Marlene’s Comments (group member since Mar 10, 2012)

Marlene’s comments from the Marlene Dotterer Hosts a Titanic Discussion about Shipbuilder group.

LOL! It's so true.

I didn't go into most of it. Most fiction tends to ignore certain bodily needs. How often to see you characters waking up and hitting the pot first thing? Or the hero who is on a quest slipping away from his companions to dig a hole behind a tree? Heck, half the time no one seems to bathe even after being on the road for three weeks. But you know they did it at some point.

I did mention Casey's hatred of some of the fashions - she simply refused to wear a corset. And Tom notices once that she stands and walks differently from the ladies of his era.

What I really wanted to explore, but had to leave out, was how she handled these "certain functions" while pretending to be a boy, working at the shipyard. What about those heavy flow days? I know that women have done this kind of thing in real life, and somehow gotten away with it. So I just let Casey manage it all without bringing it up. I'm not opposed to it - but that would be a different story.



RS wrote: "Seriously, I'd like to know how she handled having her periods and the switch from pads to things with tapes. You probably answered it in the book, but I've always been interested in how people sen..."

I think you are so right about the ship's mystery. Even though we know a lot about it now, and have recovered much of its treasures, it is still unknowable to most of us. No one actually gets to touch it or walk through it. And worse, it is slowly rotting away as the ocean does its work. I think it will always be mysterious.

Sandra "Jeanz" wrote: "I think it's something to do with the fact that at the time everyone thought the ship unsinkable, even in our time people say the Titanic should not have sank.
Then there's all the what ifs? I also..."

I think it's possible he was open to the idea. He had a deep respect for, and good relationship with, his mother. He was respectful of all people, generally, whatever their class, and I doubt he considered women "inferior" to men."

Still, he was a man of his times, and I suspect he always acted as society thought he should. This would extend to his family. I tried to have Casey shake some of that up for him. I think it was important that she had already proved her capabilities during the time he thought she was a boy. Finding out that was a woman didn't suddenly make her incapable.

Darke wrote: "As much as I did like the character, I did wonder if his acceptance of Casey and Sam (especially Casey) was a little too easy? I don't thin men of that era were all that accepting of women's rights."

Titanic is a timeless story – the kind of event that will touch people for many generations past the actual event. What do you think makes it timeless?

What are some of the issues Casey faces as a woman in the early 20th century? If you’re a woman, how would you handle it, if you found yourself in her situation?

Thomas Andrews was a real human being who died when Titanic sank. He actually did many of the things attributed to him in TTTJ: Shipbuilder. Do you think the book gives you a good idea of what he was like? What did you like best about him?