Unsinkable

Paddy’s evasion of the gangsters in this section illustrates the limits of individual agency when one’s power and environment are stacked against survival. Having explored the ship prior to the passengers boarding in Southampton, Paddy has learned which hallways and staircases go where, and using the skills he honed on Belfast’s streets, he evades the gangsters by zigzagging through pathways and blending into crowds. The ability of the gangsters to eventually catch up with him shows that as competent as Paddy is, he can’t account for every contingency, and beneath his street smarts, he is still just a child caught in a world of adult threats. His capture reminds readers that no amount of resourcefulness can fully shield someone like Paddy from the dangers imposed by both circumstances and systems that weren’t built to protect him. Paddy’s situation in these chapters also offers a look at the Titanic from a different angle, highlighting The Impact of Class on Experiences. For passengers like Juliana and Sophie, the Titanic’s voyage is a pleasure cruise, where they can partake in fine dining and have their every whim attended to. By contrast, for a boy like Paddy, the ship is a floating trap so long as the gangsters are on board and searching for him. His experience contrasts sharply with the first-class narrative of luxury and leisure, creating a portrait of parallel realities aboard the same vessel. Similarly, the revelation that Danny survived shows that he, like Paddy, is a survivor. This narrative turn also reframes Danny’s role, suggesting that intellect and instinct—once dismissed because of class—may prove vital as the story unfolds, particularly regarding his prediction of the Titanic’s vulnerability to a hit against multiple compartments.

The shifting alliances among Alfie, Sophie, and Juliana highlight how empathy, not similarity, is what forges true friendship, highlighting The Effect of Change on Relationships. Alfie’s desire to help Paddy is understandable, as both boys are on the Titanic illegally. Though Sophie struggles to have a meaningful relationship with her mother, she has instilled the lessons about equality and support that her mother’s protests offered. As a result, Sophie sees Paddy as a person in trouble, even if he comes from a completely different world than she does, and this empathy allows Sophie to offer aid. Her compassion marks a continuation of her mother’s ideals, showing how activism can be internalized and lived through private moral choices. Juliana, on the other hand, takes longer to understand that Paddy is as deserving of a fair chance as herself, a lesson she still grapples with at the end of the book when she lies to protect Paddy. Sophie’s words in Chapter 21 are a catalyst for Juliana’s character development. Up until this point, Juliana has been a product of her upbringing and the upper-class world she’s experienced. Juliana has been raised to believe that rule-breakers forfeit their place in respectable society, regardless of context or need. The absence of adult support in Paddy’s life carries little weight for her, as she cannot yet imagine a world where desperation might justify disobedience. Sophie’s quiet moral clarity challenges this worldview, and it is that challenge—which humanizes Paddy, in Juliana’s eyes—that prompts her to lie about his whereabouts in Chapter 22. In doing so, she enacts the first true departure from her inherited values, marking the emotional peak of her arc in this installment of the series. In this moment, Juliana redefines what it means to be noble—it is not a matter of title but of action. Her choice to protect Paddy marks her first act of personal integrity divorced from her social status.

Korman’s use of dramatic irony in the Epilogue recasts a historical tragedy as a suspenseful countdown, with character arcs unfolding under the shadow of inevitable doom. By doing so, Korman and the story highlight the importance of different types of tension. Since the reader knows that the ship will sink, the investment to continue reading is driven by the characters and what will befall them between the end of Unsinkable and the end of the series. The knowledge that the Titanic will sink also adds a ticking-clock aspect to the story—a technique often employed in the thriller genre to provide a sense of dread. This format also means that the readers are privy to information that the characters do not know. In particular, this knowledge brings important significance to the Epilogue and the note that the captain chooses not to read. The readers are left to wonder if the tragedy could have been avoided had the captain read the letter and changed the ship’s course, as well as to wonder about what further decisions will be made to seal the Titanic’s fate. The unspoken weight of that unread note becomes a haunting symbol of willful ignorance—where a moment of inaction may cost hundreds of lives. Additionally, showing that Danny survived and is among the gangsters sets up the possibility of events off the Titanic influencing what happens among the characters on the ship. This narrative decision expands the world beyond the Titanic, reminding readers that trauma and power do not begin or end with the ship itself but ripple outward.

In sum, these final chapters of Unsinkable fuse fast-paced action with emotional resolution and historic inevitability, offering a compelling close to the first installment of the series. Paddy’s bravery, Sophie’s steadfastness, Alfie’s loyalty, and Juliana’s transformation converge in a story that honors individual growth against the backdrop of a collective disaster. Korman invites readers not only to anticipate the ship’s fall but also to care deeply about who is aboard and what their survival will mean.