding multiple, blatant warnings of potential dangers, Smith put the lives of 2,200 passengers and crew members in danger. Overall, 1,500 people lost their lives. Thus, the question lingers – could all of this have been avoided through the mere heeding of a warning?
Below is a video tribute to Captain Edward J. Smith comprised of various clips from the movie, Titanic, starting with images of Smith in all of his star-studded glory and ending with his noble, (or necessary), decision to go down with the ship.
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I’m not sure about Captain Smith being a hero or a villain, but I am sure that the Iceberg was villainous. Icebergs are often resting places for polar bears, one of the meanest creatures on earth. Icebergs also provide a safe house for seals when starving Orca whales swim by in hopes of providing a food source for their young. I think global warming is a hero because, although I am not sure of the repercussion of climate change, I am sure that it will destroy icebergs such as the one that took all those America-bound lives.
Although Smith ignored multiple warnings that the Titanic was heading towards an iceberg, I do not believe he did this with truly evil motivation. Yes, he was blinded by ambition and can be considered selfish for his desire to reach New York in record time. But that was 100 years ago and the ship’s crew had nothing close to the amount of sophisticated technology we have today. He was obviously startled and and caught completely off guard when the ship began to sink. That being said, he did not exhibit heroism and strong leadership either as all of the passengers were panicking. All in all, I do not believe Captain Smith to be a hero but I do not believe his intentions were fueled by evil either.
I don’t know if I’d go so far as to call Capt Smith a villain, but it seems clear to me, from all the many accounts I’ve read about the Titanic disaster, that his leadership skills deserted him entirely once the ship struck the iceberg. It wasn’t his fault there were only enough lifeboats available for roughly half the people on the ship, but it WAS his fault that many of those boats were launched only half-filled, resulting in the needless deaths of about 500 people. No proper lifeboat drill was ever held, the officers and crew did not know where they were supposed to be once the emergency was declared, and in fact it seems they didn’t even know it WAS a dire emergency until about an hour after the collision, even though the Captain knew almost immediately. In fact, from what I read, everyone’s favourite villain in this story (J. Bruce Ismay) seems to have done more to get people into the boats than the captain did. Smith’s death was heroic and gallant, I suppose, and in the finest maritime tradition, but there was time to save a lot more people than they did, if only the captain had been more of a leader than he was that night.
Captain Edward Smith was an incredibly brave, patriotic man. An embodiment of what it once meant to be British. He deserves to be remembered and revered with respect. If we’re going to vilify anyone it should be the crew on the Californian who ignored the Titanic’s distress signals when they were a few metres away and it’s largely down to them that so many were killed.