MovieChat Forums > Titanic (1997) Discussion > Why would Rose throw the necklace?

Why would Rose throw the necklace?


Very selfish and pointless.

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Symbolic reasons

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SHE WAS SENILE.

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Agree it was pointless, and bad writing.

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While this may just seem like a fanboy scrutiny of mine, it would be easy to presume that she threw away the necklace for the sake that it reminded her of Cal. It was his property and she didn't want anything more to do with him.

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I never understood it myself. I mean, was she giving it to Jack as a symbolic gift? Was she having fun thwarting the treasure hunter, since she knew the only reason he was there was for the necklace? Was she just doing it on a whim? They never explained why.

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I don't know.

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I'm assuming it's because these treasure hunters are only after the necklace for their own personal gain. That thousands of people died on Titanic and that they should not make a profit off a tragedy. I think it was her way of saying goodbye to Jack and to the Titanic by letting the last remaining piece of her past sink with everything else she loved.

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I'm assuming it's because these treasure hunters are only after the necklace for their own personal gain. That thousands of people died on Titanic and that they should not make a profit off a tragedy.


That's probably what Cameron had in mind, although I have a better plan.

I think it was her way of saying goodbye to Jack and to the Titanic by letting the last remaining piece of her past sink with everything else she loved.


Which is dumb (although I'm sure that was her reason). If Jack's "soul" survived mortal life, Jack wouldn't care about the diamond or the Titanic, and neither would any of the other "souls".

If we end when our lives do, then again, Jack wouldn't care what happened to that diamond (which only caused him grief) nor would anyone else who died on Titanic.

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I mean, it's not like Jack hated the necklace. In fact when he first saw it, he was enamored by it. I'm sure if he was as rich as Cal, he would have given that necklace to Rose himself. But that necklace also was supposed to be the heart of the ocean. So I guess that's her way of giving her heart to Jack and the Titanic. And I'm sure if she really wanted to, she could have sold the diamond and become even more rich. But I don't think she wanted the rich life anymore. And like I said before, that necklace is the only piece of her past. She probably knew it was her time to die and didn't want the necklace to go to greedy treasure hunters.

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No, Jack didn't hate the diamond (although it's "theft" was pinned on him and he was arrested for it), but there's no way Jack would give a horse's pitoot about it. It had no meaning for him, at least not enough for Rose to pitch this historic and priceless gem into the by and by.

Look, I understand the reason they wrote it that way, I just don't think it's very good. I mean, if the movie was only to be seen once, then it was a pretty good impact ending. "Holy crap! The old bat had it all along and dropped it into the ocean!!!" But the more you see this ending, the dumber it gets.

Okay, greedy treasure hunters don't get the necklace - I agree, I don't think anyone would cry for Brock, and certainly not the "investors". But she could have given it to Lizzy or donated it the Maritime Museum in Nova Scotia or one of the many others.

At the bottom of the ocean, it would either be lost forever or found by a different treasure hunter. Still a dumb ending IMO.

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It's just one of those fuck it moments. Where you know you're gonna die soon and something like a material possession doesn't matter anymore.

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Not to mention, she didn't OWN it anyway. The insurance company paid a claim on it (according to the script), so it was legally theirs.

As others have said here, it was a symbolic gesture for closure with the past.

Made perfect sense to me.

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Not to mention, she didn't OWN it anyway. The insurance company paid a claim on it (according to the script), so it was legally theirs.


Yeah, that's a different issue. Even so, the insurance company would only get a percentage of the value, not the entire amount as it's deemed salvage. Maritime laws are quirky but I'm sure there's a treatise somewhere on line about what would have happened if the diamond was real.

Made perfect sense to me.


And to others as well, but as many or more believe it was a stupid ending - I'm in that camp.

How about Rose actually dying in her bed as Jack predicted, and Lizzy finding her wearing it when they discovered she passed on during the night? The first sight we would have seen of it since the flashbacks to the night of the sinking would be on old Rose's neck - fade to black. Holy crap, the old crone had it the whole time! We of course would then argue about what happened to the diamond after that...



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I have always felt that this was an absolutely ridiculous scene. There was no reason to do it that made any sense to me personally. I've read some of the other comments about it being her way of saying goodbye, not wanting anyone to profit off of a disaster, etc. None of these make any sense to me and I found it to be a very selfish act.

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Plus why would she wait until she was a grandma and just after she tells her story to throw it in? Very convenient timing.
It's just a dumb movie

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I'm 100% on the side of it being a dumb and pointless move to pitch the rock into the ocean, but as for why would she wait until she was an old lady? Simply from a devil's advocate standpoint - this was her first and only opportunity to drop the rock over the Titanic's wreck.

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I would say it was Cameron's attempt to indicate she did not get a good life from an ill gotten gift, she earned everything she had in life, which would elevate her character.

I think she kept it as insurance due to the uncertainties of living in a new country, she no longer needed it at the end.

When you are that old, and can afford a decent life, then expensive jewellery no longer means that much.

As for why she had it in the first place? I think it is to answer the question of where that diamond went, which started this movie.

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I think she kept it as insurance due to the uncertainties of living in a new country...


Picking nits, but she wasn't going to live in a new country. She was American who was in Europe on a trip and was returning *home* to America via the Titanic.

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Sorry, the movie was so long ago, I guess I am forgetting some of the details.

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Well, Rose *did* have a bit of a Brit accent as Kate Winslet didn't really do a great job with an East Coast American accent.

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And the fact she was an English actress also misled me somewhat.

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