Titanic Monologue
Good evening, my name is Sebastian Jones.
At the moment I work as a steward for the Richards family. In the past I have
worked for many different families in both England and France. In fact, I even
used to be head butler for the infamous and extremely wealthy family called the
‘Desjardins’.
I have no
wife and no children, and I can only serve my master or I shall be sacked. I don’t
really mind my tiresome job, but sometimes I wish I could have a little more
freedom.
However, I’m
not really here to tell you about my thoughts on my job. I want to tell you
about my experiences with the Desjardins, and my time on board the Titanic.
In my past
family, Master Desjardin could be especially nasty whenever he was in a bad
mood! Despite that, my job had its perks – for example I get to stay with the
Desjardins whenever they went on holiday, and I’ve always wanted to see the
world! Especially New York in America. Now I’m not too sure.
It was 1912
when Mistress Annie decided the family would set sail to America. She booked
the finest, most exciting ship ever made. Titanic. Just thinking about it
before the journey used to make my heart beat just a little faster. Now it
gives me a dull ache whenever I hear its name mentioned.
I suppose it
could have been for the best that Titanic sank. Maybe technology isn’t ready
for these kinds of insane advances? An indoor heated swimming pool inside a
ship?! Ridiculous.
Stepping on
board the ship was magical. My luck was finally beginning to turn around! I was
going to America, my dream! I could smell the fresh paint and the crisp white
of the silky bed sheets. Violin music played in the background as if to remind
us of how posh this all was. It was complete luxury.
Nowadays I
wish I could have just stayed at home. It would have been a whole lot less
painful.
Master
Desjardin directed us cheerfully to our cabins. The two young children skipped
merrily down the corridor, chanting and singing, their faces flushed with joy.
Mistress Annie snapped at them of course. I smirked – but now I wish I didn’t.
Those children are gone.
My humble
cabin was fairly basic of course. Yet I liked it. It was clean and that’s all I
could really ask for. I am a servant after all.
Every day
was long and tiring but filled with excitement and awe. I worked from 7am until
12pm, however master let me have Sunday off! This was a rare treat for me. I
spent those Sundays exploring and relaxing around the ship. Sometimes I would
kid myself I was first class.
On these
explorations I would see the rich – clad in their finest garments and sipping
champagne. Some were fat and jolly, some were simply bored. Then, on the other
side of the ship were the poor – their clothes were dull and sometimes ripped,
and their faces were slightly gaunt. However they were also very happy despite
all the taunting from the rich.
It was
evening when the family and I were celebrating Mistress Annie’s birthday. The
Desjardin children were sat primly in their Sunday best, hands folded in their
laps. At one point, out of boredom, one of the children placed a glass marble
from their pocket sturdily down onto the table. Alarm filled my body as it
rolled rapidly as if it were at a 90° angle. I knew then that something wasn’t
right! Nobody mentioned it though!
Master
Desjardin averted his eyes and began to make a crude joke about the lower
class. Everyone laughed but me. It was a chime-like laughter. It always used to
offend me whenever they made jokes like that. Despite my trim black suit and
sharp white gloves I still know I’m not first class…
About half
an hour later a young cabin boy came running in. He was out of breath and his
colour was very hectic. Stray hairs covered his bulging eyes (Mistress Annie
whispered something malicious to her daughter).
‘Ladies and
gentlemen! Please may I have your attention!’
He was
ignored. The upper-class went back to their dull conversations and the violins
began playing once again.
‘There is an
emergency. Titanic is flooding slowly – can’t think how it could ‘ave happened,
but you need to travel in a calm and orderly fashion and evacuate via—‘
Suddenly
everyone rushed out the double doors, grabbing children and dogs as they went.
The poor cabin boy was almost trampled as he ran away gasping and blinking back
tears.
I knew this
of course. The phrase ‘unsinkable ship’ was almost too good to be true in my
opinion. Instead of the shrill hysteria everyone else was displaying – I felt
more of a dull sadness. I was going to die. Soon.
Master
grabbed me by the shoulder and rushed me along the deck. I tripped trying to
keep up with him. What does he want? Dragging me away from the family he
whispered silkily—‘You wait here on board the ship along with the ship’s crew.
There will never be enough room for anyone but first class…’ His voice was as
icy as the murky water filling the ship.
‘Excuse
m-me, sir?’ I remember croaking hoarsely. It hurt that he could say something
so cruel. So filled with prejudice yet truthful…
He said
nothing and walked away. I turned my back on him so he wouldn’t see my tears.
It would be shameful to cry. Taking one last glance over my shoulder I saw that
his retreating face was void of any emotion. Who was this new person?
Looking back
on this event I wish I could have said something nasty to him. Tell him how
much I hate him and his snobby family.
As soon as I
saw them evacuate I ran over to wave them off, grinning widely. Why should I
have to die for them? Grabbing a nearby child (who was crying for her mother) I
ran over to the people helping with the lifeboats.
‘Please help
us!’ I yelled over the sounds of screaming and praying, ‘I have a child!’ One
of the men must have thought I was her father, and told me to get in the boat
along with some of first class! I couldn’t believe my luck!
It’s been
three months since the tragic event of Titanic. I’m trying to forget what
happened, but a few days ago I received a letter from Mistress Annie. It did
nothing to relieve my stress. Apparently their rescue boat was swamped by other
passengers who had fallen into the water, begging for help. She saw many people
drown – and three of them were members of her own family.
