Jack Dawson |
|
|---|---|
 | |
| Biological Information | |
| Full name |
Jack Dawson |
| Nicknames |
Boyo (by Tommy) |
| Gender |
Male |
| Born |
1892 |
| Death |
April 15, 1912 |
| Cause |
Hypothermia |
| Background Information | |
| Family |
Unnamed mother (deceased) |
| Romances |
Rose DeWitt Bukater (lover) |
| Hometown |
Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, US |
| Religion |
Unknown |
| Titanic Statistics | |
| Boarded |
Southampton, England, UK |
| Destination |
New York City, NY, US |
| Occupation |
Artist |
| Class |
Third class |
| Fate |
Died in the Atlantic ocean due to hypothermia |
| Production | |
| Classification |
Fictional character |
| Portrayal | |
Jack Dawson is the deuteragonist in Titanic and the love interest of Rose DeWitt Bukater. He dies at the end of the film from hypothermia, protecting Rose by having her float on a doorframe while he stays in the water; he was only twenty years old.
Biography
Early life
Jack and Fabrizio winning the poker game
Jack Dawson was born near Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin in 1892. It is unknown who his parents were, but he remembered ice-fishing with his father in Lake Wissota during his childhood.
His parents died when he was 15 in a fire, which resulted in him having to begin living on his own and later travelling the world. At some point, he met an Italian man named Fabrizio De Rossi, who would become his best friend, leading them to become travelling companions. While growing up, he went to Monterey and worked on a squid boat, then at the pier of Santa Monica, Los Angeles, and Paris where he drew portraits for ten cents a piece.
Apparently, he was sleeping under a bridge the day before he boarded Titanic.
Life on Titanic
Jack looking at Rose
Jack Dawson boarded the RMS Titanic at Southampton on April 10, 1912. He was a penniless third-class artist and was only able to board the ship after winning tickets in a lucky streak at poker against two Swedish men with tickets and playing with his friend, Fabrizio. Jack made it on the ship in the nick of time, as the grand vessel was moving inches away from the port, skipping the inspections queue for infectious disease.
During his first day onboard the Titanic, he was able to enjoy his luxury and spend time relaxing with Fabrizio until one day, he found Rose DeWitt Bukater, a beautiful first-class passenger, trying to take her own life by jumping off the stern because of her humdrum, scripted lifestyle and forced engagement to the wealthy bully, Caledon Hockley. Jack stopped and stopped her from ending her own life. On her way back, Rose slipped and despite Jack saving her, screamed out of fear. This attracted the attention of the crew members, who came running to help. They found Jack and Rose sprawled out on the floor together and called the Master at Arms which alerted Cal to come to the scene. Cal attempted to have Jack arrested and showed how he looked down on third class passengers by calling Jack "filth", but Rose stopped him and explained that Jack had saved her. Cal then reluctantly invited Jack to dinner with the first-class passengers.
Jack after drawing Rose.
The next day, Rose went in search of Jack and found him on the boat deck, where they talked for hours about their personal and private lives, as well as Rose's unattainable dreams. Rose then was able to look at some of Jack's portfolio of artwork, and was amazed by them.
Jack and Rose share their first kiss.
Later that day, Jack showed Rose how to "properly" spit off of the side of the ship until they were caught by her mother, Ruth, who took Rose to get ready for dinner that evening.
Then, Molly Brown, a feisty and kind-hearted passenger, took Jack under her wing and lent him a tuxedo originally intended for her son. At dinner, Jack charmed the table with his witty jokes and his fascinating stories about his life.
Before he left, he left a note in Rose's hand saying, "Make it count. Meet me at the clock." Rose met him and joined him at a party in third class. However, they were secretly being spied upon and monitored by Spicer Lovejoy, Cal's manservant.
Jack's detailed drawing of Rose.
The next day, Rose was told by her mother that she could not see Jack again. Jack realised this and borrowed a coat from an unsuspecting passenger to speak to her unnoticed. Rose was against such and left him, however, she later reconsidered her life when seeing an aristocrat teaching her young daughter the same way her mother taught her, which caused her to become overwhelmed by Cal's horrible attitude and her mother's selfish acts. That night, Rose went in search of Jack and they shared their first kiss at the bow of the ship as the sun was slowly setting. Then, Rose told Jack that she wanted to be draw wearing nothing but her beautiful necklace, the Heart of the Ocean. She stripped down in her suite and posed nude for Jack. When the drawing was done, Rose put it in Cal's safe.
Jack and Rose make love.
Afterwards, Rose and Jack realized that Lovejoy was spying on them and, although he chased them down the hall, they tricked him and locked him in the ship's boiler room. They then ventured off into the cargo hold and made love in the back seat of a brand new Renault car.
Titanic's disaster
Rose and Jack are startled to feel the ship lurch.
Rose informed Jack that she would go with him after the ship docked, just before feeling the ship lurch. It had hit an iceberg and was slowly going to sink. Rose and Jack went and told Ruth and Cal, although the attempt was only a way to arrest Jack and lock him up.
Soon after, Rose found him in a rapidly flooding room. He was chained to a pole, but she used a fire axe to set him free after being unable to find a spare key; since Lovejoy had taken the other one. He meets Fabrizio giving him a hug and Tommy behind a locked gate guarded by two crew members. He picks up a nearby bench and with the assistance of Fabrizio, Tommy and another passenger; the gate is rammed and the passengers trapped behind are released. On the boat deck, Jack tries to find a lifeboat for him, Rose, Fabrizio and Tommy to get off safely, upon failing to do so he tells Fabrizio and Tommy to go to the other side of the ship to look for lifeboats for the four of them, but Tommy and Fabrizio eventully die anyway. He then realizes the Crew are enforcing the Women and Children first policy for launching the lifeboats.
Jack handcuffed to a pole on the E deck.
Cal and Jack forced Rose onto Lifeboat 2 to escape the shipwreck, however, in an effort to avoid losing Jack, Rose jumped back onto the ship and stayed with Jack. Cal became angered and chased them through the ship with a pistol, intending to kill them.
Jack and Rose escaped when Cal ran out of bullets and could not keep up with them. The pair thought they were okay, only for the door in the dining hall to be locked, preventing their escape. Within minutes, Lovejoy showed up having continued the pursuit in Cal's place. Rose and Jack hid behind tables and the room began to fill with water. Lovejoy searches for them and taunted them. Jack separated from Rose to get behind Lovejoy.
Just as Lovejoy found Rose, Jack attacked the man from behind, and smashed his head into a glass frame. The two fought and ended up on the floor, only for Lovejoy to kick Jack off. As Lovejoy reached for his gun, Jack hit him again and pinned him against a pillar and declared "Compliments from the Chippewa Falls Dawsons" and strikes him in the stomach. He then charged at the wooden door and managed to force it open. The pair ran down a set of stairs, having escaped from Lovejoy once and for all.
Jack trying to escape the sinking ship.
They then found a young boy crying and waiting for his father to return. In an effort to save him, Jack took the boy, although the father then showed up and became enraged that Jack was holding his son. He snatched the child and left. Then, two doors burst open because the water's pressure on them was too great, sending even more water onto Jack and Rose, who were already drenched. Their last hope was a terrified steward with a key to a metal gate that could get them back to the top deck, however he dropped the key in the water and ran for his life. Jack retrieved the key and took Rose back up to the top deck. Soon afterwards, all of the passengers were forced to hold onto something, in an effort to avoid falling off of the ship, which had cracked into two huge pieces. The ship sunk soon afterwards. Jack was able to find a door that had come from the ship floating in the water, and let Rose lie on top of it. He could not find anything else to float on and began to freeze in the ice cold water.
Jack and Rose's final moments together
Jack told Rose that no matter what happened, he didn't want her to give up hope and that as long as she stayed on the door, she would be all right and live a long and happy life. He died of hypothermia, and his body sank to the ocean floor, making him buried at sea. For unknown reasons, there was no record of Jack's existence although one could assume it was due to him never purchasing the tickets and not queuing for the inspection for infectious disease. Rose was rescued soon afterwards and sailed to New York City on board the Carpathia. It is undetermined what Jack and Rose's fate was, but it is assumed that they were reunited in Heaven (which appeared to them in the form of the Titanic, had it not sunk) 84 years later when Rose, only days from turning 101, was presumed to have died in her sleep.
Skills and abilities
Jack was a skilled artist, able to draw pictures of various women with promise detail, one of which included Rose, despite his relatively poor background. He essentially made a living off of it, Rose commenting he seemed "quite the professional." Jack was also good at poker, able to win Fabrizio and himself tickets for the maiden voyage of Titanic.
He was also a strong swimmer, able to assist Rose to a door frame despite the temperature, and didn't need the assistance of a life jacket to stay afloat. He could also also hold his breath underwater for a relatively long period of time, notably when pulled down by the suction of the sinking ship and whilst searching the keys to the gates in third class. He was also a good liar, able to convince Rose he would survive the sinking, though believed he wasn't as good as Cal. Jack was also physically strong enough to catch and lift Rose from falling off of the ship and could easily carry a child when trying to escape flooding water in the lower decks.
Jack was also a skilled hand-to-hand combatant, successfully overpowering Lovejoy during their fight in the dining hall. He even knocked out a man while both were under water with just a few punches. He wasn't always as confident in his fighting capabilities, wincing when threatened by Sven.
Despite not stealing the Heart of the Ocean, Jack was a good thief, able to steal a coat from a fellow inmate. He was also stealthy, managing to avoid detection from Cal and Ruth when trying to speak to Rose. He was even adept at dancing, able to dance on par with Rose, a trained first-class dancer.
He was also a skilled orator and a likeable man despite his poor financial background, able to win over a group of first class passengers with a speech about "making everyday count", and was helped by Molly Brown and acknowledged by Thomas Andrews when introducing himself. He also befriended Tommy Ryan quickly. He was also very persuasive, successfully convincing Rose against taking her own life and later made her promise to ensure she lived a long happy life after the sinking.
Behind the scenes
Jack's hands while drawing Rose's sketch were actually James Cameron's, since the drawing was made by Cameron, who is skilled at drawing. The drawings in Jack's sketchbook, or at least some of them, were also made by Cameron.
There was a historical Joseph Dawson, who was 23 years old and died on the Titanic. However Cameron was not aware of Dawson's existence until his grave was discovered in Canada after the film was released. Therefore, Jack was not based on the real-life Joseph Dawson.
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