Author Topic: today is the 45th anniversary of the sinking of the USS Thresher  (Read 10252 times)

Offline Lynne

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Re: today is the 45th anniversary of the sinking of the USS Thresher
« Reply #20 on: April 30, 2010, 10:18:02 pm »
Thank you, Paul.

I never think of this passage without remembering a Russian (Soviet?) sub - I will have to look up the name - that sank some years ago. They said rescue was impossible but I've always wondered if they meant fiscally imprudent. For what seemed an interminable time, they heard taps indicating the crew was alive.
"Laß sein. Laß sein."

Offline Monika

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Re: today is the 45th anniversary of the sinking of the USS Thresher
« Reply #21 on: May 01, 2010, 05:22:00 am »
Crushed by the enormous pressure - wow, isn't this what happened to the boys, crushed by the enormous pressure of society's prejudice, despite Jack's attempts to resurface. Little did they know when they talked about it round the campfire that their destinies were going to be similar :'(
I´ve always wondered about her mentioning of the accident. This makes perfect sense. Chrusing pressure indeed.

Offline Monika

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Re: today is the 45th anniversary of the sinking of the USS Thresher
« Reply #22 on: May 01, 2010, 05:23:10 am »
... and the last sound we hear for Jack is the metallic tire iron and he drowned in his own blood;

and the last sounds for Ennis are the 'scratching of fine gravel and sand' (like the bottom of the sea under the Thresher) and a 'load of dirt coming off a dump truck', (as if he was being buried alive)

- all reminiscent of the metallic and grinding sounds of the sinking/breaking submarine

Horrible
another interesting interpretation. But it makes me sick thinking about it. :-\

Offline Lynne

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Re: today is the 45th anniversary of the sinking of the USS Thresher
« Reply #23 on: May 01, 2010, 09:34:42 am »
The Kursk is the submarine accident I'm remembering:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_submarine_K-141_Kursk

And here's an article about the Thresher:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Thresher_(SSN-593)

Items that might be of Brokeback Mountain interest:

Its motto was Vis Tacita (Silent Strength) - sounds a lot like Ennis to me.

Ballard's [the man who searched for and found the Titanic] robotic survey discovered that Thresher had sunk so deep it imploded, turning into thousands of pieces.

implode - to cause to burst or collapse inward - We see Ennis collapsing inward at the lake scene

thresher - a farm machine for separating seeds or grain from the husks and straw

Things to think about...
"Laß sein. Laß sein."

Offline Front-Ranger

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Re: today is the 45th anniversary of the sinking of the USS Thresher
« Reply #24 on: May 01, 2010, 08:57:31 pm »
There are some very pithy insights here.
"chewing gum and duct tape"